Bees for Development
JOURNAL
No 141 JANUARY 2022
• TEKNE HIVES • BREAKING BARRIERS • TOP-BAR FEEDER • AZERBAIJAN
The Journal for sustainable beekeeping
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
show that during just four months in 2020, EU member states and the UK planned to export more than 3,800 tonnes of banned insecticides containing neonicotinoids. Exports were notified from eight EU countries and the UK, destined for more than sixty countries around the world – most of them poorer countries. It is in poorer countries that these hazardous pesticides pose the greatest risks – as well as killing terrestrial life they cause colossal damage to aquatic ecosystems, and if permitted to be used, strict control of their use should be enforced. These chemicals are intensely powerful and have effect even when present in trace amounts - very low micrograms per litre.
Dear friends We must do all we can to stop everything disappearing. Loss of biodiversity is reaching crisis point – young readers, please talk to older people in your community – who will tell you that there used to be more trees, more insects, more birds, more of every type of wildlife. One of the main reasons why insects including bees and so many other species of insect which are crucial for life on earth - are disappearing - is the use of pesticides.
We urgently need planners and policymakers to understand the risks. Just one example: the Ethiopian Govt’s Planning and Development Commission has a ten-year plan (2021-2030) with one aim ‘to increase the application of pesticides from 15.4 thousand litres to 100 thousand litres’.
Here in the UK, along with the rest of Europe, there is acceptance that neonicotinoid pesticides, or ‘neonics’– used in agriculture to control insect pests, had to be banned completely from our environment – because of the colossal harm they were causing to it. One reason it took so long for them to be banned is because it is hard, scientifically, to exactly link cause and effect. Now the EU considers their threat to global pollinator populations so grave – that it will ban the import into the EU of foods containing any trace of some neonics.
It was French beekeepers who were the first in Europe to raise the alarm about the effects of neonics. Please do whatever you can in your community to stop these terrible toxins from being used. Bees for Development is here to help you in any way that we can.
It is now revealed, thanks to investigation by Unearthed (part of Greenpeace UK) and Public Eye, that the EU and the UK are shipping thousands of tonnes of neonicotinoid pesticides to poorer countries, years after these chemicals were banned from farms here. Documents obtained under freedom of information rules
January 2022
Practical Beekeeping: Sugar feeding.......................................... 3 Golden Bee Award....................... 4 Bark hive beekeeping and forest maintenance - Part II........... 5 BfDJ Hub Update........................... 9 Is disability a barrier to beekeeping?................................. 10 Tekne beekeeping and mountain honey in Azerbaijan..................... 12 Bookshelf...................................... 14 Look Ahead.................................. 15 APIMONDIA 2022......................... 16 Bees for Development Journal Produced quarterly and sent to readers in over 130 countries
Bees for Development Works to assist beekeepers in developing countries. Readers in developing countries may apply for a sponsored subscription. Apply online at www.beesfordevelopment.org Bees for Development Trust gratefully acknowledge ADM, Artemis Charitable Trust, Bees for Development North America, Briogeo, British Wax Refining Co Ltd, Charles Hayward Foundation, Didymus Charity, E H Thorne (Beehives) Ltd, Ethiopiaid, Euromonitor International, Eva Crane Trust, Healing Herbs, Hiscox Foundation, Koster Keunen, National Lottery Community Fund UK, Neal’s Yard Remedies, Nelsons Homeopathic Pharmacy, Rowse Honey Ltd, Wales and Africa, Waterloo Foundation, Welsh Government, Yasaeng Beekeeping Supplies and many other generous organisations. 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.
Editor: Nicola Bradbear PhD Co-ordinator: Helen Jackson BSc Subscriptions cost £30 per year – see page 15 for ways to pay
Image © Oliver Migliore
Edition 141
Nicola Bradbear, Director Bees for Development
Cover image: Shirinov Emin and Demichiev Irfan practise Tekne beekeeping in the Greater Caucasus Mountains Region of Azerbaijan. See more on page 12
1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK Tel: +44 (0)1600 714848 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org 2
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING
Sugar feeding using a top-bar feeder Steven D Liseki
Introduction
A good feeder:
Beekeepers often feed sugar to bees before or during dearth periods. In temperate regions the dearth period is winter when temperatures fall to 0°C or below. In the tropics, dearth periods occur either during dry periods or prolonged rainy periods.
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The dearth period is a time of lower activity when few or no bee plants are in flower. During this time tropical bee colonies might migrate or abscond from the hive in search of sites with better conditions for survival, which means a big loss of colonies may occur. One way to stop this is to feed the bees with sugar syrup. Sugar is used as the best substitute material for nectar although some other feeds with high sugar content can also be used. These include date fruits, sweet bananas and sugar cane juice.
Allows bees to feed easily without drowning in the syrup Is durable and can be re-used many times Does not allow robber bees to enter Is easy to work with and can be filled quickly with syrup without disturbing the bees or getting stung
Making and using the feeder The feeder is built from a standard top-bar. Timber, hardboard and nails are all that are needed (see Figure 1). The top-bar frame feeder is sloped at 10° to fit both types of top-bar hives we use (0° and 10° sloped hives). A piece of wire mesh covers the filler hole to prevent robber bees getting into the feeder. The holes should be placed as high as possible to increase the carrying capacity of the feeder.
In temperate regions there are various techniques for feeding sugar to bees. The purpose of our project has been to develop a feeding technique appropriate for the type of top-bar hives and bees used in Tanzania.
Melted beeswax (or paraffin wax) is poured inside the feeder to close all the gaps through which syrup might leak out. The feeder should be placed at the rear end of the top-bar hive to make feeding easy (Figure 2). The feeder holds one litre of syrup.
The choice of feeder depends upon the type of hive used. Use of a frame feeder or placing a cup of sugar in an empty super on top of a hive, are not always appropriate ways to feed bees in the tropics.
Observations • •
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The syrup in the feeders was all consumed by the bees within two days, in all 30 hives in the experiment. No bees drowned in the syrup. The syrup was made in a ratio of 2 : 1 (sugar to water, by volume). Feeding was carried out twice a week, each colony getting 0.5 litres of syrup each time, over three or four weeks. The Research Team at Njiro has found that a 1 : 1 sugar to water syrup should no longer be recommended because this ferments rapidly under tropical conditions. The perforated feeding holes, though bigger than the size of the bees, were chewed by the bees to increase the hole size.
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
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This article was first published in Bees for Development Journal 38. We are republishing it now in memory of Steven Liseki who sadly died a few weeks ago. Steven was a remarkable person, with tremendous charm, integrity, and who always showed fortitude in the face of difficulties.
After two weeks of feeding, bees sealed the wire mesh in ten feeders with propolis. To continue with sugar feeding we had to break and remove the wire mesh. We found that the robber bee problem could be avoided by replacing the cover of the hive immediately after filling the feeder. Another alternative was to plug the hole with a cork after filling. The time used to fill a feeder in a hive was so short that no bees were coming out to sting. Also, bees could not fly out because the feeder is just the right size to fit inside the hive, leaving no gap for bees. The advantage is that you can feed the bees without wearing beekeeping clothing.
Steven was one of the lead researchers in our team during the 1990s when Bees for Development ran projects in partnership with Njiro Wildlife Research Centre in Arusha, Tanzania - which was where Steven began his research. The research work we completed with Steven and the Njiro team during those years in Tanzania has informed much of Bees for Development’s continuing, steadfast approach to sustainable beekeeping development. It was wonderful to have Steven within the team and we were delighted when he went on to complete his PhD and to build a good and fruitful career.
Colony development after feeding was good and as a result, we had an early (minor) harvest for the first time in our apiary.
Absconding was reduced: only one colony absconded, and this was due to queen failure followed by pest attack.
Nicola Bradbear
Conclusion
Image © Patricia Moehlman
These feeders have proved to be very successful and can be used with any type of top-bar hive (based on the measurements of the hive itself).
Image Source: www.themayor.eu/en/a/view/slovenia-presents-first-international-golden-bee-prize-9623
Golden bee award Winner: Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi from Argentina On 21 December 2021, the Golden Bee Award was presented for the first time at the Carniolan Bee House in Višnja Gora, Slovenia.
Lucas’s award winning project is “a scientific research contribution to raising awareness of the importance and role of pollination for the functioning of ecosystems and the impact on human well-being”.
The Award was received by Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi from Argentina. The recipient was announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food and the Chairman of the Golden Bee Award Committee, Dr Jože Podgoršek. Borut Pahor, President of Slovenia, presented the Award.
Lucas is an internationally recognised scientist and researcher who, through his achievements, makes an important contribution to raising awareness of the importance and conservation of bees and other pollinators worldwide, promoting biodiversity, healthy food production and improving people’s quality of life.
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Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
Bark hive beekeeping and forest maintenance - Part II Janet Lowore, Programme Manager, Bees for Development Part I considered whether bark hive making causes deforestation. It does not. The number of trees suitable for making hives within any given area of forest are relatively few, and most of the trees in an area used for forest beekeeping are retained – because they are the wrong species, the wrong shape or the wrong size for hives. Smaller trees are left until they grow larger. In this article we recognise that the first people to notice whether bark hive making causes a shortage of trees will be the beekeepers themselves. Based on research done 2015-2018 in north-western Zambia, we report beekeeper perspectives on this and wider questions about resource availability.
Beekeeping in the landscape Inevitably resource usage varies from place to place. In Mwinilunga trading and village life tend to take place near the roadside, while farming – including the permanent and semi-permanent fields of cassava and maize - is done on suitable land within a few kilometres of a village (although more distant fields are also used). Most hives are located at sites further into the forest, often a day’s walk away from the roadside. A forest hive site is indistinguishable from the surrounding mature forest, with hives located very sparsely, placed on tree branches and spaced 50m apart, spread over many hectares. There is no fence or boundary. Beekeepers have their own sites and know the sites of other beekeepers and will locate hives in more than one place to take advantage of natural variations in flowering patterns, topography and vegetation. Of the beekeepers interviewed during my research, 88% had more than one hive site and about 40% of those sites were inherited from an older relative, indicating that the same sites have been used for many years.
Beekeepers in Mwinilunga obtain food by growing crops, for example maize, and cash, by selling honey. Both activities are necessary for their survival. Maize farming involves the total removal of forest, including de-stumping
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
One way that beekeepers stake a claim to a hive site is by identifying their hives with carved initials. Beekeepers respect each other and acknowledge one another’s sites
Hive site ownership locations. Bark hives are sited in the place they are made, so this permanence indicates that that the natural re-growth of trees meets the demand for hive replacement.
Beekeepers explain that each person has their own hive site and no one else can interfere with it: “Each person might have different places, but they stick to them when they have them. I know my place. I have used the same place for 20 years, and I replace hives if old. We have our own places,” (beekeeper, Kasochi Central, 2015). In fact, beekeepers have no formal ownership rights to the forest which belongs to the Chief and is governed by statutory laws: “The forest doesn’t belong to me, but my hive site does. I have used the same place for 30 years. No one can interfere”, (beekeeper, Muzeya, 2015). At a local level, people agree and respect each other’s activities and beekeepers are protective of their hive sites: “People are not allowed to cut trees there (in my hive place) - it can never happen”, (beekeeper, Kasochi Central, 2015).
The reasons for identifying new sites in the other 60% of cases were mixed. Reasons included people taking up beekeeping without having anyone from whom to inherit, the need to find new hive sites due to loss of access to forest because of land sales, and not being able to find enough trees for hive making. A beekeeper in Kanongesha explained more on this last point: “Yes, trees die when we make the hives, but we do it selectively. We leave the small trees to grow. Sometimes we need to find a new place [for hives] then we go back to the original place after 5 years. The smaller trees will be big enough. If you see the places where our ancestors kept bees and made hives, the trees are all big now”, (beekeepers, Kanongesha, 2015).
Around 40% of hive sites used by beekeepers are inherited: this suggests a longevity to hive site
Beekeepers are thoughtful in the way they use forest resources One way to reduce bark usage is to take care of existing hives so they last a long time and to re-use empty hives. Beekeepers know that hives which have been previously occupied by bees are likely to attract swarms more readily than new hives, and they know also that a specific hive location that attracted a swarm once, is likely to do so again. One way to maximise hive occupancy therefore is to move an empty, but previously used hive to a new location and place a new hive in the previously used site. This action increases the chance of both hives (the new and the old) being occupied by bees. Bee occupation not only ensures a honey yield, which is clearly of utmost priority for beekeepers, but it also contributes to hive longevity because occupied bark hives can last for up to 10 years. This insight helps to show that beekeepers are very thoughtful, not careless, users of resources. 6
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
Availability of forest resources for forest beekeeping burning is greater. One key informant reported that where charcoal burning and beekeeping are done side by side, such as in Kapiri Moshi, charcoal making brings in more money and beekeeping suffers from the consequent forest degradation
All beekeepers agree that the forest is essential for their wellbeing, income, employment and wealth, for beekeeping and many other benefits. In responses to questions about beekeeping and resource availability, 70% of respondents thought that there was sufficient forest at present, even if people wanted to do more beekeeping. However, 47% were less confident about the future, concerned about forest loss, growing human populations and loss of access to forest due to land sales and possible opening of mines.
Actions to support future bark availability On the question of bark, beekeepers were asked specifically how they ensured that there will be sufficient trees to make bark hives in future. Beekeepers responded by saying that they were careful to use resources wisely, by making more than one hive from each tree, where possible, (50% of respondents) and that they were very selective in their use of trees (76% of respondents). Most interestingly 94% of beekeepers said they act to safeguard the next generation of trees for bark making by a forest management activity known as ‘early burning’.
Beekeepers are particularly concerned about losing access to forests: “The government and the Chief sell the land to large-scale farmers and to the mines. The Government wants money through selling the land. We have no powers”, (beekeepers, Mayimba, 2015) and: “We worry about the Chief giving land to big farmers”, (beekeepers, Kachikula, 2015). On the question of mines, beekeepers in Chibwika explained in 2018 that mining companies were prospecting in the same forest
This image shows a typical forest hive site. The contrast in terms of forest maintenance between this activity and maize farming is very evident
This action involves setting deliberate fire before the main dry season, to remove tall grasses which later in the hot season would fuel very destructive intense bush fires. “Early burning is the solution and the Forestry Department used to get people to do that in June and July. We beekeepers do that now, we burn here and there, where our hives are. Small trees are protected when we do early burning” (beekeepers, Muzhila, 2015). Early burning burns grass but is harmless to trees, unlike late season fires.
where they keep their hives and that if the mines were made, they would lose everything. Beekeepers know that mining can potentially bring jobs, but they fear that they do not have the skills that mining companies are looking for. In Mwinilunga, charcoal burning was considered a threat to beekeeping only in a few places near the main town, and here beekeepers admit that seeing bee-useful trees being cut for charcoal: “… is painful to see. But what can we do? Everyone needs to make a living” (beekeepers, Mayimba, 2016). In other parts of Zambia the conflict between beekeeping and charcoal 7
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
Natural checks and balances
Conclusion
The unsuitability of most trees for hive making places a natural constraint on the rate of tree use and means that the harvesting pressure on the forest is light. While this ‘natural constraint’ might be good for the forest, it has implications for beekeepers, who are obliged to traverse large areas of the forest making and siting hives. This is good for the forest because it means no specific area is subject to intense harvesting pressure, and good for bees because hives are not over-crowded in one place which is good for bee health and nutrition. The two disadvantages of this method are:
Beekeepers are very protective of their hive sites in the forest, as they provide them with all the resources they need to make an income from beekeeping. Beekeepers use forest resources carefully and wisely, yet there are many causes of forest loss which are outside beekeepers’ control. Where beekeepers can control factors which damage forests, for example, harmful late season fires, they will do so.
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In the final article of this series we will return to the question of trade-offs and consider the wider impact of bark hive beekeeping on the environment, rather than looking narrowly at hive making alone, and explore whether the forest is helped or harmed, by the sum of all the activities of bark hive beekeepers. Fire mitigation will be discussed in more detail.
Beekeepers are obliged to work for days in distant forests away from farms and villages, and while most men consider this level of effort acceptable in comparison to the returns, the activity is not suitable for women
Swathes of forest have been cut to make way for an electricity line to a new mine. Mining may serve some national development goals, but beekeepers do not have the skills to take advantage of potential job opportunities: they see this tree-cutting as harmful to forests and beekeeping with no positive trade-offs •
Beekeepers walk long distances looking for trees for hive making and for suitable places to hang hives. This work takes place in the forest interior, necessitating beekeepers to make temporary campsites in the forest
References
While forest beekeeping is benign for forests, it also needs forests and if forests are lost or cut-over for farming or charcoal making then bark hive beekeeping is also constrained. This limitation is evident in places, for example, where cassava is grown using shifting agriculture. Here farmers cut all trees in a plot, but do not remove the stumps. They grow cassava for a few years then leave the field and allow the stumps to re-grow. Importantly these re-growth fields produce flowers and nectar before they yield trees big enough for bark hive-making, and in the absence of bark to make hives, it is hard for beekeepers to take advantage of the nectar resources of young re-growth forests.
LOWORE,J. (2021). Forest beekeeping in Zambia: analysing the nexus of sustainable forest management and commercial honey trade. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, UK. Images © Janet Lowore/Bees for Development
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Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
UPDATE
Bees for Development Hubs
Image © Working for bees
Disruptions to international postal systems, caused by COVID-19, led us to rethink how we distribute print copies of Bees for Development Journal. Sending out individual editions to sponsored recipients had become an unsustainable and unfair approach. The high postage costs of sending to thousands of individual addresses internationally meant we could not keep up with demand for new sponsored subscriptions. We decided to publish the Journal digitally, directly online, making it accessible via low-bandwidth connections and downloadable as a pdf – all completely free of charge. Now you can read any edition online – all the way back to 1981!
Working for Bees Director, Robert Mutisi, with copies of BfD Journal 139 in Zimbabwe
Browse the new Bees for Development Journal Archive @ issuu.com/beesfd
Image © Keystone Foundation
New readers are joining us with every edition however we know that paper editions still reach places the digital editions do not. We are establishing a network of Distribution Hubs to get news and practical beekeeping tips over that last mile, and into the hands of beekeepers who are not connected to the internet. We have Hubs in the Caribbean, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The Hubs are organisations that are actively promoting sustainable beekeeping in their region: reaching remote and marginalised communities, running workshops in schools and universities, attending sector events, and meeting beekeepers and honey traders every day. Hubs are receiving 20-150 of each Journal edition and distributing them through their local networks.
Technical Co-ordinator and Wildlife Ecologist at Keystone Foundation, Natasha hands over BfD Journal 140 to Murugan, President of the local governing body Panchayat
To register your interest in applying to be a BfD Journal Distribution Hub, please email: info@beesfordevelopment.org
Resource Centre - Coming soon We will soon launch our new and improved online Resource Centre, to allow you to search this archive by topic: author, country, keyword, and region. We are very excited about the amazing functionalities and contents of the new site, which will give you options to build a custom profile and dashboard, set notification preferences and save the articles and resources you need at your fingertips. Based on the information you give in your profile, Bees for Development will be able to send you updates via the Bee-bulletin email and Whatsapp that are specifically of interest to you. Watch this space and make sure you are signed up to our Bee Bulletin or Whatsapp broadcast group so that you do not miss the launch. 9
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
Is disability a barrier to beekeeping?
Zec Richardson, British Beekeepers Association Member, Southend-on-Sea, UK During the summer of 1994 at every lunchtime when I was at work, I would sit outside - behind an aircraft hangar where bees had nested in an old hut that had a hole in the door. I sat close by, and some bees would land on me before going into the nest. It was then that I first became interested in bees.
I was determined that the dream of having my own hive was worth me trying everything I could to make it come true. Luckily, there is a wealth of information available via the internet. That is if you can figure out whose opinion is the right one: I could write about any subject and publish it on my website - it does not mean I know what I am talking about! I decided that due to finances and making the hive as accessible as I could, I would have to go down the Do It Yourself (DIY) route.
My wife always said that if we had a garden over 20m long, I could have a hive (she is not the most confident with bees, wasps or anything that flies near her). When we moved into the home where we now live now (the garden is 30m long), she laughed and said “no chance” before I had said anything. Therefore, it was a shock when, one day out of the blue, she said “Okay you can have a hive!”
I can pull my wheelchair right up to my top-bar hive and inspect the brood with ease without needing to reach forward
Accessibility
However now I am a wheelchair user and in constant pain. I have ME (also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which means I suffer with physical and mental fatigue), and I was very unsure if it was even possible to start beekeeping. The National frame hive that people (in the UK) automatically think of as a bee hive was instantly out of the question: its height and the weight of the boxes would make it unmanageable for me, so I knew that it would have to be a horizontal style hive. As well as accessibility issues, there is also my health, which makes me unreliable as I do not know how I will be feeling from one hour to the next, and attempting to join a beekeeping association and/or course would be difficult. That is in addition to the question of accessibility a wheelchair user faces with every decision about attending somewhere new.
Top-bar hives In the beekeeping world opinions on which hive is the best will always cause disagreements, but without any doubt, the top-bar hive is the most accessible for wheelchair users. Yes, you can make or purchase a long hive that holds frames, but it is not as accessible as a top-bar hive. It is not until you use a wheelchair that you fully appreciate the issues you must face.
A 30m long garden puts enough distance between my bees and my wife. Everyone is happy
The shape of the top-bar hive allows me to pull right up to my hive, my legs tucked slightly under thanks to the ‘V’ shape and the hive is almost like a desktop in front of me. If I could not do that, I would be forced to reach forward and that makes tasks more difficult: it takes more energy, and I would manage only a few minutes at the hive. Our kitchen is not accessible and simple tasks become very tiring by being forced to reach forwards all the time. A long hive could be a suitable solution if a top-bar hive was not available, but I would have to approach the hive side-on, and work that way, but this could be awkward and cause more muscle fatigue.
DIY
The DIY hive was built to the perfect height and the pitched roof means that I can keep a few tools under it. And because of mental fatigue (what is known as ‘brain fog’ where thinking is like swimming through wet
The problem of being unable to work because of my health means that finances are not available to join an association and pay for a beekeeping course. However, 10
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
cement) being able to keep ‘cheat sheets’ with key points under the roof helps as well.
For example, once I am holding one of the bars with comb on and bees are walking all over it, I am only able to pick it up, inspect it and put it back into the hive. My hands are full, I cannot physically go anywhere, unless someone pushes me. I also found out during a ‘quick peep’ into the hive at the end of the season and yes, I made the mistake of thinking I would not need to be suited up, I discovered that a big issue of being in a wheelchair is the inability to run away! I was in shorts and a tee shirt, I cracked open the follower board at the end of the hive space. I was confident as the colony was calm and placid…. I know, at this point, all of you reading this are either laughing or shaking your heads. My previously calm colony was now, as I discovered to my peril, very defensive of their stores at the end of the season. As soon as I pulled that follower board away, I knew I had made a mistake. The hive went from a dull buzz to a roar and the bees poured out of the gap like a scene from a cartoon - and they were after me!
Taking all of this into consideration, there are still issues that mean that I will always need help - and learning to accept that you need help - is important. If you are mentoring someone with a disability, please remember to ask if they need help, rather than jumping in to assist because you think the person looks like they need help. Carrying equipment on my lap is possible but I can guarantee that by the time I have moved from the shed to the hive, every piece on my lap will have fallen off several times and I will have wasted precious energy picking them up. And a lit smoker is certainly not something that you want on your lap! I attached our garden cart to the back of the wheelchair with a bit of
No way out
I am on bumpy grass not a smooth surface and any getaway will not be quick - my brain urged me to leap up and run. I wanted to close the hive but that was not an option with ‘angry’ bees everywhere and so I did all that I could and sat there and was stung. One negative point of a top-bar hive is that when I open up the gap between the follower and the row of bars, I cannot close it without crushing the bees that are now exiting and are all over the follower and top-bar next to it. That was my first season over and this year after the snow, I saw bees flying and was confident that my colony had survived. However, there followed a cold, wet and windy couple of weeks and after that there was no activity at all. I was checking through binoculars as the ground was too wet and muddy for me to get to the hive. Access is very important, and I do not have proper all year-round access. I had to wait weeks for the ground to dry out and my fears came true, the hive was quiet and I had lost the colony. I worried that it was my inexperience: there was a lot of honey still in the hive and the dead bees showed no signs of deformity and everything looked okay. I am hoping that I manage to lure a swarm, because purchasing a nucleus of bees is financially impossible for me.
My nice, calm colony can be inspected with just a little smoke string - although not ideal - it works. The neighbours’ children find it fascinating and funny watching this procession from shed to hive, the disabled train making its way over the bumpy grass. Clothing is also something that can cause issues; I assumed that I would get a beekeeping suit: I was lying on the bed trying to get into it and when I did, once I had ‘plopped’ myself back into my wheelchair (which is never very dignified), the suit pulled too tight here and not right there, despite being a good fit. And the effort of putting the suit on used up precious energy. I decided that a jacket and veil would be an easier option, and it is!
Support
I urge associations and everyone to make the world of beekeeping more accessible. Not only for people with a disability and or chronic health condition, but for those who are financially unable to become involved in beekeeping. I recognise that top-bar hives are often frowned upon but for many it really is the only hive that can be managed due to disability, poor health, or even old age. Having a top-bar hive for people wishing to become involved in beekeeping could encourage these people to begin. I finish this by thanking the beekeepers who have supported my journey into beekeeping (this has been via Twitter), and who have taken the time to answer my questions.
Positives and negatives After many decisions and experimenting, I am finally sitting in my wheelchair at the hive. The smoker is lit, I have all my tools with me, the roof is open, and I am looking at the row of top-bars. This is another plus for the top-bar hive - it gives me more time to think because even though the roof is open, bees are contained with the hive at this point. Even though much thought and preparation went into making the hive as accessible as I could, there will always be problems and these problems could differ with every disabled person: our disabilities vary as much as the opinions of three beekeepers having a chat!
First published in BBKA News September 2021, whom we thank for permission to reprint here. www.bbka.org. uk/are-disabilities-barriers-to-beekeeping Images © Zec Richardson 11
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
Tekne beekeeping and mountain honey in Azerbaijan Slow Food Presidia, COVCHEG project
The mild climatic conditions in the mountainous areas of north-west Azerbaijan have allowed for the development of the beekeeping tradition of tekne. Tekne is a hollowed out wooden log, replicating the natural habitat of honey bees in trees.
Slow Food is a worldwide network of local communities founded in 1989 to counteract the disappearance of local food traditions and the spread of fast-food culture. Slow Food is now a global movement that includes millions of people in more than 160 countries, working to ensure access to good, clean and fair food for all.
The logs are usually carved from soft trees, traditionally alder or linden. They vary in length (1-1.5m) and 40-50cm in diameter. The log is cut in half then carved to create a space for the bees. Both parts are fastened together, and an entrance hole made, before the colony is placed inside to settle. Teknes are placed at an altitude of 600-800m, where the flora allows the bees to collect pollen from apple, chestnut, peach and pear trees. Honey is harvested once a year in the last week of July with a yield of 1-3kg per colony. The honey is dark in colour, dense and with an intense taste.
Fitting into the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, a core part of the European Green Deal, establishing a larger EU-wide network of protected areas on land and at sea, Slow Food Presidia directly support farmers and assists with the creation of farming communities that protect biodiversity and preserve traditional food production techniques. This helps farmers feel less isolated as they can overcome difficulties together and gain access to markets without third-party involvement. Farmers also receive training from relevant experts and access to an international support network. All products protected by the Presidia are historically and culturally linked to a specific region.
Tekne hives have always been home for the Caucasian Mountain Grey honey bee Apis mellifera caucasica. These bees have a longer tongue that enables them to forage from a broader range of flowers, as well as characteristics that allow the bees to overwinter more successfully. Despite these qualities, and the species’ high resistance and docility, more and more Azerbaijani beekeepers are purchasing bees from breeders importing foreign queens.
Tekne hives are home for the Caucasian Mountain grey honey bee Apis mellifera caucasica
Currently only a few beekeepers in the region are preserving the tekne beekeeping method, with most instead using frame hives. The revival of the tekne method should go hand in hand with the safeguarding of Apis mellifera caucasica. The Slow Food Presidia engages beekeepers who are motivated to produce high quality mountain honey, either with the tekne method, or with the Caucasian Mountain Grey honey bee or, ideally, both. The protocol signed by producers respects the insects and the ecosystem in which they are raised and establishes full adherence to the traditional production techniques of honey harvesting and processing. Slow Food is working to preserve what remains of local biodiversity in Azerbaijan and is developing sustainable local value chains as a viable alternative to the well-established and powerful supply chains that are wiping out local production. With financial support from the COVCHEG (Community-based Value Chain Enhancement in the Greater Caucasus Mountains Area) funded by the EU and in partnership with the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, Slow Food is developing a project to support smallholder farmers in the Greater Caucasus Mountains region working closely with local authorities, civil society groups and other stakeholders, to share the EU’s best practice and expertise on local identities and gastronomy, favouring the conservation of local biodiversity and cultural heritage.
First published: https://www.slowfood.com/ press-release/caucasian-buffalo-and-mountain-honey-are-new-slow-food-presidia-in-azerbaijan/ Images ©Oliver Migliore 12
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
Logs are cut in half then carved out to make space for the colony
Apis mellifera caucasica
Tekne hives 13
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
BOOKSHELF Malaysian Meliponiculture & Beyond Including Stingless Bee Conservation Coordinator: Abu Hassan Jalil, Editor: David W Roubik 2021 344 pages Softcover. Published by the International Bee Research Association (IBRA) & Northern Bee Books (UK) This is the second instalment in the Meliponiculture and beyond series. It covers stingless bees and their produce harvested by keepers of stingless bees, and conservationists’ efforts in peninsula Malaysia and east Malaysia on Borneo Island. The text describes the regional stingless bee fauna and flora diversity and discusses crop pollination potential. Highland stingless beekeeping is discussed, and data from the 19th century until now is presented. Data on the diverse sugar profiles of stingless bee honeys are given. This large book concludes with aspirations for the future of meliponiculture, and there are three extremely useful appendices: A glossary of pollination terminology (extremely helpful indeed), a genera key update, and finally, while defining a swarm as ‘A large, dense group of flying insects’ – Appendix C describes twelve different types of swarms! With over 100 photographs, many diagrams and much data accumulated within, this text will provide hugely valuable information if you are seeking to learn more about stingless bees and their status.
Honey bees Ingo Arndt and Jurgen Tautz 2021 192 pages Hardcover. Published by the Natural History Museum (UK) A close look at the secret lives of honey bees nesting in the trees of the forests of central Europe, seen like never before in stunning photographs captured by Ingo Arndt. Jurgen Tautz guides the reader through this amazing visual journey with charm and erudition. This is not just a book of beautiful pictures – it contains useful introductions to the research that is helping us to understand how bees think. The closing remarks on the status of honey bees as wild animals and on our relationship with them as beekeepers, are very well-chosen. This is exactly the book needed to bring free-living honey bees into sight by the public, raising awareness about their behaviour, place and value within natural habitat. Everyone, even with just a passing interest in bees will love this special and important book.
The Insect Crisis Oliver Milman 2022 260 pages Hardcover, Published by Atlantic Books (UK) Milman has been a Guardian journalist for almost a decade and this has given him opportunity to interview entomologist worldwide who are studying the catastrophe that is the decline in insects. This book will educate and inform you – Milman explains and makes the argument for huge effort to now restore the earth’s biodiversity and abundance of the insects that play such a crucial role for life as we know it.
Rebugging the Planet Vicki Hird 2021 224 pages Softcover. Published by Chelsea Green Publishing (UK) This book gladdens the heart with the amazing things that insects do and awakens us to how essential they are in supporting us and all life on earth. It explains how we risk losing all of that. Pesticides and intensive farming, loss of forests, hedgerows, shrubs, trees and wildflowers, accelerating climate change, pollution of water and soils, plastic micro-particles, light pollution and so much more are causing problems. Most importantly, Vicki Hird tells us what we can all do to change this – practical actions we can take in our gardens, in our communities and while shopping, as well as tips for launching effective campaigns. We can all rewild by rebugging! 14
Bees for Development Journal 141 January 2022
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BBKA Spring Convention 8-10 April 2022, Harper Adams College Further details www.bbka.org.uk
APIMONDIA: 48th International Apicultural Congress 2023, Santiago Further details will appear here Apis Silvatica: The western honey bee’s place in nature 16-20 May 2022, Pantelleria For more information and to register http://www. parconazionalepantelleria.it/international_meeting_apis_silvatica.php
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91st National Honey Show 27-29 October 2022, Epsom Race Course Further details www.honeyshow.co.uk SICAMM Online Conference 2021/2022 International Association for the Protection of the European Dark Bee From 23 October weekly for 20 weeks Further details www.sicamm.org
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