News

BOTSWANA

Beekeeping in Botswana: on the up! In 1976 the German Volunteer Service began teaching beekeeping to remote area dwellers in Botswana, as way of supplementing diet and generating income. The Beekeeping Unit was established in 1980 within the women’s extension section of the Ministry of Agriculture. The aim was to assist women to generate income through honey and beeswax sales and to secure bee products for household use. In 1981] countrywide extension service began operating and in 1991 an introduced agricultural policy encouraging non-farming activities enhanced the role of beekeeping. Currently the Unit has 14 beekeeping officers, nine of whom are women.

The Government now operates schemes to assist farmers in establishing apiaries and purchasing beekeeping equipment. Beekeeping is taught in primary and secondary schools.

There is no problem with marketing bee products within Botswana as supply is lower than demand. Batswana prefer comb honey to liquid honey, so beeswax production remains low. The small amount of wax harvested is used for baiting hives and in batik.

There have been many successes but still the beekeeping project has faced setbacks:

- Compared with other agricultural projects this is new venture and the take-up rate is still low;

- A shortage of qualified personnel means depending on agricultural extension staff to do all the work;

- Extension areas are big and transport problems add to low level of follow-up to farmers to assist in management. The result is high level of honeybee colonies absconding due to pests, predators, drought and vandalism;

- During dry weather beekeepers are forced to feed their colonies. Some farmers do not have funds available to buy food for their bees and again colonies abscond. To counter this problem the Beekeeping Unit is advocating the planting of melliferous plants, especially those which flower in winter and are drought-resistant.

Khaliso Kepaletswe, Agricultural Scientific Office

HAITI

COSEVO (Co-operative for Animal Production and Veterinary Services) helps beekeeping associations by providing assistance for honey production in the north-east regio Haiti, one of the poorest areas in the country.

The demand for assistance is always increasing and the constraints for honey production are numerous. To provide help in more organised way project covering the area has been conceived. The objectives of the project are:

- increased honey production in the area;

- support for environmental protection by the promotion of beekeeping;

- reduction of poverty.

Future activities include:

forming more beekeepers’ associations;

initiating credit system for beekeeping activities;

creating central shop to make beekeeping materials available;

establishing small unit for the collection and processing of honey;

assisting in the distribution and exportation of honey and wax produced in the region.

“We plan to implement this project over two years and require budget of about USS420,000.

We would be thankful for any assistance", writes Dr Audalbert Bien-Aimé, President of COSEVO,

INDIA

Rendering beeswax from deserted combs of Apis dorsata bees

A very tall Syzygium cumni skeels tree in deep forest about 50 km from Wardha (Maharashtra) is home to between 145 and 175 Apis dorsata colonies every year. Honey hunters have permission from the Forest Department to harvest the colonies. There is no road to the site.

We visited the site in December 1997 to determine whether it would be possible to use the area to train tribal people in handling Apis dorsata. Many huge combs had been deserted by the bees.

A villager agreed to climb 40 up the tree and bring comb down to us. The comb broke into three pieces. It was not possible to weigh the comb and render the wax in the forest to show the villager the importance of the comb. We asked him to visit our office in three days.

The comb measured 150 cm horizontally and 95 cm vertically. The honeycomb weighed 600 and the brood comb 550 g. After processing we were left with 850 of beeswax. One kilogram of beeswax is worth Rs100 at market (1SUS Rs42).

The villager came to our office and showed him the beeswax cake rendered from the deserted comb. He was surprised to see it and hear of its value. told him that if improved methods of managing Apis dorsata colonies were adopted income for the village would be doubled. By the end of March 1998 the villager had delivered kg of beeswax rendered from deserted combs of Apis dorsata.

D B Mahindre, Pune, India

MEXICO

Beekeeping for rural development in the Biosphere Reserve of Calakmul

One of the most important applications of beekeeping is its use in natural reserve areas. It provides economic incentives to preserve priceless natural areas. This is particularly important in the tropical forest of the Mayan Zone of Calakmul. In 1989, the Mexican Government established

Biosphere Reserve of Calakmul in 723,185 ha Within the area are 72 communities who represent an impressive threat to conservation. The main goal of the “Community Development Project” is to stop the deforestation and deterioration of the biodiversity of the area. The project has four different aspects: organic agriculture; use of family plots; production of backyard animals; and community beekeeping.

The main goal of the beekeeping aspect is the establishment of community-orientated beekeeping to increase the security of the forest, the foraging area for the bees, and to increase income for families. participatory approach detected several important factors:

Control of Varroa with formic acid in campaign involving government agencies, NGOs, local beekeeping associations and local authorities;

- Beekeeping courses at different levels;

- Local manufacturing of beekeeping equipment;

- Development and training of extension staff;

- Beekeeping with women’s groups;

- Availability of credit for beekeeping;

- Analysis of foraging areas;

- Promotion and marketing, for example of organic honey.

Max Garcia-Millan and Ana Parra-Canto

CAMEROON

A training session underway with API-CAM ( the Apiarists of Cameroon) who provide for everyone interested in learning more about beekeeping. Photograph provided by their Beekeeping Technician, Ngwe Ruben.

*Please see the original journal article to see the photo

TANZANIA

El Nifio rains affect honey and beeswax production

The heavy rains of 1997 and 1998 prevented beekeepers from harvesting honey and beeswax between June and August, which is the major honey production season.

The Tabora Beekeepers Co-operative Society has been affected by the failure. Its members have reported that many colonies absconded and hives were unoccupied. They have noticed however, that after cleaning, the hives were occupied again in very short time. Beekeepers hope to start harvesting again in November.

Rain also causes problems in harvesting and transporting honey to the Co-operative’s premises. hope that the honey will be transported before it is spoilt.

Justin Madaha, B&D's Correspond in Tanzania