Papua New Guinea

Size

462 840 km² . 85% is Papua New Guinea mainland and the remainder is on 600 islands.

Population

4.04 million GNP 1.236 Kina per capita (= 848 SUS). Agriculture accounts for 25% of the GNP.

Location

Papua New Guinea lies south of the equator, to the north of Australia. It is the last of the string of islands spilling down from south-east Asia into the Pacific and forms transition zone between the two areas. Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern side of the island, while the western side is Ong Indonesia (Irian Jaya).

Geography and agriculture

The Papua New Guinea mainland has mountains rising to 4500 providing variation in vegetation although tropical rainforest is dominant. Almost 90% of the land area is covered by forests. There are large areas of swamps and savannah grasslands in the low-lying areas. Vegetation is diverse with 9000 plant species, over 200 of which are tree-size, and are found mostly in the lowland rainforest. The climate is generally tropical with high humidity and high temperatures, although temperatures are considerably lower in the Central Highlands. There is heavy rainfall almost everywhere.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy as 85% of the population cultivate 6 million hectares of land, either for subsistence agriculture or cash crops. Subsistence crops include cocoyam, sweet potato and yam. Small holders account for most of the output of the three main agriculture export commodities: cocoa, coffee and copra. Rubber, tea and pyrethrum are other important export crops

Honeybees

There are no indigenous honeybees in Papua New Guinea. Apis mellifera was first introduced to Papua New Guinea from Australia during the 1940s, and further introductions have subsequently occurred from both Australia and New Zealand, mainly Apis mellifera ligustica. In 1986 the Asian hive bee Apis cerana was detected, probably spread from Irian Jaya Apis cerana is not used for beekeeping:

Beekeeping

Because of the absence of indigenous honeybees there is no traditional beekeeping. Beekeeping was introduced by expatriates and missionaries. The introduced beekeeping technology is using Langstroth (frame) hives. Since the early 1970s the number of hived colonies has increased to approximately 4000 owned by 400 beekeepers in the 1980s. At present the number of active beekeepers and colonies is assumed to be far less because of serious problems within the beekeeping industry. Only few beekeepers own extractors, the majority extract their honey at centralised honey factories.

Problems

The centralised organisation of the beekeeping industry, with honey factories where the beekeepers process their honey is uneconomical. The same !s true of the equipment which is very expensive and mostly has to be imported. Currently the honey factories owned by the national beekeeping association are facing financial problems and are more or less out of action.

Number of beekeepers

Precise number is unknown, but less than 400.

Honey production

Annual honey production was about 100 tonnes in the 1980s. Due to the current critical situation of the beekeeping industry honey production is now only 20-30 tonnes annually. Typical annual yield per colony is about 15kg.

Honeybee diseases, pests and predators

Varroa jacobsont and Tropilaelaps clareae occur but are not serious problem. Varroa jacobsoni is not reproducing in Apis mellifera colonies, and Tropilaelaps clareae seems not to be spreading. The most destructive pests are wax moths. Of minor impact are Acarapis dorsalis, Acarapis externus, Nosema, and sacbrood.

Beekeeping Association

Honey Producers Pty Ltd, PO Box 566, Goroka.

Research

Beekeeping research is conducted under the National Agriculture Research Institute, mainly focusing on research into the two bee mites Varroa jacobsoni and Tropilaelaps clareae.

Projects

Foreign governments especially Australia and New Zealand have assisted with the development of apiculture in Papua New Guinea. The Australian government is assisting in the research on bee mites.

We are grateful for this information prepared by Stefan Berg, Api-Promo, Germany; and Thomas Kustermann, German Development Service (DED), Vietnam.