Beekeeping in Egypt

Egyptians have been beekeeping for at least 4500 years! Today traditional pipe hives are still used as well as modern Langstroth frame hives.

Traditional Egyptian beekeeping

Pipe hives are cylinders about 1 m long and 0.2m in diameter and are made variously from mud and straw, clay or Concrete. These cylinders form receptacles in which colonies of bees build their Nests: timber is a scarce commodity in Egypt so there are no log hives as found elsewhere in Africa. Each end of the Pipe is sealed with a cylinder of mud and straw, with a hole in one end for an entrance. The pipes are placed horizontally in stacks: each stack may be 10 m long and contain several hundred Pipes, although not every pipe will be Occupied by bees. In Egypt irrigated land (where there are crops requiring Pollination and supplying forage for bees) is scarce. The traditional method of beekeeping allows a large number of honeybee colonies to be maintained within a relatively small area and is certainly more space- effective than modem frame-hive beekeeping.

Traditional Egyptian beekeeping is a skilled process, often involving careful Management of the honeybee colonies: Special tools are used for this and for harvesting honey. Brood comb is normally near the entrance at the front of the hive; to harvest honey beekeepers remove the rear end of the hive and remove only combs containing honey. This traditional beekeeping method requires little or no financial outlay by rural people, provides worthwhile crops of honey and ensures pollination of nearby crops - it should not be discouraged.

Modern beekeeping

Apiaries of Langstroth hives, in total around 500000 colonies, are found throughout agricultural Egypt. Again, because agricultural land is precious, the hives tend to be very closely-spaced within apiaries. All hives seem to be grey in colour, and considerable drifting of bees must occur. A characteristic of Egyptian beekeeping is the use of a piece of sacking in place of a crown board, and entrances are constricted during the winter period using cow dung. The cost of a hive including frames and bees is around 60LE (US$30). Cotton honey sells at 2 LE per Kg. Wax sells at around 10 LE per Kg (GS$5). Beekeepers rely on three main honey flows; alfalfa, citrus and cotton, and a number of other minor crops. These crops are grown on continuously irrigated land which would otherwise be desert and for this reason there is no natural forage available for bees in these areas. Egyptian beekeepers must therefore move colonies between crops as they come into flower. There is a general dearth period during the winter (October — February) and colonies are fed during this period with sugar syrup or sunflower honey. Honey yields of around 20 Kg per colony per year are obtained. The native race of honeybees is Apis mellifera lamarckii, but Italian and other races have been widely introduced resulting in the presence of a great variety of honeybee colours.

Varroa jacobsoni does not appear to be present in Egypt despite its presence in neighbouring countries, probably because Egypt's relatively small amount of irrigated land can be considered an ‘island’ separated from its neighbours by desert. The absence of Varroa is a great advantage for Egyptian beekeepers and it will be to their credit if Egypt can be maintained Varroa-free.

Beekeeping receives support from the Government: with agricultural land at a premium it is vital that all crops are adequately pollinated, and honey is a popular and widely available food. There are a relatively large number of scientists involved with apicultural research, and a bee breeding and queen distribution programme is underway. There are also plans for developing beekeeping training courses within Egypt.

A major problem facing Egyptian beekeepers is the ever-increasing use of pesticides, and the levels of insecticides used on cotton make this a hazardous crop for beekeepers: upon seeing that one of the Conference Sessions was entitled ‘Pest control safe for bees’ an Egyptian academic was prompted to observe “There is no such thing!”