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BELIZE Africanized honeybees arrived in Belize in late 1987 and with them came the same disruptions that have been experienced in most of South and Central America. Beekeepers were completely unprepared to deal with the aggressiveness of the Africanized bees. The total number of colonies in Toledo District dropped from 1100 in 1986 to 382 in 1989. Practising beekeepers decreased from 67 in 1987 to 18 in 1989 and honey production fell from 17 000 kg to 2750 kg in 1987. The Maya Indian beekeepers faced a loss of income and the Southern Beekeepers’ Co-operative Society considered closing its doors and disbanding by mid-1989. But in spite of all the problems associated with Africanized honeybees, a spirit of determination and confidence prevailed. It is hard to keep a beekeeper down for long!
The Southern Beekeepers’ Co-oper-
ative received accounting and bookkeeping training from BEST (see Newsletter 13) and is planning to expand services for its members and the
public by selling agricultural supplies. The acreages of citrus, cocoa, bananas and mangoes are increasing rapidly in the district and so is demand for hardware and fertiliser. The profit from their sale will keep the Co-operative in business until honey production returns to normal. Most active beekeepers now have coveralls, gloves, veil and a smoker and they are beginning to be cautiously optimistic about managing Africanized bees. Swarming and absconding are still problems but extension officers are promoting supplemental feeding, making divisions and swarm trapping. Finally, the Marimba top-bar hive is generating some interest. Field trials will begin in January 1990 to test acceptance and yield. The top-bar hive is a low-cost alternative for beginners and 6
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takes advantage of the unique characteristics of the Africanized honeybee. (Tom Hyden, Peace Corps Volunteer, Ministry of Agriculture) African or Africanized? . . find out on page 12
EGYPT Varroa disease has recently been identified in two Governorates of the Nile Delta. This means that Varroa has now been confirmed right across northern
Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.
GHANA A busy year for beekeeping projects
in
the Northern Region was rounded off in December with a successful two-day workshop at Kpatinga in the Gushegu-
Karag
district.
Though
originally
planned for the district capital, Gushegu, it was agreed to move it 12 km to the village where it would have a greater impact in introducing modern methods to traditional beekeepers. The workshop coincided with a visit to the north by Hannah Schreckenbach of German Appropriate Technology, who was in Ghana to review progress on projects under her responsibility. An encouraging 94 people attended the workshop, but only four of these were women and Mrs Schreckenbach asked the chief of the village, Kpatinga Lana, and his elders to encourage more women to take up beekeeping. GRATIS has promised the chief that another workshop will be staged in March to ensure that the benefits of beekeeping are spread to the poor rural communities of the north. Lectures were conducted by Margaret Owusu, on secondment to GRATIS
from the Technology Consultancy Centre's Apiculture Promotion Unit, and by Nelson Akukumah, GRATIS Rural Industries Officer. They instructed participants in the installation of five bee hives made at the Tamale ITTU. Prior to the workshop, they had accompanied Trainee Beekeeping Officer, Edward Azumah, on visits to various women’s groups in Tamale who had been given bee hives. The Northern Regional branch of the 31st December Women’s Movement were not keeping their hives properly, but they assured the team of their continued interest and offered to pay for the hives. The group also visited the towns of Nyankpala and Tolon, near Tamale, to inspect hives. Extension visits carried out at various locations in Tamale by RAWID officer David Mensah to find out if hives had been harvested revealed that last year's unusually heavy rains had badly hit beekeeping activities. The bees had fed on their honey because rain prevented them from foraging, so most combs in the hives were empty and no harvests were recorded for the rainy season. Beekeepers in these areas were advised to feed their bees to ensure survival and enhance honey yields during the usual harvesting season from February to March. In the south, GRATIS has started a credit scheme to enable prospective beekeepers to obtain hives and to encourage participants at workshops to become beekeepers. Under the scheme, drawn up by the Financial Advisor Jean Dupont, GRATIS will finance the hives for Tema ITTU and, after giving them to new beekeepers, will harvest and sell the honey to help pay for the cost of the hives. Any excess money will be paid to the beekeeper, who must agree that hives not yet paid for or neglected can be removed and re-allocated. (Nelson Akukumah and Charles Ofori Addo, GRATIS News, January 1990)
GUINEA BISSAU October, the Beekeeping Department of the Ministry of Rural development and Agriculture in Guinea Bissau hosted a five-day seminar for beekeeping development. It was the first national seminar. 30 participants took part in fruitful and stimulating discussions about beekeeping development. Two ongoing projects in Bagri and CaboTfangue were used as examples to copy in the future. Among several guest speakers, the Minister of State, Carlos Correia, gave a stimulating talk about the value of bees and beekeeping for pollination, environmental protection and for rural developIn
