Zooming in on Botswana

Size

2,14 969 km²

Population

1,275,000

GNP

$918 per capita. Agriculture accounts for 4% of the GNP.

Main crops

Corn, cowpeas, millet, sorghum.

Honey bees

Apis mellifera is native to Botswana. Two races are present: Apis mellifera adansonii and Apis mellifera scutellata.

Beekeeping

Honey has traditionally been obtained by plundering wild colonies, without any honey bee management practices.

Langstroth hives were established in pilot apiary in Molepolole in 1978, but have not been widely adopted. Beekeeping in straight- sided top-bar hives commenced in 1980.

Melliferous vegetation

There are three main ecological zones: the Kalahari dry savanna covering most of the country, the eastern area with high rainfall (17% of land area) and the Okavango delta in the north. When rainfall is normal, herbaceous plants are the main providers of honey bee forage. In drought conditions (about two years in every ten), trees, bushes and other perennials offer reliable sources of forage.

In the north and north-east there are large areas of dry, deciduous woodland. Further south the higher rainfall encourages herbaceous plants. Clauss has found that even the driest south-western region of the Kalahari offers sufficient forage to support beekeeping. The bee forage has been extensively catalogued by Clauss (1, 2).

Honey production

Typical annual yields from colony in top- bar hive are 10 kg in the Kalahari and 15 kg in the south-east.

However, honey is popular food in Botswana, and local production does not meet the demand: around two tonnes are imported annually.

Beekeeping & Development recipients

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Beekeeping department

Beekeeping Section, Division of Forestry and Range Ecology, Ministry of Agriculture, Private Mail Bag 003, Gaborone.

Projects

Various assistance to beekeeping was provided from outside Botswana during the 1970s and early 1980s. A good infrastructure has now been established within the Government Beekeeping Department for the future development of beekeeping.

Training

The Beekeeping Section organises short (five- day) training courses at rural training centres throughout the country for extension staff and farmers.

Honey bee diseases

No honey bee diseases have been reported. Pests of colonies include ants, the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella and the honey badger Mellivora capensis.

Previous articles

Newsletter 7 Practical beekeeping, Letters to the Editor

Further reading

1. CLAUSS,B (1983) Bees and beekeeping in Botswana.

2. CLAUSS, B (1985) Bee forage in Botswana. In: Proceedings of Third International Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates, Nairobi 1984. London, UK; IBRA.

3 .CLAUSS, B (1982, 2nd edition) Beekeeping handbook Published in English, Swahili and Setswanese editions.

4. PHOKEDI, K M (1985) Apiculture and problems in Botswana. In: Proceedings of Third International Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates, Nairobi 1984. London, UK; IBRA.

5. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (1991, 3rd edition). Beekeeping handbook. Gaborone, Botswana, Beekeeping Section, Department of Crop Production and Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture. 80 pp. A new edition of the handbook by Clauss, with some changes.

More articles and papers are held in the IBRA Library.