News

CAMEROON

Bum the anti-bee tree

The Nso and Kom people call the tree Bum. The scientific name is still to be determined. It has straight, lean, hard, trunk and leaves. Bums grow slowly and blossom only after nine years. The nectar is believed to be extremely dangerous to bees.

So every nine years bee farmers in areas where Bums grow are sure to experience some losses arising from the complete extinction of colonies, and heavily reduced honey production.

Recently beekeepers in Boyo Division reported that they went to their hives and found no bee activity at the hive entrances. They thought the bees had absconded. However, upon opening the hives to clean them, they were alarmed to find all the bees lying dead in the hives. When the bum tree flowers die they fall off and the fallen seeds germinate. The unfriendly bee tree seedlings begin to grow again, and will flower after another nine years.

Reports collected from bee farmers in the Anyajua area who claim that bees died as a result of sucking nectar from Bum are still speculative. Nevertheless, good number of older people who have practised beekeeping since childhood are firmly convinced that bees die as a result of sucking nectar from this deadly tree.

Another factor that could lead to such extinction of a bee colony is that bees near coffee farms may suffer from poisonous pesticide sprays, and these kill bees instantly.

Plans are underway for NOWEBA (North West Bee Farmers’ Association) to investigate why the bees collect nectar from the Bum flower that kills them. We need help for this project.

Source: Honey News, 1996

GRENADA

At the beginning of 1997 beekeeping in Grenada was in sorry state due to the devastation wrought by the Varroa mite. estimate that 80% of the wild bee population had succumbed, as well as 60% of kept bees. All my colonies had perished, the last one in November 1996. Five of the twelve commercial beekeepers on the island have been out of production for the last three seasons.

BUT, Mother Nature has soft spot for us and the good news is that in January 1997 the beekeeper with most colonies decided to try the methods described in American Bee Journal using beeswax based cream with some 3% wintergreen oil (after pondering for some months the photocopies of the article had given to him). At about 0500 hours one February morning was awakened by the overexcited gentleman who even without greeting or apology for this unearthly interruption of my dreams told me “Jorge, tried your thing and now am picking dead mites by the handful!” At the time he had 99 hives, but the initial trial was made on four of the colonies considered beyond hope.

In the following couple of days he went ahead and treated all his bees, with the same results. Now two more beekeepers have replicated the experience and we have good reason to believe that there is after all a future for beekeeping as viable commercial endeavour in Grenada.

We have also made two trials using locally produced nutmeg essential oil (instead of oil of wintergreen). Again the bottom boards were littered with dead Varroa after 24 hours!

So, as you can imagine, the hitherto crestfallen Grenadian beekeepers have now big feathers in their caps.

Meanwhile officials of the Ministry of Agriculture continue to debate (since my first report of April 1994) whether the Varroa problem is to be dealt with by the Pest Management Unit or the Veterinary Division!

In a recent meeting with representatives of the Organisation of American States, The Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture, the Director of the Produce Chemist Laboratory and big shot of the Ministry of Trade, three of us beekeepers reported the situation. We hoped that they would see our wagon useful enough for them to jump on, and start some action concerning beekeeping division of the Ministry of Agriculture (or similar) in order to bring our industry up to its rightful place in the agricultural sciences. Our report seems to have been well received by the gentlemen.

Although local honey production has been dismal in the last three years we can now smile with some confidence, and I hope to be able to contribute my own little bit once I restart my Sweet Maria Apiary in action in its new location.

Jorge Murillo Yepes is B&D's Correspondent in Grenada

KENYA

A regional workshop, organised and sponsored by API-Promo/GTZ (Germany) was held in Nyeri, Kenya in March 1997. Thirty beekeeping advisors and trainers from eight countries discussed means of promoting beekeeping as an “instrument for sustainable resource management and income diversification in East Africa

The workshop proved to be an appropriate and efficient platform for the exchange and collection of information. Surely networking in the beekeeping industry within the region will be strengthened and will profit from the workshop.

The Proceedings of the workshop are available from API-Promo/GTZ, Germany.

SOUTH AFRICA

Beekeeping changes your life!

Professor Raymond Borneck judged the honey and meads exhibited at the Rand Show in March. The trophy for “The Best Bottle of Honey” was awarded to Michael Chilliane. This caused an international stir, as the media descended to propagate the news.

Michael Chilliane keeps bees in an assortment of top-bar hives and Langstroth hives without frames. Before the Rand Show, Mr Chilliane was not well-respected in his community and never realised much cash for his honey. He was always exploited due to his lack of self-esteem. Having entered his honey in the Show, he found instant fame. He is now able to charge 15 times more for his honey. He has appeared on television and in the press This has elevated him to seat of honour within the community.

Previously he was never assured of land ownership as land belongs to the tribal chiefs. He was always subservient to the chief who could at any time order him off the land. For this reason he never built a permanent dwelling on his property. It was very easy to dismantle and move somewhere else.

He is now equal to a chief and is assured that his home will never be lost. He may not always be beekeeper, but his accomplishment has been life changing experience for Michael Chilliane who is now on the road to eminence. And all because we believed that beekeeping development has a place in Shows.

Eddy Lear

UGANDA

The Apis Family Ltd was founded in 1994 and is situated in the northern part of Uganda in Nebbi District. We have 20 hives on the farm. In December 1996 we a held three-day seminar demonstrating honey products and marketing, and how to use top bar hives. Our picture (below) shows lesson in progress.

NEPAL

Mr Dhungana, a student from Nepal has sent this photograph of Apis dorsata colonies nesting on a water storage tower. About 50 colonies are visible in this photograph. Is this record?

Mr Dhungana also writes “Apis dorsata is seasonal dweller on this tank from August to April. After April where they go is unknown to me”

* Please see the original journal article to see the photo