News

BHUTAN

BEKAB

The only Beekeeping Association in Bhutan was formed by a group of farmers involved in beekeeping in 1997. A Swiss person working in Bumthang introduced the European honeybee Apis mellifera to Bhutan in 1986. A few colonies were also purchased from a private apiary in India and used on a private basis. When the small venture proved to be successful, a beekeeping development programme was worked out and named as ‘The Beekeeping Association of Bhutan’ (BEKAB). This is an independent NGO aiming to be self-supporting. It is based in Bumthang, in the east-central region of the Kingdom and currently has a group of 30 farmers as members.

At this stage, being a young organisation and having a mandate to train new beekeepers and provide them with colonies, it cannot meet the costs of its activities. Currently BEKAB is facing problems in marketing honey, which is a key to the success of the industry. This is because the Association does not have funds to pay for the honey produced and bought from the members, which is increasing every year. BEKAB has also to buy essential packaging materials like honey jars and lids. Therefore, we are looking forward to being able to help honey export in a sustainable manner to an outside country.

Beekeeping has the potential to become a lucrative enterprise for the small-scale farmers with limited land holdings and other assets. BEKAB’s long-term objective is to promote a sustainable beekeeping industry in the country and thereby improve the crop pollination by bees, and raise the income of the rural population by increased crop production and honey production.

Chairman, The Beekeeping Association of Bhutan, Bumthang

CAMEROON

BOBEEFAG

Following on from their successful training workshop reported in BfDJ 62 BOBEEFAG are hoping to hold a workshop on apitherapy and bee products in November this year. Financial support is required as well as a volunteer to assist with teaching.

If you are interested to help please contact Samuel Lyonga Mbake c/o Bees for Development.

COLOMBIA

Asociacion Regional de Apicultura has been offering training to medium and small-scale beekeepers to help them solve technical and economical problems facing them in the coffee zone Eje Cafetero, an excellent area for beekeeping. Helping these groups and providing the opportunity for processing honey, propolis and wax helps them to care for the mountains and vegetation and helps them to be peaceful and nice people!

Jose Alrejo Velasco

GHANA

BEEKEEPING: A major source of additional income for women

The Supportive Women’s Organisation (SWO) has a membership of over 500 women trained in beekeeping. The organisation gives special emphasis to helping women working as subsistence farmers. The UK DFID and German Development Service (DED) have supported 100 women in two districts in the eastern area of Ghana. These women can now benefit from additional income from honey sales. One beneficiary, Mercy Addo has this to say:

“| have six children and my husband, with no land of his own, has been practising crop sharing: life was very difficult for us. Two years ago hives by SWO. The yield was so good (28 litres of honey) that I was able to pay - my children’s school fees for one year”.

SWO says: “If we give a women four hives she can obtain enough income to look after her children, pay their school fees and ensure a better diet for all.”

Mrs Christina Hall (Ex-Director of SWO) has organised a National Beekeeping Programme for women as a source of employment. SWO is inviting interested partners to support women beekeepers in Ghana.

Christina Hall

GUYANA

VARROA

Varroa sp has been identified by the UK National Bee Unit in a sample of bees collected in Annai, in the Guyana interior.

David Wainwright, UK

INDIA

THE MELLIFERA BATTLE

In spite of the strong practical evidence about the failure of Apis mellifera in the Western Ghats, the provincial Karnataka and Kerala governments are in favour of propagating exotic bees in this region. There exists a strong nexus between officials, training consultants and the apiaries in northern India who want to sell Apis mellifera colonies. Hundreds of colonies are being introduced into the tropical forest regions and they meet with failure. But the officials are not willing to learn from the mistake and the reality.

The Save Honeybees Campaign has drafted a Public Interest Litigation petition to be filed in the High Court of Karnataka seeking the intervention of the Judiciary to stop the further introduction of exotic honeybees in the province. As a starting point the advocate has given notice to the Government Department responsible for beekeeping to provide clarification as to why they should not be taken to court for misleading the beekeepers and the people.

In the meantime there is some good news: indigenous Apis cerana has developed resistance to Thai Sacbrood disease, and there are reports of the revival of beekeeping activity from Kodagu and other regions in the Western Ghats.

Pandurang Hegde

PHILIPPINES

BICOLANDIA BEE RAISERS ASSOCIATION

Earlier this year Bicolandia Bee Raisers Association organised a Strategic Planning Workshop attended by government agencies, NGOs and individuals from different provinces of the Bicol Region. The following action points were agreed:

- Circulation of information through the publication of journals in local languages and at affordable costs.

- Encouragement of government sectors to activate support for the development of the beekeeping industry, together with inducing banking institutions to support beekeeping activities in the remote barangays.

- Establishing research and training for improved production, particularly in the extraction of pollen and propolis to maximise the benefit of beekeeping and supplement the basics needs of poor families.

Issue 3 was considered the most urgent because it involves the battle against poverty for families living in the rural barrios. A Workshop Box supplied by Bees for Development assisted us with the meeting.

Raul G Barrameda, President, Bicolandia Bee Raisers Association

Ed: Find out how Bees for Development can assist you with information for your meetings. See page 12

NIGERIA

HELP FOR RESEARCHERS

It is unknown why the hymenopterous insect Nomia sp ‘hangs around’ the male plants in sugar cane fields, especially during flowering. Researchers from the National Cereals Research Institute have observed this curious behaviour during hybridisation of the flowering plant from September to November. Early in the morning the flowers open up to let fertile pollen grains escape. At dawn the insects begin to hover around the male plants as if they know they have the dehisced anthers (the male part of the flower) full or almost full of fertile pollen grains. Insect numbers decrease when the flowers close again. This had led researchers to conclude the way these pollinators behave reveals the presence of male plants of sugarcane: the insects only behave in this way once the plants have over 60% of fertile pollen(when they are considered male) and not with plants with less than 10% of fertile pollen (female). Researchers are studying the anthers to determine the factor responsible for this behaviour, since male parents can now be easily distinguished, and this means less time spent in the laboratory.

Source: Coraf Action No 21

ST HELENA

During a recent visit to St Helena | met with beekeeper Stedson Stroud who featured on the cover of BfDJ 38. I helped Stedson with his hives that are located just below

Emperor Napoleon's tomb, in a valley with plenty of banana, hibiscus, paw paw and many wild flowers. There are 250 hives on St Helena, impressive for a land area of only 122 km’. The main honey flow is in December. The bees are Varroa-free and the honey is chemical-free and marketed in plastic containers. The honey sells well on the local market.

John Kinross, UK

UGANDA

PARABONGO BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION is an umbrella organisation for 19 beekeeping groups. The Association has 325 members who between them own 1103 local-style hives. Each group has 10-29 members (men and women), with an elected committee of seven. Honey is harvested three times a year in March-April, June and August-September. Enthusiasm within the groups is always high. The aims of the Association are:

- Protecting the environment through beekeeping.*

- Improving the living standards of group members and the health of the people of Parabongo sub-county through the consumption of honey.

The problems faced by the Association include the absence of good quality containers for honey storage, lack of transport for moving honey to market, and a reliable honey market. Too much insecurity raises the poverty level within the groups. The Association would welcome any assistance.

David M Okidi, Chairman, Parabongo Beekeepers’ Association

NEBBI DISTRICT HONEY BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION

is concerned with encouraging beekeeping by providing technical knowledge and skills to local farmers. The Association carries out its work by initially training workshop participants to become trainers. The Association records show 1518 bee farmers (men, women and young people) each owning an average of five hives. Annual honey production in Nebbi District is 95 tonnes, with a maximum yield of 31 kg from top-bar hive colonies and 10 k gfrom local hives. The vegetation is rich in bee forage inciuding trees Albizia saman, Cordia alliodora, Tectona grandis and also avocado, banana, cashew, coffee, guava and mango.

The Association is seeking funding to produce more hives, for honey storage containers and transport. Contact Nebbi Beekeepers c/o Bees for Development.

Ochowun Emirious Othuma, Chairman, Nebbi District Beekeepers

USA

USA Security has been tight everywhere since September 11 2001, but nowhere more it seems than on ships belonging to Carnival Cruise Lines. The company delayed a sailing from Miami after a group tried to board with 160 bottles of bees. The passengers’ explanations that they intended to use the bees for medicinal purposes failed to convince the security guards.

The Daily Express, 2002

ZAMBIA

CHAWANA MULTI-PURPOSE CO-OPERATIVE

Chawana Multi-Purpose Co-operative are seeking a volunteer to help them expand their honey industry following the near completion of their purpose-built honey factory pictured right. The Co-operative obtained a part grant to construct the building and have contributed income from their honey sales to achieve this advanced state.

If you would like to help Chairman Paul Chipoya and the Co-operative please contact them c/o Bees for Development.

ZIMBABWE

KUTSUNGIRIRA BEEKEEPING CLUB

Beekeeping is like any other business enterprise — without proper skills and knowledge it is not likely to succeed. I have personally witnessed this. Although we had been keeping bees as Kutsungirira Beekeeping Club (KBC) for more than four years the project was not expanding. The bees absconded and we had very small honey yields. A proportion of hives were not even occupied and to make matters worse some colonies in the apiary were too defensive and difficult to handle.

As a founder of KBC I was assigned the task of finding solutions to these problems. A solution came to me when I read in Bees for Development Journal that Baraka Agricultural College in Kenya offers courses in beekeeping. Thanks to financial assistance from the DOEN Foundation in The Netherlands I was able to attend one of the courses. It was there that I discovered that beekeeping is like any business enterprise requiring good skills and knowledge. All the problems I had were solved with the guidance of tutors. In addition I met beekeepers from Kenya, Somalia and Uganda with whom I shared information on beekeeping. Now I am a confident beekeeper with information at my fingertips. want my fellow club members to have more information and skills and I offer them training so that we can turn our project into commercial enterprise.

In the first six months of 2002, KBC members harvested 55 litres of honey. This is a small harvest due to drought. With the food shortages in the country, the little honey harvested played a vital role in the lives of beekeepers who ate honey in place of meali-meal. A few teaspoonfuls of honey is enough for a person to go for a day until supper. Some families also use honey as relish during their meal times.

Because of the high demand for honey, the few families who offer their honey for sale had no stocks left. A 300 ml jar sold for Zim$200 (US$3.75) and families bought meali-meal with the income.

KBC Members also use honey in cough mixture as this is now very expensive to buy especially during winter when many people are affected by flu. The local community recognises the importance of honey: the evidence is the number of people who request this medicine. Beeswax has been used although in small quantities. Not all the hives were harvested because many combs were almost empty. Beeswax candles are used in households no longer buying paraffin. Non beekeepers are impressed by the candles which they have never seen before.

The desire to learn about beekeeping and agro-forestry is greatly increasing in local villages and surrounding communities. This is evident from the numbers of people from near and far who visit KBC to obtain information.

Michael Hlungwani, KBC Chairperson and Trainer

Ed: Information on courses and workshops can be found in Look Ahead on page 14