As promised in Newsletter 16, further details of The Asian Apicultural Association are now provided:
The Constitution of the Asian Apicultural
Association — Name: The name of the organization shall be the The Asian Apicultural Association
ARTICLE
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(AAA). — Objectives: To promote the exchange of scientific and general information relating to all phases of honeybee sciences and apiculture in Asia and to encourage and assist international co-operation in the study of problems of common interest.
ARTICLE Il
— Co-operation: The AAA may co-operate with other Associations, Societies or Corporations to such extent as may be
ARTICLE I!l
necessary or desirable to fulfil the objectives of the AAA. ARTICLE IV — Official Language: The official language of the AAA shall be English. ARTICLE V — Administrative Centre: The Institute of Honeybee Science, Tamagawa University.
ARTICLE VI
— Membership: Section 1. The Association shall consist of Individual, Group and Sustaining Members. Section 2. Membership fee for an Individual Member is $20 per two calendar years, a Group Member $100 per two calendar years, a Sustaining Member is $300 per calendar year. Equivalent currency may be allotted to a chapter in a country. Section 3. Any individual may become an Individual Member. Any group or body may become a Group Member, and any individual, or body or firm may become a Sustaining Member, subject to the approval of their application by the Council of the Association and upon payment of the subscription. Section 4. Members shal! be entitled to admission to all meet-
Asian Apicultural Association Verma, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal.
by LR
The major task of AAA is to act as an
information dissemination centre by publishing scientific and extension literature for the advancement of apiculture, primarily with Asiatic species of honeybees. This association will also act as a co-ordinating agency for sharing technology and its transfer for the development and promotion of apiculture. It will organise seminars, workshops, conferences, and monitoring tours, and provide beekeeping advisory services to government and non-government organisations in the region. The Asian region is rich in bee resources with four or more species of honeybee. Among these the Asian hive bee Apis cerana resembles European Apis mellifera because it can be kept in hives. A. cerana has many valuable characteristics of biological and economic importance. These include a do-
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ings of the Association, to vote, to take part in discussions and to receive the Newsletters. ARTICLE Vil — Chapters: Members in each Asian country could consist one or more chapters(s) and pay his/her membership fee to the headquarters of the chapter. ARTICLE Vill — Officers and Council: Section 1. The Officers of the Association shall be the President, two or three VicePresidents, Secretary General, Several Council Members (including subject section chairpersons) and Treasurer. Section 2. The governing body of the Association shall be a Council, which shall consist of the contemporary Officers. Section 3. The Council shall Teport at each ordinary General Meeting of the Association held during the biennial Conference (Article XI Section 2) on the work of the previous two years. ARTICLE IX — Election or appointment of Officers: Officers shall be ejected at the Ordinary General Meeting of the Association held during the biennial Conference and shall hold office from the end of that Conference until the conclusion of the following biennial Conference. Officers other than President may be reelected for more than one term.
ARTICLE X
— Subject Sections: These are 1) Bee biology, 2) Bee
pathology, 3) Melliferous flora and pollination, 4) Beekeeping technology, 5) Bee products, 6) Beekeeping economy and 7) Apiculture extension. ARTICLE XI — Conferences and General Meetings: Section 1. A full Conference of the Association shall normally be held every two years at such time and place as the Council shall direct. Section 2. An Ordinary General Meeting of the Association shall be held during each biennial Conference. Section 3. Local Conferences and special meetings may be arranged at the discretion of the Council. ARTICLE XII — Publications: Newsletter as the Official Organ of the Association and special publications shail be published. ARTICLE Xiil — Amendment: This Constitution may be amended at any General Meeting of the Association provided that any proposed amendment has been approved by the Council, that notice of the proposed amendment has been circulated by the Secretary General to members not less than one month prior to the meeting at which such amendment is to be considered and that it receives the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of those present, entitled to vote and voting.
Concepts and Challenges"
cile and industrious nature, being less prone to attacks from wasps, and high levels of resistance to noserna disease and parasitic Varroa jacobsoni and Tropilaelaps clareae that plague A. mellifera. A. cerana can co-exist with other native bee species and requires least chemical treatment in control of epidemics. However, this native bee species has several difficult behavioural characteristics. These include frequent swarming and absconding, a tendency to rob, the production of a large number of laying workers, and relatively low honey yields. These negative traits vary with bee race and management efficiency. There is a movement in Asia to import A. mellifera for commercial exploitation. Such introductions into northern India, the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, parts of China, Japan, and Thailand are the basis of flourishing beekeeping industries. The exotic bee species can produce more honey than native A. cerana and is more suited to management technology.
However, many importations of A. mellifera have proved disastrous because of its allopatric nature, the introduction of new diseases, and the presence of parasitic mites. There is now apprehension that importation of A. mellifera will lead to the decline of the A. cerana population in its native habitat to a level that threatens its extinction as a genetic resource. A. cerana is already a rare species in Japan and parts of China. Before this happens elsewhere a conservation strategy involving promotion of beekeeping with this native bee species must be adopted to maintain genetic diversity. Such strategies first require the exploration and evaluation of different sub species/races/ecotypes of the native species and then selective breeding, appropriate apiary management and research. The genetic diversity of A. mellifera Tecognises 24 sub-species of varying economic usefulness. So far only three sub-species of A. cerana are recognised, although there may be more be-
