Bees for Development Journal Edition 126 - March 2018

Bees for development

JOURNAL

No 126 March 2018

• BEEKEEPER VANGUARDS • BEESWAX • INCREASING INCOME • WORLD’S LARGEST APIARY

The Journal for sustainable beekeeping 1

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

Beekeepers as vanguards

As a society we are slow to gather and accept scientific evidence to prove what any amateur naturalist has long observed: that there is a catastrophic decline in insect numbers.

Last October a Reportiii from Germany told us that the biomass of flying insects in nature reserves had dropped by 75% since 1989. Undoubtedly the habitat

Issue 126 March 2018 In this issue

page

Apimondia Regional Commission for Africa.. 3 International Development Award..... 3 Facts about wax............. 4 Wax works.................... 6 The Inzerki Apiary.......10 News around the world......................13 Bookshelf.....................14 Look Ahead..................15 Bees for Development Journal Produced quarterly and sent to readers in over 130 countries Editor: Nicola Bradbear PhD Co-ordinator: Helen Jackson BSc Subscriptions cost £26 per year - see page 15 for ways to pay

for insects on German nature reserves will be far better than it is for insects elsewhere. What is happening worldwide? Long-term scientific studies like this are rare, yet anyone of middle-age with modest awareness of local ecology knows from experience that insect numbers are far lower than they used to be.

Flowers exist to attract insects to pollinate them. The pollination of flowers creates seeds and fruit, that together with insects, provide the basis for thousands of food chains. The disappearance of insects leads to the disappearance of species all along these food chains. Here in UK we are a nation of bird-watchers and thus we have good data for some bird species - we know that farmland bird numbers have more than halved since 1970, and some insect feeding bird species have declined by 95%. Many littlestudied species will be declining too, out of sight to research.

There are more than a million insect species on earth, yet apart perhaps from bees and butterflies – most are barely noticed, and

most often regarded as pests.

Beekeepers have exceptional awareness of the work of bees in crop pollination. In addition to harvesting honey and beeswax, another vital role for beekeepers is to raise awareness of the need to recover insect populations.

Beekeepers must become vanguards calling for reduced use of insecticides and increased awareness of the need for flowering plants – for our bees and for all the other insects that need them too.

Dr Nicola Bradbear Director, Bees for Development www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/ news/180228 ii Morrissey CA, Mineau P, Devries JH, Sanchez-Bayo F, & Liess M, 2014 iii Hallmann CA, Sorg M, Jongejans E, Siepel H, Hofland N, Schwan H, et al.

(2017) More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas. PLoS ONE 12(10): e0185809. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0185809 i

Readers in developing countries may apply for a sponsored subscription.

Apply online or see page 16.

Bees for Development Works to assist beekeepers in developing countries.

Bees for Development Trust gratefully acknowledge: Artemis Charitable Trust, Didymus Trust, E H Thorne (Beehives) Ltd, Ethiopiaid, Hub Cymru Africa, Millom Rotary Club, Neal’s Yard Remedies, Stroud Buzz Club, The Rotary Foundation, The Waterloo Foundation, Welsh Government,Yasaeng Beekeeping Supplies.

Copyright You are welcome to translate and/or reproduce items appearing in Bees for Development Journal as part of our Information Service. Permission is given on the understanding that the Journal and author(s) are acknowledged, our contact details are provided in full, and you send us a copy of the item or the website address where it is used.

Cover photo © A Spürgin

After reviewing 1,500 research studies, the European Food Safety Authority has concludedi that neonicotinoid pesticides present a high risk to honey bees, bumblebees and solitary bees. Does this news surprise anyone? Apparently we must always wait until much evidence is amassed before steps are taken to ban insecticides causing havoc to our ecology – it is already accepted that neonicotinoids are highly toxic to aquatic lifeii.

Cover picture Bee secreting wax. See FACTS ABOUT WAX by Dr Wolfgang Ritter on page 4

Bees for development 1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK Telephone: +44 (0)1600 714848 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org 2

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

Apimondia Regional Commission for Africa Photo © David Mukomana

At last October’s 45th Apimondia Congress in Turkey, David Mukomana was elected President of the Apimondia Regional Commission for Africa. David’s vision is to see the growth of the beekeeping industry in Africa, transforming the lives of rural African communities. He intends to work closely with partners who share the same vision. Market linkages are also on his agenda to ensure that African honey and beeswax have reliable regional and international markets.

David is a Zimbabwean, passionate about the beekeeping and honey industry in Zimbabwe. He has worked in many countries including Bahrain, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Swaziland.

David runs Organo Seven (Pvt) Limited, an agroprocessing company that specialises in honey processing as well as manufacturing beekeeping and honey processing equipment for the local market.

David has been very vocal in the Apiculture Sector, for example encouraging the formation of an Apex board in Zimbabwe to regulate the sector. He has been at the forefront lobbying for EU listing to enable Zimbabwean honey and beeswax export to Europe.

David Mukomana

Bees for Development wins International Development Award Bees for Development was presented with the major Overall Impact Award at the Wales for Africa Awards Ceremony on 29 January in Cardiff’s National Museum. The event celebrates the work of International Development and Fair Trade organisations and groups. The event was co-ordinated

by Hub Cymru Africa with funding from the Welsh Government’s Wales for Africa Programme.

Photo © Hub Cymru Africa

Pembrokeshire based Fairtrade in Football Campaign, and the Barry Town Council Fairtrade Committee; with another 14 organisations highly commended for their efforts.

First Minister, Carwyn Jones presented BfD with their award and said : “This Award is an opportunity to celebrate the many ways in which people in Wales are making the world a better place”.

BfD thanks our partner organisations for their nominations that led to BfD receiving a second award of Highly commended in the Sustainability Category.

Other winners included Cardiff-based Dolen Cymru, South Wales - Sierra Leone Cancer Care, Somaliland Mental Health Support Organisation, the Swansea Siavonga Partnership, Swansea based Giakonda Solar Schools, the Brecon Molo Community Partnership,

The awards and highly commended certificates presented at the Wales for Africa Award Ceremony. The Overall Impact Award is back row, third from left 3

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

FACTS ABOUT WAX Part 1: Beeswax in apiculture Dr Wolfgang Ritter is from BEES for the World, which supports African beekeepers to produce top quality beeswax and sell it on the European market while promoting the African way of beekeeping, most favourable for bees, beekeepers and the environment. The income from sales will be refunded to support African beekeeping communities via training provided by Bees for Development. We asked Dr Ritter to prepare an article for Bees for Development Journal from one previously published in a German magazine. This is the first of three parts.

Photo © Wolfgang Ritter

Dr Wolfgang Ritter

Building cluster: comb construction requires a lot of communication and coordination between the individual building clusters. This represents an important action within the colony and is essential for bee vitality

Survey of knowledge

Bees secreting wax: the wax emerges from the bee’s abdominal glands and solidifies into small platelets Photo © A Spürgin

Beeswax used to be more valuable than honey. With the increasing importance of electricity and synthetic wax, beeswax lost its key role. Now that the focus is more on nature, beeswax has come back into the spotlight. Wax prices are steadily rising, because it is increasingly difficult to find low-residue wax or residue-free wax. This tempts some people to adulterate wax with additives reducing the quality of wax products as well as bee health. Within the European Union and beyond, there are calls to introduce quality standards similar to those defined in the Codex Alimentarius for honey.

Beeswax production by bees Wax is produced in the abdominal glands of 12–18 day worker bees. As soon as the liquid wax emerges from their 4

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

Combs with and without breeding activity: Photos © Ute Schneider-Rittero

scales, it solidifies to form wax platelets. For 1 kg of wax, 150,000 bees have to produce more than one million platelets, and will consume 6 kg of honey. The wax of the different Apis mellifera races differs only slightly.

So, wax from Africa is almost identical with wax from America or Europe. However, wax originating from the Asian honey bees Apis cerana, Apis dorsata and Apis florea is quite different (Ferber, 1977), and is rarely found on the market outside Asia.

Utilisation of beeswax The components of beeswax can be divided into: 67% ester, 14% hydrocarbons, 12% free fatty acids, 6% flavours, natural colours and others, and 1% alcohols. Wax is mainly used to produce foundation for beekeeping purposes. It is used also in candle production, in pharmacueticals, and decorative and care cosmetics to produce beauty creams, ointments and pastes, as well as for food covers (for example for fruit) and as a separating agent.

Wax of old combs (above) is less valuable than wax of freshly built combs (below)

Kinds of beeswax obtained in beekeeping Freshly built combs are white and transparent, as long as neither brood was reared, nor pollen or honey stored in them.

You can find this in nests built by wild bees or built as natural combs. The yellow colour in beeswax is produced by natural colours (carotenoids) in yellow pollen. With the bees crawling over them, the combs get darker and darker, even without any breeding activity. In the course of brood rearing, the cocoon spun by the pre-pupa and its faeces are left in the cell. With every new brood another cocoon is added. After just one brood cycle, the remnants accrued from breeding cover 30% of the comb. With every brood cycle the comb gets darker and less transparent. By melting out old combs the beekeeper recovers about 1 kg of wax per colony per year. In addition, beeswax can be collected from the cappings removed during honey harvest.

However, you can also let the honey drip from freshly built combs or you can squeeze the combs. Wax from these combs is the most valuable, apart from wax processed from cappings.

Therefore it is much easier to produce good quality wax from top-bar hives and local-style 5

hives (without frames) than in hives with moveable frames (socalled modern hives), because combs are used through several cycles in frame hives.

Ritter@beesfortheworld.de www.beesfortheworld.de

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

Wax works Mark Rutaro, JDMN Holding Ltd, an independent commodity and market sourcing agent.

I was pleased to receive the January 2018 edition of BfD’s Technical Bee Notes and decided to share my experiences with readers of Bees for Development Journal.

In 2012 I started to explore the bee product market and producers. I discovered that there is doubt in the market from both ends.

Producers did not think I was up to the task of finding them an export market and prospective buyers were doubtful about good quality honey and beeswax from Uganda, in the right amounts. Ugandan processors were not sure how much beeswax they could access. They thought they could collect ten tonnes, although they had experience of harvesting only two tonnes.

The doubt on both sides presented an opportunity for me. I requested a wax sample from Uganda’s largest bee products firm Bee Natural Uganda. They made me pay for it – although samples are normally free – because they had no faith in what I was telling them. I sent the sample by courier to my prospective buyers, and it passed the test. (Sending the sample also had hurdles including the mandatory requirement for an entomophagy certificate). The Ministry of Agriculture provides only phyto-sanitary (plant) certification, so we had to make do with the phytosanitary certification. We still use this today.

Mark Rutaro with beautiful Ugandan beeswax of the agreement and the terms of the LC. After some serious persuasion, the buyer accepted to take the cargo. The supplier received payment promptly after presenting the bill of lading and SGS certificate to the bank. Everyone was happy. I had pulled it off and now the supplier had experience in exporting and I had built trust between both parties.

After the sample test, now the negotiation was on price and payment terms. The buyer was insisting on a Letter of Credit (LC) on sight, while the supplier requested a 50% cash down payment. LC is the safest for both parties, but the supplier had no knowledge of how the LC works and besides, they needed the down payment to boost their capital position. After many months of discussion, the supplier was convinced to risk taking on my scheme and agreed to an LC. She warned me that if anything went wrong I would be totally responsible. The initial price was US$6.0 (€4.9) per kg. Other conditions from the buyer were SGS (the international inspection, verification, testing and certification company) to certify quantity at shipment and for me to be personally present during filling of the container.

Since then cargo has grown to 30 tonnes from the first supplier. We have maintained good quality. The supplier has enjoyed the trade and increasingly perfect collection of beeswax. The price has increased to US$8.7(€7.1) per kg.

This year I attempted to start all over again with a new supplier. History repeated itself and this new supplier also managed only five out of the initially promised ten tonnes.

In 2016 I attended the African ApiExpo in Kigali, Rwanda and contacted Rwandan suppliers. If all goes well, I will restart the story in Rwanda this year. The current buyer, a Japanese Company, has an annual shortfall of 50 tonnes per year, so the potential is great.

The buyer required that the wax be strapped on to fumigated wooden pallets and wrapped with thin plastic film (shrink wrapping). It was my role to find these because “I had promised the impossible”.

I believe that Uganda’s current beeswax production has potential for over 600 tonnes, the bulk of which is not realised. Most beeswax is lost at harvest level because

In April 2013 the supplier had managed to collect only 4.7 tonnes of the promised ten. They were in breach 6

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

Blocks of beeswax arranged on a pallet

Beeswax strapped to pallets

farmers do not know its value, that there is a good market for it.

According to The Uganda National Agricultural Development Organisation (TUNADO) and other website information, Uganda has 1.2 million beekeepers.

If at least each farmer had one colonised hive per year, then we would have 1.2 million colonies per year. Half a kilogram of beeswax can be harvested from each colony, it means the total wax production potential is at least 600 tonnes.

At the current market value of US$8.0 (€6.5) per kg of wax, Uganda bee farmers are harvesting US$4.8m (€3.9m) worth of wax per year, and yet only US$300,000 (€245,050) are accounted for. I believe that this beeswax can be realised with actions and cooperation.

If I had enough support and cooperation, we can achieve this. From my experience, I could help such an effort with pre-off-taker contracts from reliable buyers who are some of the largest corporations in the world. These contracts would help processors and farmers to find trade and investment finance to grow the industry.

Wax strapped to pallets in the container ready for export good, although buyers are worried that their market is used to light coloured honey, not Uganda’s dark amber honey. A lot of effort is needed to promote dark amber honey. Another concern is also food handling and quality standards by African producers. This too can be addressed.

Last year I attempted also to export Ugandan honey.

I sent samples to various buyers and the quality was

PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON AN EU INITIATIVE FOR POLLINATORS

TELL US YOUR STORY

We accept articles and short reports on new or improved beekeeping techniques, information about bees and beekeeping in your country and your events. We welcome your comments and responses to articles we have published.

This consultation is to collect views on pollinator decline to inform development of an EU pollinator initiative. The questionnaire covers the causes and consequences of pollinator decline, and potential mitigation measures.

Articles should be 800–1,600 words in length and accompanied by images. Items can be sent by post or in e-mail text or attachment in Word or .pdf format.

We accept images as colour prints or digital images saved as .jpeg files. Images sized for website use or taken are not suitable for printing.

Individuals and organisations are invited to respond to this consultation, which ends on 5 April 2018.

www.ec.europa.eu/info/consultations/publicconsultation-eu-initiative-pollinators_en

If it is not possible to include your submission in Bees for Development Journal we may place it on our website. All the information material we receive is added to our databank on beekeeping worldwide.

Don’t forget to like Bees for Development on Facebook or to follow @BeesForDev on Twitter 7

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

Increased income from beekeeping Sarah Mugoya

Communications Manager, The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation

Janet Lowore

Programme Manager Africa, Bees for Development

George Williams

Programme Funding & M&E Manager, Traidcraft UK

The UK-based fair trade organisation, Traidcraft, managed a three-year project: Beekeepers Economic Empowerment Tanzania (BEET) concluding in 2016. The aim was to reduce poverty of beekeepers across the Tabora region and in the coastal region of Rufiji of Tanzania.

Traidcraft’s strategy was: 1. To improve beekeepers’ skills and knowledge, and to increase production of bee products through improved practices.

2. To organise beekeepers into groups and link these groups to associations to strengthen their bargaining power and enable them to work collectively.

3. To link beekeepers to service providers, to provide training and advice to support improvement in quality, volumes and links to markets.

4. To improve gender equity.

5. To improve environmental awareness and stewardship.

Daudi Athumani Ngea from Rufiji District clothing and smokers. BEET supported beekeepers to organise into 35 village-level groups and two higherlevel associations. These groups created collection centres to store their honey after harvesting, enabling the beekeepers to sell their honey 2-3 months later, at higher prices. The intention was that the associations would negotiate with buyers about supplies, prices and volumes. A key component of the Project was women’s empowerment, enabling women to benefit more from beekeeping, and to take on leadership roles.

Approach

Results and Impact

Beekeepers received training in best practice including making improved hives, and the use of protective Photos © Traidcraft Exchange

The Project reached 936 women and 2,200 men. All those interviewed during the final evaluation reported that they had adopted at least one of the introduced beekeeping practices. All reported increases in yields and sales.

Facts and Figures District

Rufiji Sikonge (Tabora) Uyui (Tabora)

Alloyce Nammala and one of his hives 8

% of beekeepers who increased production volume by over 20% 86

Average reported increases in income from beekeeping (%)

97 75

+80 +50

+70

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

Collective working

in beekeeping groups are held by women, in Rufiji, almost 58% of leadership positions in the beekeeper groups are held by women at the time of evaluation.

The evaluators noted this as a positive indication of an improvement in gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Project areas.

Beekeepers keep hives as individuals, but some have joint-owned hives and a few groups agreed to ‘hold’ collectively produced honey and sell later in the season.

When they did this, they achieved increased prices: • In Rufiji District the off-season price was US$4.3 (€3.5)/litre compared with the harvest-season price of US$2.3 (€2.0)/litre

Remaining challenges • Women’s income from beekeeping remains lower than men’s. Women incur higher costs due to being unable to perform certain crucial activities themselves and having to pay others to do these.

These tasks include hanging beehives, harvesting and transporting honey. Supporting women to establish apiaries near their homesteads is one suggestion to reduce these challenges.

• In Sikonge District of Tabora, the off-season price was US$2.1 (€1.7)/litre, compared with US$1.3 (€1.0)/litre.

The increased income earned as a result of the Project has been used to pay school fees, to buy cattle, food, goats and medical care, to invest in other incomegenerating activities and to improve housing.

One woman from Sikonge said: “I have bought two bicycles from beekeeping which helps me and my family a lot as a means of transport and collection of firewood.”

A man from Rufiji noted: “Income generated from beekeeping has helped me to buy school uniforms and pay school fees for my children. My children and those of my fellow beekeepers no longer walk bare footed.”

• Provision of services by trained service providers is limited. The evaluators noted that beekeepers are not willing to cover the service providers’ travel costs which were previously paid by the Project.

• Despite the price advantages shown by those groups who decided to ‘hold’ collectively-produced honey, beekeepers prefer to sell their honey individually rather than through groups.

Women’s empowerment was a major aim of the project: men now consult with women for advice on beekeeping practices and this indicates a shift in attitude towards women, and an appreciation of their (new) expertise.

Women act as better leaders and it was reported that groups led by women performed much better than those led by the men. In Tabora, 49% of leadership positions

The Project was funded with support from Comic Relief and the UK Department for International Development (DFID)

Women’s Group at Kilimani Village, Rufiji

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Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

The Inzerki Apiary: the world’s largest collection of local-style bee hives Kwame Aidoo, Bees for Development Ghana The world’s largest collection of local-style bee hives is in the village of Argana, 80 km from the southern city of Agadir, Morocco, within the huge Argan Biosphere Reserve (2.5 million hectares). Is this the world’s largest and oldest apiary? This magnificent heritage is known to the local Berber people as Taddart Inzerki and dates back to the 1850s although oral tradition confirms that beekeeping on this site is far older.

other palm species. Additional advantages are a sunny south slope, and a relatively stable climate over the whole season.

The isolation of the area from urban centres facilitated the ease of monitoring the site. It is known that the Berber tribes of Souss practised migratory beekeeping where hives were moved according to the blooming of bee plants and to the occurrence of rains, droughts and altitude.

The building of the collective apiary enabled beekeepers to keep their colonies at a permanent site and there was no longer a need to move hives around.

A guard constantly monitored the whole apiary and was paid by the community. At one time there were 80 families owning the set of monumental buildings built in adobe and spread over several levels with compartments formed of boxes in stands of four.

Compartments can consist of several boxes which look

The permanent location of the Inzerki Apiary was chosen and developed by family beekeepers operating in the area. The first factor used in selecting the site was the abundance of good bee forage plants including lavender, rosemary, thistle, thyme, and other honey plants including trees such as almond, argan, date and

Photos © Kwame Aidoo

The 2.5 million-hectare Argan Biosphere Reserve, near Agadir, Morocco

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Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

The location of the collective apiary of Inzerki. The hilly landscape and vegetation are rich in bee forage plants The collective apiary showing the compartments where honey bee colonies are kept in basket hives

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Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

The staggered arrangement of hives in the compartments (left); a hive covered with sacks to protect the colony from excess cold during winter (right)

Two wooden plates of palm stem are used as cover for the ends of the hives (left); the front plate is sealed with clay and provided with one entrance hole for the bees (right) like pigeon holes, each divided into three equal-sized floors, with a free space above.

During harvesting, beekeepers open the front of the hive and remove the first few combs giving space for the development of new comb. According to local beekeepers each colony produced between 6 – 8 kg of honey per season. In an active season, there could be as many as 4,000 colonies working in this collective apiary.

The spaces below and above are used for ventilation and drainage of rain water. Bee colonies are kept in woven basket hives smeared with a thin layer of dung. The hive ends are closed by a circular piece of palm stem and sealed with clay or dung. A small entrance hole is provided for the bees.

Local beekeepers claim that there are two distinct types of bees (the black bee and the Saharan bee) in the region of Souss. These produce a hybrid bee specific to the region which is prolific, resistant to diseases and much less defensive than the black bee.

Only one hive is placed per floor, staggered to avoid drifting of foraging bees. Therefore, three hives are placed in each set of boxes.

In 1990 and again in 1996, unusual storms, with heavy floods, damaged the apiary and many boxes collapsed.

Also, continuous drought has degraded the area and has reduced the forage resources to the extent that many beekeepers have abandoned the site. Despite attempts to rehabilitate the site with support from foreign donor organisations, the apiary has not yet recovered its past glory and only eight families use it. The Taddart Inzerki Association for Development and Co-operation is working hard to restore and protect the site for posterity.

A beekeeper explains how basket hives are made and installed 12

Kwame Aidoo, Director of Bees for Development Ghana attended EDUCTOUR 2017 in Agadir, Morocco. The event in October 2017 combined three workshops – pollination, climate and crowd funding – with a tour of the Honey Road circuit in the Argan Biosphere Reserve.

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

NEWS

We held a training workshop for 25 members of the Moghamo Bee Farmers Cooperatives to become Community Based Trainers in sustainable beekeeping. Thanks for your interest in our work and we hope for a fruitful and cordial partnership.

Ataba Jude Fonsah, CISEDG, Bamenda

KENYA

Hello Bees for Development, thanks for the important technical notes and information you send through Bees for Development Journal.

I would like everyone to know that beekeeping training is available at Egerton University Apiculture and Sericulture Thirty lecture hours and 15 practical hours. The course is taught to third year students pursuing degree programmes in Animal Science; Dry Land Resources Management, and third year students pursuing a Diploma in Animal Science and Technology We also offer training for beekeepers from neighbouring communities and tailor made

MALAWI With our Bees for Development Resource Box, Nasuluma Penta-Na group organised a series of beekeeping activities for both youth and the elderly in our community in Blantyre, to economically empower less privileged people. Participants showed great enthusiasm and at the end of the training were interested in having their own bee colonies, and so 64 hives were made and installed!

With permission an apiary was set up in the government protected forest reserve: Michiru Conservation Area. This area has excellent natural vegetation with many species of plants flowering at different times. More information on the plants is being obtained, and we plan to make this information available for sharing through BfD Journal.

The training focused on the role of bees in our lives, bee plants, hive making and materials, bee attractants, apiary siting and management, honey harvesting and marketing. Anybody or organisation wishing to work with us in these areas is most welcome, since our region is under-developed in beekeeping activities, and yet we have the largest portion of idle land in our country. We want to sensitize the public about beekeeping. We expect that most of the people we are working with, who seem to have no direction for gaining some income, will have something to depend upon.

The group wishes to commend Bees for Development for the continued support you provide for our beekeeping activities.

Patrick Chinkhota, Nasuluma Penta-Na Group

apicultural courses for groups on request.

Stephen Kagio, Lecturer in Apiculture and Sericulture, Egerton University, Njoro

UGANDA

I am very happy with Bees for Development Journal that you are sending to me. I appreciate the knowledge for me and my fellow bee farmers. In issue 124 I read Dr Bradbear’s message about traditional beekeeping. I say that it we should be called natural beekeepers because what a beekeeper uses at local level is all natural - like grass smokers and many others.

Asaph Ayatuhaire,West Honeys Uganda, Mbarara

Photos © Patrick Chinkhota

CAMEROON

Hives made from tyres, developed by the group

Sharing knowledge is very important See page 16 for how to apply for a Resource Box

Sponsored subscribers: If you change your email address or any other of your contact details remember to tell us. If we cannot contact you, we cannot sponsor you!

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Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

BOOKSHELF Where honeybees thrive – stories from the field Heather Swan 2017 162 pages softcover A pleasing and beautifully published book: fantastic artwork combined with bee essays, to achieve a serious theme. Eight chapters are full of interesting and informative text on different bee motifs, for example examining colonies, beekeeping in China, problems caused by our love for lawns. Each chapter has its own Gallery of beautiful art featuring bees in special ways. The essays show how people from many sectors: artists, beekeepers, entomologists, ecologists, and farmers, are working to slow down the effects of habitat reduction, industrial agriculture and pesticide misuse. This is a very special and encouraging book - a great gift for anyone with concern for bees.

Next steps for the thinking beekeeper – advanced top bar beekeeping Christy Hemenway 2017 159 pages, softcover In 2013 The thinking beekeeper, a very useful guide for beginners starting out with keeping bees in top-bar hives was published. We know that many of these beekeepers, reaching their second or third years, now have many more questions, and here is the book they have been waiting for. This new guide covers swarming and splitting, issues like what is and is not robbing, grouchy bees, and lots more information about the best resource not available to the beginner beekeeper: natural beeswax comb. Christy makes compelling arguments for the top-bar hives’ foundation-free beekeeping, by publishing here the laboratory results showing that beeswax from her top-bar colonies, unlike all the other samples of commercial foundation, contained no detectable pesticides. The thinking beekeeper thinks again, and decides that she is on a good path, making a difference.

The Australian native bee book – keeping stingless bee hives for pets, pollination and sugar bag honey Tim Heard 2017 246 pages, softcover This is a gorgeous new book all about Australian bees, of which there are around 2,000 species. It features the social stingless bees, because these are the ones currently of great interest to a new wave of Australian beekeepers, keeping them in their gardens for small scale home honey production and pollination. They are being increasingly used for commercial scale crop pollination too. The first part of the book is devoted to bee biology, Part 2 covers beekeeping with stingless bees and Part 3 is pollination. Every one of the books’ 246 pages carries excellent images - photographs and diagrams. If you are living in a world region with tropical climate and stingless bees, then this book will help you to look after them well. And this is a fabulous book for those of us living elsewhere too.

Tim Heard has spent a lifetime working with and researching stingless bees, and he has generously shared all that experience in this beautiful new work.

Craeft – how traditional crafts are about more than just making Alexander Langlands 2017 344 pages hardcover The author, a well-known British archaeologist and broadcaster, has investigated the Old English meaning of the word craeft which is defined: “possessed of an almost indefinable sense of knowledge, wisdom and power”. Of course, one of the chapters is on beekeeping. It explains in detail the history and development of the use of skeps (basket hives) made of wickerwork or straw stems. Langlands’ desire was to make a skep entirely from materials grown in his own garden – this labour of love took 18 months to achieve: “The bees thrived in the skep and continue to do so ... I have absolutely no doubt that the bees in the skep fare the best. Without fail they’re the first colony to get going in early spring, they produce an adequate surplus, and they are entirely capable of looking after themselves”.

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Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

LOOK AHEAD AUSTRALIA

TANZANIA

BELGIUM

UGANDA

8th EurBee Congress of Apidology 18-20 September 2018, Ghent Further details www.propolisconference2018.cim.bg

9th Uganda National Honey Week August 2018, Kampala Further details www.tunadobees.org

BULGARIA

UK

CANADA

WBKA 75th Anniversary Conference 13-15 July 2018, Aberystwyth University Further details www.wbka.com

BSc Beekeeping Science & Technology University of Dar es Salaam Further details www.coasft.udsm.ac.tz

3rd Australian Bee Congress 27-30 June 2018, Gold Coast, Queensland Further details www.australianbeecongress.com.au

British Beekeepers Spring Convention 13-15 April 2018, Harper Adams University Further details www.bbka.org.uk

Second Propolis Conference - Propolis in human and bee health 28-29 September 2018, Sofia Further details www.propolisconference2018.cim.bg APIMONDIA: 46th International Apicultural Congress 8-12 September 2019, Montreal Further details www.apimondia2019mtl.com

Scottish Beekeepers Association Autumn Convention 22-23 September 2018 Further details www.scottishbeekeepers.org.uk

FINLAND

87th National Honey Show 25-27 October 2018, Sandown Racecourse Further details www.honeyshow.co.uk

SICAMM Conference (International Association for the Protection of the European Dark Bee) 12-18 July 2018, Mustiala Further details www.sicamm.org

If you want notice of your conference, workshop or meeting to be included here and on our website, send details to Bees for Development.

FRANCE

9th International Meeting of Young Beekeepers 2-6 July 2018, Nérac Further details www.icyb.cz

WORLD BEE AWARENESS DAY

20 May 2018

GERMANY

International Symposium on Pollination 16-20 April 2018, Berlin Further details carlosh.vergara@udlap.mx

www.worldbeeday.org/en/

5th ApiBio Symposium 2018 Further details will appear here

BEES FOR DEVELOPMENT EVENTS

Further details

Symposium on Research in Beekeeping and Sustainable Development 28-29 March 2018 University of Reading

KENYA

Certificate course Entrepreneurship in apiculture in East Africa Baraka Agricultural College, Molo Further details www.sustainableagri.org

Sustainable Beekeeping Course 7-8 April and 8-9 September 2018 Ragman’s Lane Farm, GL17 9PA

NETHERLANDS

Learning from the bees 31 August – 2 September 2018, Dorn Further details www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/ conference

Strengthening Livelihoods Course 20 April and 19 October 2018 Monmouth Further details www.beesfordevelopment.org

NIGERIA

Natural Beekeeping with Leo Sharashkin 16-17 June 2018 Further details see page 16

6th ApiExpo Africa 25-29 September 2018, Abuja Further details www.apiexpoafrica2018.org/

WAYS TO PAY

• Secure order and payment at www.beesfordevelopment.org/shop • Send Money via PayPal to store@beesfordevelopment.org • Credit/Debit card Maestro/MasterCard/Visa. We need card number, name on card, valid from and expiry dates, card issue number (if given), security number on back of card.

• Cheque/bank draft in GBP payable to Bees for Development 15

Bees for Development Journal 126 March 2018

JUNE 2018

Bees for Development Training days in UK

Unique training days on natural, treatment free beekeeping in horizontal hives with Dr Leo Sharashkin of Missouri, USA Saturday June 16

NATURAL BEEKEEPING THAT WORKS Sunday June 17

ADVANCED NATURAL BEEKEEPING MADE EASY Learn the history and practice of beekeeping in skeps with Chris Park of UK Monday June 18

SKEP BEEKEEPING More information and booking

www.beesfordevelopment.org/events-calendar

SUPPORT FOR TRAINING BfD Training Booklets and Training Cards are for use by beekeeper trainers in Africa Each booklet provides one day of training on one topic. The cards provide pictures and plans illustrating techniques discussed in the booklets. These are included in our Resource Boxes for training events and workshops.

Projects and associations in developing countries are welcome to apply for a Sponsored Resource Box by filling out an application form on our website, or request the form by email.

Projects in other areas can purchase Resource Boxes through our website store.

www.beesfordevelopment.org

SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE This Journal is available for resource-poor beekeepers, projects, schools and groups in developing countries Supported with funds raised by Bees for Development Trust Name.................................................................................................

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Additional copies of this form are available from our website Email journalrequest@beesfordevelopment.org Post to BfD Trust at the address below

Bees for Development, 1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK Telephone +44 (0)1600 714848 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org © Bees for Development 2018 ISSN 1477-6588 Printed on environmentally friendly paper