News

BELIZE

A six week review of beekeeping in Belize in 1990 concluded:

1. Beekeeping is in a state of decline throughout the nation and this was especially evident during 1988 and 1989.

2. The primary cause for the decline is the presence and continual expansion of the Africanized honey bee, a tropical honey bee biotype that is replacing the European honey bees.

3. The claim that beekeeping is being damaged by the aerial application of glyphosate (Roundup*) used in a marijuana eradication programme is unsubstantiated, both by previous studies on the toxicity of glyphosate to honey bees and by the results of field trials conducted by the Review Team.

4. A strategy for the rehabilitation of the Belizean beekeeping industry is proposed.

Source: Review of the Belizean Honey Bee Industry, at the request of the Belize Honey Producers Federation, Orange

Walk, Belize, prepared by Michael Burgett and Glenn Fisher, Consultants for Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance, Washington DC.

COSTA RICA

The Inter-American Development Bank has allocated $500,000 from the Fund for Special Operations for a credit and training programme to benefit small-scale farmers. The programme will be carried out by the Centro Agricola Cantonal de Hojancha (CACH}. a private, non-profit organisation in the province of Guanacaste.

The programme will provide credits for activities including beekeeping. In all the programme will benefit some 200 low-income people, approximately half of whom will be women.

The IDB, May 1991

LEBANON

We had a sad experience in the mountain of Dahr el Baidar where we transported twenty colonies (10 Lebanese and 10 Italian). The flowers faded suddenly, the Italian colonies continued eating as if nothing happened, meanwhile the Lebanese stopped eating waiting for a change in circumstances. So we found all the Italian colonies dead with their heads pushed in the empty honey cells. while none were dead in the Lebanese colonies.

At the end of the winter the Lebanese bees go out under the rain to collect pollen and nectar for the brood established in 15 or 18 frames. We noticed that with a stimulant feed we could push the queen to enlarge the brood nest in autumn which is impossible with Italian bees even with continuous feeding

Another quality of the Lebanese bee is resistance to diseases. While the Italian bees weaken from foulbrood, nearby Lebanese colonies remain healthy.

We have to add that the Lebanese colony is ferocious in defending its hive against predators and invaders while the Italian bees let any intruder enter their hive even if it steals all their property. This also applies to wasps and hornets that the Lebanese bees wait for on the entrance and then encircle and kill.

The Lebanese bee is of the same character as the Lebanese people, after all is it not the daughter of this land?

You are gentle to it, its response is gentle. But if you are nasty. It is more aggressive. I have always worked my colonies without gloves and sometimes without veil too. My secret is love. You must open the hive of the Lebanese bee with all the affection it deserves and then, even if it falls under your finger. it prefers ta die rather than sting you.

Isn't it one of the best races of bees in the world?

Rashid Yazbek, President of the Beekeepers’ Union, Lebanon

NEPAL

US Ambassador signs grant for research on Himalayan honey bees

(Kathmandu. 17 June 1991) The US Ambassador to Nepal. Julia Chang Bloch signed a grant for $148.461 for the International Centre for

Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The grant will support study of the Himalayan honey bee, Apis cerana. The grant. supplemented by major contributions from ICIMOD and the US Department of Agriculture, is the first USAID collaboration with other donor agencies under USAID's “Program in Science and Technology Cooperation” (PSTC)

The project “Exploration of genetic diversity in Himalayan honey bees, Apis cerana”. is one of 45 projects selected from 1000 proposals submitted. Scientists from over 70 developing countries competed for the grants.

This project is the first to be conducted at a regional level with the co-operation of Bhutan, India. Nepal and Pakistan. The aim is to conserve Apis cerana through the development and promotion of beekeeping. The project scientists will study the genetic diversity of native bees through modern computer technology and genetic engineering techniques as well as the behaviour of the bees, with the overall goal of using the bees to enhance the production of agricultural crops. The project will also establish a permanent genetic bank of this species at ICIMOD as a valuable resource for the future.

Although much research has been done on European bees, the application of European honey bee management practices to Himalayan honey bees has failed. This study will provide information on local bee behavioural traits that will help to improve bee management and honey production.

In her comments at the signing ceremony today, Ambassador Bloch commended Dr L R Verma and the Nepalese scientists for their success competing for the PSTC grant. She emphasized the importance of scientific research to Nepal and its potential benefits for Nepal's development.

NICARAGUA

Apinaticias de Nicaragua: organo de difusion apicola, a bulletin all about bees, beekeeping and honey.

Available in Spanish from: Programa Nacional de Apicultural, Apartado Postal 2556, Managua, Nicaragua.

The Network, Val IV, Issue 2, April-June 1991

PHILIPPINES

Bee programme of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos

The UPLB programme aims to promote beekeeping, to provide support to new beekeepers and to monitor the quality of bee products, especially honey.

The first issue of their Newsletter includes letters. news, details of the bee programme and research abstracts.

For further information please contact:

Dr PC Pyawal. Institute of Biological Science, University of the Philippines at Los Banos, College Laguna, Philippines.

PUERTO RICO

Tito Nieves and Lewis Manuel Medina chose Lares’ Public Library as the meeting place to find out how much money a person needs to start a honey bee operation in Puerto Rico. Considering that we work with the lowest priced materials and that we think of 10 colonies as a minimum to begin with, the total investment comes to $605. The Government will pay a subsidy of $303.

Practically all the materials are available locally, but are of course imported. The USA is the major supplier of tools and other materials while Spain and Latin American nations are suppliers of books and magazines (because they are printed in Spanish).

Lares is one of the best places to establish colonies because it is the main agricultural town and bees have plenty of flowers. A single storey colony can produce 55 litres of honey and about 4.5 kg of wax per year (three seasons}. But average yields are 36 litres of honey and 3.6 kg of wax per year.

Concerning the profits, a litre sells wholesale for about $2.10. The retail price (sold in bottles) is about $3.30 per litre. A kilogram of wax sells for $2.00 and is usually exported to Kentucky. The average profit for a colony will be $90.00 a year.

Justo Mendez explains that beekeeping in Puerto Rico has a tropical blessing: 12 months of the year are covered with flowers. Puerto Rico is an archipelago and is free of honey bee diseases.

Puerto Rican beekeepers do not produce royal jelly and propolis is thrown away as garbage.

Source: Lewis Manuel Medina

ZAIRE

Beekeeping in the rain-forest

Little is known about honey bees in the central part of Zaire. It was therefore interesting to join a Baptist scout-group from Sweden to carry out a one-month feasibility study for the possible introduction of beekeeping in the Bandundu area. I was accompanied by a group of 10 people. including the scouts, two leaders and an interpreter. The group took part in all the research work and the formulation of a project proposal for the Baptist Community of Bandundu.

We found only rudimentary knowledge about bees and honey amongst people having contact with, or originating from the pygmoid groups living in the rain-forest. Such reports indicated a tradition of felling both small and large trees for reaching wild honey bee colonies with fire and smoke or using a mass of cassava leaves to subdue the bees. This could be called opportunistic honey hunting. The honey was eaten on the spot and the wax was not used.

The study included a count of wild colonies of bees near villages, floral studies and some experiments with beeswax and honey. Wild colonies were available everywhere except in villages and the flora was very suitable for honey production. The population were extremely afraid of bees but still interested in our experiments.

The project proposal suggests second experimental phase covering two years, two parishes and about 300 families. beekeeping volunteer will be responsible for experimenting with improved methods of honey hunting. A purchase, treatment and marketing of beeswax and beeswax products such as wax candles medicinal ointments and batik. Both men and women will be organised in development groups in the villages and simple hives for permanent beekeeping with appropriate technology will be demonstrated. A third phase will expand project to greater number of participants. The estimated cost for phase two is $58,400. The project will be financed by the scout-group in Motala with assistance from Swedish aid (SIDA).

Source: Bérje Svensson. Honungsbin i norra Bandundu, Zaire (Des abeilles melliferes au Bandundu du nord, Zaire). the WorldSala/Motala 1990. Full paper presented at Scandinavian Seminar on Tropical Bees, Bornholm, 20-21 October 1990.

NEEDING HELP?

IBRA’s Advisory Service to Developing Countries exists to help beekeepers who need information that cannot be obtained locally.

Please make your enquiry as specific as possible, and address it to Nicola Bradbear.

The following information Leaflets are still available free of charge to beekeepers in developing countries who cannot otherwise afford to pay. ‘ Everyone else £2.00 per Leaflet:

Leaflet 2 - The management of Africanized bees.

A four page leaflet available in English or Spanish.

Leaflet 3 - Varroa jacobsoni

A four page leaflet describing Varroa jacobsoni, its biology, how to detect it and methods of control.

Leaflet 4 - The Asian hive bee Apis cerana

An eight page leaflet describing Apis cerana together with methods for the prevention of absconding.