Zooming in on Venezuela

We would like to thank Rafael Thimann for providing information towards this article. He is Head of the Beekeeping Production R&D Unit at the Universidad Nacional Experimental de los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora (UNELLEZ) where he manages 40 colonies of honeybees.

Size

916,445 km²

Population

20 million

GNP

USS700 per capita

Location

Most northerly country of South America.

Currency

Bolivar (170 Bs USS1)

Main agriculture

Cocoa, coffee, tropical fruits.

Exports

Venezuela's principal income is from oil exports.

Honeybees

Africanized honeybees Apis mellifera scutellata are dominant. Few beekeepers work with pure European honeybees. The Africanized honeybee is more defensive, adapts better to extreme conditions of drought or flood, is more resistant to varroa and acarine, and is a good pollinator. It is possible to obtain up to 180 kg of honey per colony in three harvests.

Beekeeping

All beekeepers use original or modified Langstroth frame hives. Traditional stingless bee hives are made from scraps of wood or from “totumas”, local hard-skinned spherical fruit Crescentia cujete. Apiaries are located beneath the canopy of big trees: Samanea saman, Cassia moschata, Pterocarpus acapulsensis.

The swarming season is from January to April. Seasons are well defined: dry (January-April), rainy (May-September) and transient (October-December). The best honey yields are during the dry season. There are three honey harvests year at UNELLEZ: December (dark honey); January (amber honey) and March (almost white honey).

Problems

Acquisition of good quality equipment and queens is difficult, as is credit for the purchase of beekeeping material.

Number of beekeepers

Precise number unknown, but increasing!

Honey production

1994: 864,000 kg (unofficially). Yields: 20-60 kg per hive per harvest.

Honey is sold locally at Bs700 (US$4.1) 1 per kilogram

Honeybee diseases, pests and predators

Acarapis woodi, Braula coeca, sacbrood, Varroa jacobsoni, wax moth. Also birds and humans honey thieves are very active.

Research

The Beekeeping Production Unit at UNELLEZ is carrying out research on: api/botanical flora, behaviour of Africanized queens (reproduction and production), physical and chemical properties of honey, and pest control in rabbits using propolis.

Training

UNELLEZ trains students from farms and schools. Each year Rafael Thimann runs short course for the University Fire Department on how to capture swarms and avoid multiple stings. A 40 hour course on Beekeeping Economics for small groups of farmers is being planned this year.

Projects

Government agencies give credit to start small businesses.

FUNDACITE-ORIENTE provide training and long-term credit to new beekeepers.

The Ministry of Agriculture is organising beekeeping programmes for the Indians living in Bolivar State, and Mr Thimann has visited the Yanomami Indians in the Amazon Basin to teach beekeeping techniques.

Beekeeping museum

Museo Nacional de Apicultura Ignacio Herrera

Journal

Revista del Munapih, Ec Elda Bricefio de Barrios, Coordinacién Técnica Mérida, Corporacién de Los Andes, Apdo 94, Mérida, Venezeula

Melliferous vegetation and their local names

Licania apetala - mamoncillo - Flowering period: January

Protium quianensis - tacamahaca - Flowering period: January

Curatella americana - chaparro - Flowering period: January, February

Anacardium excelsum - mijao- Flowering period: January, February, March

Hyptis suaveolens - mastranto - Flowering period: January, February, October, November, December

Pterocarpus acapulsensis - sangre drago - Flowering period: January, February, November, December

Casearia hirsuta - fruta de paloma - Flowering period: February, March

Gliricidia sepium - mata de ratén - Flowering period: February, March

Platymiscium diadelphum - roble - Flowering period: February, March

Tabebuia chrysantha - araguaney - Flowering period: February, March

Tabebuia rocea - apamate - Flowering period: February, March

Petrea glandulosa - penitente - Flowering period: March, April

Vitex orinocensis - aceituno - Flowering period: March, April

Lonchocarpus pictus - jebe - Flowering period: June, July, August

Mimosa pudica - dormidera - Flowering period: June, July, August, September

Muntingia calabura - niguito - Flowering period: June, July, August, September

Albizia lebbeck - saman montafioso - Flowering period: June, July, August, September, October

Albizia guachapele - urero macho - Flowering period: August, September, October

Pollalesta condensata - negrito - Flowering period: August, September, October

Combretum fruticosum - chupa-chupa - Flowering period: September, October

Oyedae verbesinoides - tara amarilla - Flowering period: September, October

Cupania americana - rabo de pava - Flowering period: September, October, November

Vernonia brasiliana - estoraque - Flowering period: October, November, December

Davilia nitida - chaparrillo - Flowering period: December