Bookshelf

Honey hunters and beekeepers. study of traditional beekeeping in Babati District, Tanzania

by G M Ntenga and B T Mugongo.

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Working Paper 161, Uppsala, Sweden (1991).

This is an in-depth study of traditional beekeeping practises within one district of Tanzania. It is extremely interesting. The authors deserve credit for the amount of information they have documented on traditional beekeeping practises and the importance of honey within this society:

“A person suspecting another of theft or any other crime, summons the elders who proceed to a termite mound. A small trench is dug across the termite hill and the accuser and the suspect sit opposite each other with the trench between them. Honey is brought in a calabash and the complainant is asked to eat the honey, saying ‘I eat this honey because my accusation is true, if it was false, this honey should not take me far, it should not take long before | die’. He then crosses the trench to the other side. If the accusation is true then the suspect will soon die: if it is false the complainant will die”.

The report suggests short and long-term measures to help beekeepers develop their activities. Some improvements are simple to implement, for example, honeycomb is currently carried home in wooden troughs or wide brimmed gourds: these could be improved by fitting covers to keep out bees and dust. Honey is stored in calabashes which are sealed with cow-dung and ashes: airtight stoppers made of wood would be better. Traditional beekeepers would benefit by the provision of efficient smokers, which could be manufactured locally. A strategy for effective extension assistance is recommended. This report is an excellent example of a well written field study together with logical and feasible suggestions for further assisting the beekeepers. It is full of helpful illustrations which add much interest.

The study formed one of a series of Community Forestry Studies, part of the Tanzanian Forests, Trees and People Project, financed by SIDA, and implemented by FAO and SUAS. Published by Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.

Honey bee pathology

by L Bailey and B V Ball.

Academic Press, London, UK (1991 second edition) 193 pp, hardback. Available from [IRA price £27.00.

The ten years since the publication of the first edition have seen global change in the distribution of honey bee diseases and parasites and much advance in our knowledge of them. This text is for those who need to know the scientific basis of these diseases. For example the biology of Varroa jacobsoni, and the secondary diseases which result from its presence, are covered in detail. Methods for the treatment of Varroa infested colonies are reviewed relatively briefly.

Both authors have particular expertise in the field of bee viruses and this is reflected in the text: the chapter on viruses contains considerable detailed and current information. The second edition is attractively presented. using a more easily-read style than the first. Amidst the science there is much good advice and warning to the beekeeping world:

"...the common wish of beekeepers to import bees that are alleged to be superior to their own is easily gratified with the aid of modern transport, but little heed has been paid to the dangers of introducing exotic diseases or unusual strains of pathogens, especially of viruses, which are not easily diagnosed. For these reasons more attention needs to be paid than in the past to the prevention and suppression of diseases. The difficulties to be overcome may be great, but so is the room for improvement”.

Beekeeping in Malaysia: pollen atlas

by R Kiew and M Muid.

Malaysian Beekeeping Research and Development Team, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (1991) 186 pp. Available from IBRA price £6.00.

I was very pleased to see this book. It contains information which will be of great help to beekeepers and researchers in Malaysia and other countries sharing similar tropical flora.

The Atlas describes 95 plant species widely used by Apis cerana in Malaysia. Many of the plant species are common throughout the tropics. For each there is a picture of the whole plant, the flower, and a picture of a pollen grain as it appears using the most widely available method of examination. This is accompanied by a description of pollen colour and size, the plant’s occurrence, importance for beekeeping, pollination requirement and any other relevant information.

This type of publication assists a beekeeping industry in many ways. it allows the marketing of honey to become more sophisticated: the floral source(s) of locally produced honeys can be stated, and imported or adulterated honey can also be detected. Knowledge of floral sources used by bees helps beekeepers very much - they can now manage colonies to ensure maximum numbers of foraging bees at times when major sources are in flower. An understanding of plants valuable to bees also helps those selecting species for agroforestry programmes, and such a publication emphasises the importance of this consideration.

This text reflects the considerable development in beekeeping which has been taking place in Malaysia in recent years The Malaysian Beekeeping Research and Development Team are dynamic!

Beekeeping in Africa

by S Adjare.

FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin 68/6, Rome, Italy (1990) 130 pp. Available from IBRA price £4.00.

This is a practical guide and will provide much useful information for anyone starting beekeeping in Africa Mr Adjare has long experience of working with bees in Ghana and this is revealed in his clear and helpful descriptions of handling bees, capturing swarms and managing colonies The book provides enough information to help a beginner who has access to enough materials to build a top-bar hive, stock it with bees and manage it. The beekeeping which Mr Adjare describes is certainly Africa, but the emphasis is on Ghanaian beekeeping The title of the book is mis-leading a more apt title would be “A guide to beginning beekeeping in Ghana”

(a comprehensive text describing beekeeping in Africa would certainly be an extensive volume). This text could have helped the reader more by providing lists of further reading and opportunities for training. An index would also have been useful On the plus side, the book is easily readable, and is very good value.

The “African” honey bee

edited by M Spivak, D J C Fletcher and M D Breed.

Westview Press, Oxford, UK (1991) 435 pp, hardback. Available from IBRA price £26 00.

Another book with a possibly misleading title: those quotation marks are crucial! It is in fact a comprehensive review of current knowledge of Africanized honey bees (descendants of the African honey bees taken into South America in 1956). In the introduction the authors briefly address the main questions surrounding these bees: what are they, where did they come from, are they hybrids?

The editors do not just tell us what is known but explain that opinions vary and some questions have no clear answer The book is divided into five major parts Within each part are chapters by scientists writing about their own research fields and the editors have allowed a diversity of views to be presented. Part 1 covers identification and characterisation of Africanized honey bees. Part 2 reviews the spread of Africanized bees and what happens as they displace existing European subspecies - this is “Africanization”. Part 3 deals with the biology, ecology and diseases of these bees - much useful insight here too for scientists interested in tropical bees elsewhere. Part 4 discusses defensive behaviour - what it is and the genetics of this trait. Part 5 describes the history of Africanized bees’ arrival in Brazil (1956), Peru (1974) and Venezuela (1975). The history of the bees’ arrival in Costa Rica is described within Part 2.

Although at £26.00 it is still expensive, this book presents up to the minute information which is not available elsewhere and represents good value compared with other currently available texts.

Beekeeping study notes

by J D and B D Yates

Bee Books New and Old, Burrowbridge, UK (1991 2nd edition) 174 pp, Available from IBRA price £11.95.

The British Beekeepers’ Association organises a range of basic and intermediate examinations.

This book provides concise facts written in note, form on each of the 90 topics covered by the examinations. Naturally the information relates to British beekeeping and the lists of flowering plants, seasonal references, timetables and so on refer to conditions prevailing in the UK. However the book is reviewed here because a proportion of its contents could be of value to students of beekeeping everywhere If, for example, you have heard beekeepers talk of ‘nucs’ and want to know what these are, this book - In eight pages - defines a nucleus. lists nine requirements for the box construction, describes two methods of filling it with bees, and summarises nine uses of nuclei and their management into productive colonies.

The clear and orderly way in which information is presented will quickly guide any student reader to the important points in matters concerning bee biology and natural history, and beekeeping in frame hives

Honey and Beeswax

A survey on the Netherlands and other major markets in the European Community.

CBI have published this 40-page booklet which gives useful advice regarding the European market, required product characteristics, trade structure, prices, tariff barriers, promotion and further sources of information It would be very helpful to any beekeeping co-operatives with sufficient quantities of honey and/or beeswax for export. It is available free of charge from CBI (see back page).

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