News

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

In 1982 Meals for Millions Freedom from Hunger Foundation began initiating a beekeeping programme in Antigua which was aimed at providing technical, financial, and other assistance to the few persons keeping bees on the island. Mr Eustace Samuel had eight rustic hives and Mr Dalmar Edwards also had a few in his backyard.

A Peace Corps beekeeper from the neighbouring island of Montserrat, Mr Hank Thoenes was contacted and he agreed to come over to Antigua to assist. He conducted a series of courses for beekeeping beginners during the first year and showed them how to remove colonies from houses and trees. He also showed the beekeepers how to build Kenya top-bar hives and provided technical assistance.

During the second year he taught the group how to rear queens and how to build Langstroth hives since the beekeepers were experiencing problems with the type of wood that was used to build the Kenya top-bar hives. Another Peace Corps beekeeper, Mr Matt Schwartz replaced Mr Thoenes and he continued to provide technical assistance to the group.

The beekeepers have now organised themselves into a group which meets monthly at the Meals for Millions Office, locally named as the Organization for Agricultural Development to share information and to assist each other in removing bees and building boxes. The more knowledgeable beekeepers teach the new members how to keep bees.

The Canadian High Commission has provided funding which has led to the setting up of a programme on the sister island of Barbuda in January 1987.

A booklet describing beekeeping in Antigua and Barbuda has recently been prepared and is available from: Organization for Agricultural Development, Antigua, West Indies.

(Ruth Spencer, Organization for Agricultural Development)

BANGLADESH

Thai sac brood disease has been spreading through central Asia since 1976. When I visited Bangladesh in November 1987 and February 1988 I found severe damage from sac brood in many colonies. The area affected is in the central part and south of the capital Dhaka.

Many colonies have died, others have absconded leaving the diseased brood open for robbing bees or secondary infections. I estimate that the damage has just started in the last few years and the disease is expected to continue to spread for some time. Great harm has been caused to honey production and pollination in several areas.

The beekeepers and extension workers are not aware of this dangerous disease, and hence no_ preventive measures whatsoever has been undertaken. Instead they help to spread the disease through migration of hives, collective use of extractors and repeated use of old wax combs.

(B Svensson, Bikonsult HB, Sala, Sweden)

BELIZE

Beekeepers in southern Belize who formed a co-operative in 1980 are now working together with BEST (Belize Enterprise for Sustained Technology) to improve production consistency.

The Southern Beekeepers Cooperative Society Ltd was born as a solution to the marketing needs of subsistence farmers who had turned to beekeeping to increase family income. The cooperative now serves 115 beekeepers in purchasing equipment, processing and marketing their honey. However, low yields forced the cooperative to call in BEST in March 1986. Since then production has increased, membership swelled and grants and loans have been received for expansion of colony numbers and improvements to services.

For more details: BEST, Belmopan, Belize.

(Spore, September 1988 No 16)

BRAZIL

A new association of beekeepers: Associagao Jaguarense de Apicultura (AJA) has recently been formed. The majority of members use Schenk hives and approximately 70% of honey production in the area is commercial. The society meets monthly and proposes to improve technical and scientific methods of processing and storing apicultural products, to provide an incentive for pollination and to conserve and add to the apicultural flora of the area. The Society is preparing for its first Honey Fair at Jaguarao to be held in May 1989.

(Apicultura no Brasil, March/April 1988)

EGYPT

Earlier this year a training programme was held at the Apiculture Centre at Hawatka. 40 farmers, (15 of them already traditional beekeepers) attended the programme which lasted for two weeks. The farmers received instruction in theoretical and practical beekeeping from Dr Mhd Omar of Assiut University and Talaet Al-Sherief of the Assiut Governorate. Catholic Relief Services arranged for the distribution of 400 Langstroth hives and colonies; 10 for each of the farmers who were asked to provide a down payment of 40% of the total value of the hives. The down payments have been deposited in a separate bank account and this money will be used to extend credit to more farmers.

Follow-up visits to the farmers are conducted by an extension officer and technical supervisor. The farmers have steadily accepted the modern wooden beehives, but some of the farmers who already practise traditional beekeeping have indicated that they will continue with this method to produce a wax crop.

It is expected that this year’s honey production will be around 22 Kg per hive. An important objective is that eventually the project will be quite independent of the aid organisation.

(Amir El-taweel, Catholic Relief Services)

GHANA

Getting inside the human hive

Successfully promoting the many benefits of modern beekeeping stems not just from understanding the complex a community within a hive. It also requires ability to unravel the complexities of a human community.

The first GRATIS bee workshop, Staged in Tamale at the end of September as part of Phase One of a beekeeping development project funded by the German Appropriate Technology Exchange (GATE/GTZ) attracted an encouraging total of 60 Participants.

The fact that only 14 were women (none of them from villages) highlighted the problems of achieving two aims of the project: to encourage traditional beekeepers and women to adopt new methods despite the cultural and religious constraints of the predominately Muslim Northern Region.

Traditional honey harvesting - the Tole of men - involves climbing trees to Teach gourds placed in the upper branches, then burning the bees with a flaming torch to clear the gourd. It is destructive, risky, the quality and yield of honey are low, and the financial rewards are poor. The introduction of modern hive methods will increase yield, quality and financial rewards. Also, by breaking with tradition, it will also enable women to become involved.

Within days of the GRATIS bee school finishing, 45 of the 50 Kenyan top-bar hives produced at Tamale ITTU, with funding from GATE/GTZ, had been distributed - mostly free of charge - to schools, institutions, hobbyists, plus 19 traditional beekeepers and 14 women who took part in the training. The remaining five have been installed at the Bishop of Tamale’s residence for training of local people by Edward Azumah, the ITTU Beekeeping Extension Officer. Perhaps the most positive effect of the school was in forming a strategy for overcoming cultural barriers by encouraging more women, particularly in the villages, to start beekeeping as a commercial venture.

Mrs Rabi Adams, Women Farmers Extension Officer in Tamale, agreed to help GRATIS in travelling round to talk to village women. The 31st December Women’s Movement and the Amasachina Self-Help Association want to set up income generating programmes for women. Mr a Hippolyt Pul, UNICEF Projects Officer based in Tamale, will arrange funding for GRATIS to implement a beekeeping project for women. The Department of Rural Housing and Cottage Industries, which employs women in sewing, agreed to produce protective bee suits and veils.

An important participant in the bee school was Solomon Baguloo, executive member of the dormant Northern Region Beekeepers Association (NORBA). With the active support of a GRATIS and Mike Adjaloo of the TCC Apiculture Promotion Unit, he has undertaken to reorganise and revive the association to represent the interests of the region’s wide range of beekeepers. A kiosk built at Tamale ITTU will be given to NORBA to market its members’ produce — and show that modern beekeeping in the north is alive, thriving and richly rewarding.

(Nelson Akukumah, GRATIS News, October 1988)

NICARAGUA

The National Beekeeping Programme of Nicaragua is sponsored by the MID- INRA (Department of Agriculture), the National Development Bank and CARE Canada. Each institution provides funding and personnel for the programme while, in addition the Bank provides credit to beekeepers, MIDINRA provides extension services and CARE provides imported materials and technical advice. Recently a shipment of US 140 000 worth of beekeeping supplies has been received from Canada through a donation from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), CARE’s funding organisation for the programme.

Presently there are approximately 400 beekeepers in Nicaragua with about 9000 hives. The largest operation has 650 hives but the majority of beekeepers operate 15 or less. The programme has recently completed its beekeeping development centre which has a shop, living and teaching facilities and an apiary of about 100 hives which will grow to 300 by 1990.

The training emphasis is on the practical aspects of beekeeping utilising the centre's apiary. Students receive practice in topics ranging from general apiary management to queen rearing. Abreeding programme is about to be started and through the sale of honey and queens the Centre will to a large part be self-financing.

Nicaragua has had Africanized honeybees since 1984. We have found the bees quite variable in behaviour depending on factors such as location, time of day, weather and amount of stores. In general we find their management similar to European honeybees but more likely to get out of hand. The constant use of smoke is advised and therefore one person must manage the smoker at all times. However, this person may serve two others managing one hive each.

The programme has manufactured veils, hive tools, extractors, uncapping knives and smokers through contracts with local craftsmen. These articles are sold to the beekeepers with proceeds being used to further develop the industry.

(D MacDonald, Beekeeping Promotion Programme, CARE)

PHILIPPINES

Following his report on the effects of typhoon SISANG on beekeeping in Newsletter 12, Raul G Barrameda, Regional President of the Bicolandia Bee Raisers Association, summarises the current situation in the area:

Recovery - wild honeybees in the forests are beginning to recover as trees and plants in forage areas, especially coconut trees, are re-established.

Research - out of the three research-demonstration apiaries destroyed by the typhoon, one has been re-started by colonisation with wild bees. Material stocks available for research and demonstration are expected to be fully developed by February 1989. Production - progressive beekeeping is not yet moving due to the scarcity of production inputs. Production loan assistance is low due to the unavailability of authorisation from the government and banks and other funding institutions are not convinced of the viability of beekeeping project proposals.

Products - we are developing a hair restorative pomade produced from hive products. Observations commenced in April 1988, on 15 volunteers exhibiting different degrees of baldness. There are good signs of improvement. Also bee sting therapy is becoming popular as a cure for arthritis and rheumatism.

VENEZUELA

A National Museum of Apiculture has been opened in Mérida, Venezuela. The Museum is named “Ignacio Herrera” in memory of a famous Venezuelan apiculturalists who died last year. This Museum is not just a display of the history of beekeeping but is to be a dynamic source of information and promotion of beekeeping. Exhibitions are staged of bees and their products, antiquities, books and journals. Information bulletins and seminars will be arranged and in this way it is hoped to introduce visitors to apiculture and persuade people of the feasibility and benefits of beekeeping.

Three Venezuelan institutions have supported the development of the Museum, Asociacién de Apicoltores del Estado Mérida, Corporacién de los Andes and Universidad de los Andes.

The Museum relies on a non-profit making Society of Friends for promotion. The Society of Friends receive five free entry tickets and the MUNAPIH bulletin.

For further details write to: MUNAPIH, Parque La Isla, Mérida, Venezuela.