Make a bee fodder calendar

by Nick Harvey, Jajarkot Permaculture Programme, Nepal.

The abundance of bee fodder (or bee forage) plants throughout the year determines the growth of the bee colony and hence the productivity of beekeeping. Many forest-based and cultivated plants can provide bees with fodder. These plants may also provide other products, such as fodder for livestock, fuelwood, food, timber, tannins, dyes, medicines, fertilisers, pesticides and gums.

At the beginning of any programme be it beekeeping, tree planting, fruit growing, agroforestry or community forestry, it is necessary to find out which plant species are locally-valued for providing particular products and their seasonal availability.

Our Programme has been helping beekeepers to create bee fodder calendars. They form useful starting point when addressing the question of bee fodder availability during beekeeping and other training. The local beekeepers and other participants identify and record the quality and quantity of bee fodder throughout the year. From this information, strategies can be discussed for conserving and improving supplies of bee fodder and other plant products.

In this article we present the bee fodder calendar created by members of Kalpat Village, Jajarkot District.*

* Please see the original journal article to see a picture of 'The Bee-Food Calendar of Kalpat Village'

JAJARKOT is a hill district in mid-west Nepal. The Jajarkot Permaculture Programme works with farming communities there, helping them strengthen their capacity to solve problems, to teach and to work together.

Many villages in Nepal face degradation of the productive capacity of their land. This has resulted in lower, less reliable crop yields. reduced biomass for grazing, poorer fuelwood supplies, and reduction in the supply of forest products. There is therefore great pressure on the remaining range of subsistence strategies available to rural people.

To succeed in combating land degradation. Development programmes need innovative designs strategies. They must involve:

a) active participation of the resource users;

b) organisational frameworks that can be sustained,

c) technologies that are cheap, economical of labour and give recognisable productivity increases

Programmes must use local resources, work through local institutions and fully involve the resource users in identification, design, monitoring, evaluation and implementation of activities, The aim is to strengthen the capacity of the local population to conserve their own resources, to increase and sustain productivity.

Nepali hill-farming systems are highly integrated. Programmes must emphasise the connections between different land use practices, and provide support to the existing range of subsistence activities.

Our programme supports range of inter-related land use and subsistence practices that form the farming system. This is reflected in the wide choice of training we offer: beekeeping: horticulture, soil conservation: kitchen gardening, weaving: farm forestry; nursery establishment; and whole farm design.

Non-timber forest products (all biological materials, other than timber which are extracted from natural ecosystems. farm lands and plantations for human use) are of key importance in the land-use and subsistence practices of Jajarkot farming systems. By identifying the availability and local importance of plant species which provide particular products, strategies can be designed to sustain their supply Bee fodder is one such non-timber forest product of great importance to the many beekeepers of Jajarkot

FOOD FOR BEES

What plants do bees forage on in your area?

In which months do these beefood plants flower?

When do they start flowering?

When are they in full bloom?

What other uses does each plant have?

In Kalpat Village, Jajarkot District, we made a calendar showing which bee-food plants are available in the area and when they flower during the year.

PREPARING THE CALENDAR

This can be done on the ground or on paper

* Please see the original journal article to see a image on how to prepare the calendar

CAN YOU MAKE A BEE FOOD CALENDAR IN YOUR VILLAGE?

From your bee food calendar and from your knowledge of the numbers of the-food plants in your area, discuss:

- In which months are you bees shortest of food?

- Is it possible to protect or plant any bee-food plants to flower during these times?

- Is it possible to protect or plant bee-food plants which flower during other months of the year?

For example during the peak honey production season?

- Do the local plant nurseries provide any of these plants?

MAKING THE SQAURE

Write the names of the bee food plants and the months on flat stones with chalk, or on the paper - or you could use the leaves, fruit or flowers of the plants.

WHEN DOES EACH BEE-FOOD PLANT FLOWER?

To show this on the calendar, place stones or write in the square for the flowering month. Use a scale of one to five. One stone shows that only a few of the bee food plants are I flower. Five stones show that all of the bee food plants are in full bloom.

METHOD

Make a grid showing the calendar months of the year. This can be done on the ground or on large sheets of paper. For the Kalpat calendar (overleaf), locally produced “Lokta” paper (processed from bark fibres of Daphne bholua) was used. For each of the 12 rows, the local name for the calendar month is shown. This can be done by labelling 12 stones or marking the months on the paper.

Participating villagers are asked in which months bee fodder is available, discussing one plant at a time. The plant name is marked on the grid by labelling a stone, writing on the paper or using part of the plant itself.

The participants use seeds. stones, or write on the paper to indicate relative availability of bee fodder. A scale of one to five is used. with one indicating only a few plants in flower and five showing all bee fodder plants in full bloom (see over). The calendar should be displayed at a prominent meeting place in the village. If the calendar is made on the ground it should later be transcribed on to paper for display.

The participants are asked to discuss the other uses of each plant. This establishes links to other agricultural and subsistence strategies and emphasises their importance as multipurpose plant species.

TIMING

This exercise may take some time to carry out, depending on how many bee plants are described, and should therefore take place when participants are not concerned about having to rush off to other activities.

The timing, in respect of the farming calendar, is also important. In our village, the exercise was carried out when honey was being processed {filtered and packed) prior to trade, when local interest and conversation were centred around honey and beekeeping.

Other times could be when discussing appropriate species for multi-purpose tree plantations, or management plans for community forest areas.

DISCUSSIONS

Next everyone discusses the findings presented in the calendar. This will include observing the overall seasonal diversity and especially periods when bee fodder is limited. One parameter not included in the exercise is the relative abundance of each plant species although this must be discussed. Historical changes in the local plant population dynamics and ecology, and subsequent bee fodder availability, may also provide useful information. Consider the potential of each bee fodder plant to provide nectar and/or pollen; both are needed for healthy and productive bee colonies.

INTERPRETATION

From this information, strategies can be made to ensure seasonal diversity of bee fodder. In Kalpat, such designs are reflected in:

a) the protection of community forest resources, thus securing the availability of non-timber forest products, including bee fodder;

b) the establishment of a local nursery for - multi-purpose tree species, such as chiuri Aesandra butyracea, bhimal Grewia optiva and kimbu Morus alba;

c) the collection of seed of the spice dalchini Cinnamomum tamala, for propagation in the nursery;

d) the promotion of multi-purpose tree and fruit species, such as aru Prunus persica, amba Psidium guajava, suntala Citrus reticulata and kera Musa paradiscia, for. home gardens; small-scale plantations; integration on croplands and terrace risers: and for soil conservation.

These strategies were designed with the participation of the Kalpat community, but their effectiveness in meeting the needs of the community have to be monitored and evaluated. We must measure: the value of information which appeared; the ease of communication; and the value of the method for other village communities.

CONCLUSION

This way of creating a bee fodder calendar seems a good way to encourage communities to participate in combating decline in bee fodder availability. If bee fodder calendars are created in other villages of similar ecological zones, more information could be shared.

By using this method to encourage discussion, the information reveals important connections between many components of the subsistence activities of a farming system. For example chiuri Aesandra butyracea provides: fodder for bees to produce honey: edible oil for domestic consumption and trade; seed cake for fertiliser; and a secondary source for livestock fodder. It is by the participatory design and promotion of strategies which support these components that productivity can be increased and sustained, thereby reducing the risk to the range of subsistence activities.

We are interested to receive floral calendars for tropical areas. These provide much useful information for other beekeepers.

Send to: Bees for Development, 1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK Tel: +44 (0)1600 714848 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org