BEEKEEPING
&
DEVELOPMENT 45
NEWS A
CAMEROON Schools
in the Buea area of South-West Province are gaining interest in beekeeping as sustainable activity.
a
Bishop Rogan College has an apiary with 20 top-bar hives and acquired a further five from the South-West Bee Farmers’ Association (SWEBA). The College’s annual honey harvest is a worthwhile 500 ke.
ARGENTINA Students attending the latest CEDIA, Centro de Investigaciones Apicolas, course held in August. The participants learnt about “Quality control of honey, wax and propolis”. The photograph was sent to B&D by Dr E M Bianchi, Director of CEDIA.
PHILIPPINES Management of Apis cerana in Guinobatan, Albay, Philippines The Bicol Region, situated in the south-east of Luzon Island has abundant vegetation that can support honeybee populations. Among the bee plants are coconut (Cocos nucifera), coffee, (Coffea sp), kalamansi (Citrus reticulata), macahiya (Mimosa sp), papaya (Carica papaya) and rambutan (Nephelium lapaceum). There are many other wild plants growing underneath the coconut palms. The only threat to beekeeping in the region is the possibility of typhoons. Beekeeping here usually involves the whole family. There are about 260 colonies of Apis cerana in hives. Stocks are obtained from swarms. Transferring feral colonies into hives is seldom practised. Simple and innovative beekeeping technologies are used. Hives are constructed from used plywood and lumber with dimensions of 33 x 23 x 23 cm, The sides are either removable or hinged at the bottom. No frames are used. Instead the bees are allowed to build combs in the inner A log hive made from the hollow stem of Arenga part of the top saccharifera cover. When &
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The Government High School has four active top-bar hives and obtained a loan from SWEBA for a further 10 hives, two smokers and a bee suit. SWEBA organised a workshop for students and teachers from the school on bee farming. Participants benefited from past editions of B&D and information charts. Afendia Fobeila Julius, President of SWEBA
inspecting the colonies, only the two side panels are moved, to observe the outermost combs. No further inspection of the brood combs is carried out.
Another type of hive is made from cut hollow stems of anahaw
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(Livistonia rotundifolia) and kaong or iroc (Arenga saccharifera) with a length of 33 cm. As in the box type hive, the front and the rear
end are covered with removable wood. When the colonies are defensive they are smoked with dried coconut husk.
Harvesting is done by cutting the combs and selling them directly to buyers as cut-comb honey. Some buyers prefer honeycomb with pollen and brood. The average harvest is 1.5 kg per colony. Wax moth (Galleria sp) is controlled by sweeping the bottom board one to two times a week. Minor pests are wasps (Vespa sp), and moths (Acherontia sp). Apparently these Apis cerana colonies have no problems with disease.
To maintain
a cooler environment for the bees, beekeepers place the hives in shaded places. They also cover the hives with anahaw leaves to further reduce the temperature.
Merly Forbes, Alejandro Fajardo Jr, Cleo Cervancia and Dulce Mostoles PHOTOGRAPHS
CLEO CERVANCIA
A Bees for Development publication
