VIN
ON
MADE
adagascar has an area of 582,000 km? and a human 12.8 million, 80% of whom live in rural areas. MELLIFEROUS FLORA Primary forest sources are numerous and give SEYCHELLES
Pee
an assortment of honey: Da/bergia sp, Homalium sp, Rhus sp, and Weinmannia sp.
Secondary sources include Macarenga sp, Psiadia altissima and Ziziphus sp. Trees and cultivated shrubs: Cocos nucifera, Coffea sp and Nephelium litchi.
18
HONEYBEE DISEASES AND PESTS No serious diseases or major predators are apparent, although Nosema and Varroa sp were both strongly indicated in August 1998.
PROJECTS In
ange of regional to altitude and exposure
1986 FAO (the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the UN) funded a 12-month project for apiculture development to increase honey production. The apiculture project currently underway in the Biosphere of Mananara Nord is described right.
SECTOR SUPPORT forestation (dense humid
e
ary
bush formations
Popes, mangrove swamps
Subsistence crops ndnut, maize, manioc, rice ash crops are cocoa, Ine and sunflowers.
Dn.
Apiculture Dr Gabrielle Andriantsafara Divisional Head of Apiculture Bee Breeding Centre, Ampandrianomby
Bee behaviour and study of melliferous plants Dr Z Ramamonjisoa Ralataharisoa, Botanical Laboratory, Science Faculty, BP 906 Antananarivo
APICULTURE IN THE BIOSPHERE OF MANANARA NORD RESERVATION This Reservation of 140,000 ha is situated on the east coast of Madagascar. The climate is humid and tropica! and the Reservation represents an important example of humid forest. Many kinds of lemurs live here, notably the Aye-aye (Daubetonia madagascariensis).
Honey is collected by honey gatherers and also by beekeepers using traditional hives. Honey
gathering can be a problem if the hunters cut down 100 year old trees to harvest the honey. In local beekeeping the hives are made from the hollow trunks of the Traveller’s tree
Ravenala madagascariensis, or from giant bamboo canes. Swarms of Apis mellifera unicolor are abundant. Annual production is
2-5 litres
of honey per hive, according to the time of harvest. Harvesting takes place between November and March.
Honey is eaten in the home or sold. Price per litre ranges from 2500-5000 Fr mg (US$ 0.5-1) depending on the season. Bush traders take charge of honey collection
and it is sent to Tamatave, the administrative centre of the Province. Research carried out
among focal people, and pollen analysis of the honey, reveals abundant nectar sources: cultivated species (beans, cocoa, coffee and lychee), naturally occurring species Mimosa pudica and Scopsaria dulcis, and forest species including Ochrocarpos sp and Weinmannia sp. Wax is rarely saved.
is widespread on the
ascarines (Mauritius and
As honey collection is one of the causes of pressure on the park and bordering forests, the apiculture project has decided that popularising a better model of beekeeping
h local-style hives. ome popular in various Ambositra (high ‘a
could prove a beneficial alternative. This involves teaching the techniques for
producing honey on site so that dependence
Nord on the east coast.
on collecting honey from the forests may be
avoided. Project leaders have given training to include swarm collection through to honey
EEKEEPERS
extraction and the construction of improved hives. The Langstroth hive has been
rs’ groups and Bh
national federation.
promoted since 1990 to achieve a better harvest and to make the harvesting process
DUCTION number of harvests varies
ailable to the bees.
200 field workers who own between one and five hives are beginning to use this hive, producing an average of 10 litres of honey per hive. The project
easier. Over
joney are harvested per
A local hive made from bamboo: the bee colony can be seen inside
lave focussed on Albania, Argentina, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Cape Verde, ga, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, India, lraq, Jamaica, Jordan, a New Guinea, Philippines, Rodrigues, Sierra Leone, Solomon islands, Suriname, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen. on this list, then why not send us some information?
research station is based at Antanambe and has a centre for teaching and demonstrating beekeeping techniques.
Thanks to Ramamonjisoa Ralalaharisoa for providing this information and iflustrations, and to Sue Platt for translation.
