by Otto Boecking' and Wolfgang Ritter?
‘Institut fiir Landwirtschaftliche Zoologie und Bienenkunde der Universitat, Bonn, Germany *Tierhygienisches Institut, Freiburg, Germany
Honeybees are present in Nepal’s temperate mountain region and in the hot, humid, sub-tropical terai region. Indigenous honeybee species are Apis cerana, Apis dorsata, Apis florea and Apis laboriosa. Honey hunting by professional hunters and collective village groups is a long established activity in Nepal, exploiting the giant honeybee Apis dorsata and the rock bee Apis /aboriosa. Beekeeping with Apis cerana is part of Nepal's cultural heritage. The most common type of beekeeping is with Apis cerana in log, wooden box, clay and wall hives, which have fixed combs. Various projects have introduced several types of movable-frame hives, supplemented by training and extension services, in attempts to improve beekeeping management techniques with Apis cerana.
The European hive bee Apis mellifera has been recently introduced, mainly in the Kathmandu Valley. Colonies of Apis mellifera are imported into Nepal in expectation of greater productivity, and to overcome supposed problems with Thai sacbrood disease in Apis cerana. No government .
regulations exist concerning the importation of exotic species.
INDIGENOUS HONEYBEES IN THE HIMALAYAS Since 1993 the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has supported a project to conserve and utilise indigenous honeybees in Nepal. In 1999 the project was widened to include the Hindu Kush Himalaya Region. The project is managed by Austroprojekt GmbH (Vienna) and based at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu. B&D will bring regular features about the wor of the project throughout 2001 and 2002. To provide context for the importance and need for this project, we are starting the series with this summary of the honeybee disease situation in Nepal.
Bee diseases reduce potential
EXPLANATION PLEASE!
The presence of bee disease is one of the main problems facing beekeepers world-wide. A short survey of the present status of bee disease in Apis cerana, with particular concern for Thai sacbrood virus infestation, and Varroa jacobsoni and Tropilaelaps clareae mite infestation in Apis mellifera beekeeping was initiated by AP!-Promo-GTZ (Germany)
HONEYBEES
1998. Information and experiences were exchanged with local beekeepers about these diseases and possible control strategies. in March
Apis cerana
An Asian species of honeybee that can build a series of parallel combs and can be kept in hives.
Apis dorsata
Asian species of honeybees. These bees build single combs and cannot be kept inside man-made hives.
Apis mellifera
This is the species of honeybee found naturally throughout Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In recent years European races of Apis mellifera have been introduced to many countries of Asia, including Nepal.
Apis florea Apis laboriosa
Survey This survey was only a short study. The information source was direct inspection for clinical symptoms of randomly selected bee colonies in each apiary. All colonies investigated were in movable frame hives, which allowed a check of the colonies frame by frame. Bees and brood samples were collected for laboratory analysis.
Diseases in Apis cerana Based on clinical symptoms, Thai sacbrood virus, European foulbrood and Varroa jacobsoni were present in the inspected Apis cerana colonies. Thai sacbrood virus was found in three colonies (out of 34 inspected).
Clinical symptoms are not enough to determine which disease actually threatens the bee colonies. This is because many bee diseases show similar clinical symptoms although they have different causative organisms. To determine whether Thai sacbrood virus was the cause of the clinical
symptoms, laboratory analysis was carried out: in two of three cases this confirmed the clinical symptoms. Visiting three apiaries the beekeepers claimed that their colonies suffered from Thai sacbrood infestation. Any clinical symptom could prove the beekeepers’ assumption. In these cases the bee colonies suffered from poor pollen and honey supplies, and the bees were already eating their own brood. In two cases the colonies were being robbed by other colonies. All these cases showed poor management of the colonies by the beekeepers. There are no chemical cures for Thai sacbrood disease, and many beekeepers are treating their colonies with antibiotics, which might increase the development of resistance to bacteria in the future. EFB was found in 11 colonies (out of 34 inspected) and confirmed by laboratory analysis. The infestation level with EFB of all colonies investigated did not reach destructive levels, since the bees themselves try to reduce the disease by hygienic nest cleaning behaviour.
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DISEASES European foulbrood
European foulbrood (EFB) is primarily caused by the bacteria Mellisococcus pluton. EFB occurs in Apis cerana and Apis mellifera.
Sacbrood
This disease is caused by the Sacbrood virus and is found in Apis mellifera.
Thai sacbrood
This disease is caused by the Thai sacbrood virus, and is found in Apis cerana.
Tropilaelaps clareae
This is a mite. It occurs naturally in Apis dorsata and does not cause problems for this species. Tropilaelaps clareae does cause problems when present in Apis mellifera,
Varroa jacobsoni This
is a mite. It occurs naturally in Apis cerana and does not cause serious problems for this species. Varroa jacobsoni does cause problems when present in Apis mellifera.
The incidence of Varroa jacobsoni is low in Apis cerana and it causes no notable damage. Although this ectoparasitic mite regularly infests Apis cerana colonies, many Apis cerana beekeepers in Nepal have never seen a Varroa mite in their colonies, due to the low infestation levels.
Diseases in Apis mellifera During this survey five beekeepers, keeping a total of 155 colonies of Apis mellifera were visited. 14 randomly selected bee colonies were carefully inspected for clinical symptoms of bee diseases.
