News around the World

BRAZIL

The Bee Research Group of Universidade Federal do Ceará was created in 1996 by Dr Breno Magalhães Freitas under the name Bee-Plant interactions for pollination and production. It is registered in the Brazilian National Directory of Research Groups - CNPq. This Group carries out research related to a variety of social and solitary bee species and correlated subjects. Its members are also involved in teaching and supervising undergraduate and graduate students of biology, agronomy and animal science and extension activities in their areas of knowledge. Researchers are lecturers and students belonging to the Departments of Biology, Plant Science and Animal Science of Universidade Federal do Ceará, Universidade Estadual do Vale do Acaraú, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Queen's University Belfast (UK) and one researcher from EMBRAPA/CNPAT (Brazilian National Research Centre in Tropical Agroindustry).

The Group has successfully reared colonies of Melipona quinquefasciata in hives kept above ground. The occurrence of this species in north-east Brazil was unknown until its discovery by the Group in the plateaus of Araripe and Ibiapaba (state of Ceará) in 2000. More information at www.abelhas.ufc.br

CAMEROON

Jean-Paul Kemgang sent this picture of 'Apiculture Binum' at work. Jean-Paul explains that Members of the Association join together to buy wood and the Association undertakes hive construction for no charge.

KENYA

Jonathan Lelgo provides Pandaptai Beekeeping & Agroforestry Project participants with information on bee husbandry. The Project uses frame and top-bar hives.

© Jonathan Lelgo

IRAN/POLAND

Congratulations to Professor Jerzy Woyke of the Agricultural University in Warsaw, Poland who has been chosen as the winner of the 15th Khwarizmi Award. Abu Jafar Mohammad Ibn Mousa Khwarizmi was a famous mathematician and astronomer who lived from 770-840 AD. In 1988 The Iranian Research Organization for Science & Technology proposed the Award in memory of this great scientist. The Prize is given to persons who offer an extraordinary contribution to the development of agriculture, engineering, medicine or science. Out of 200 worldwide projects Professor Woyke received the Award for his contribution to the science and practice of apiculture and was recognised for his research on honeybee biology, reproduction and sex determination. His work on Asian honeybees was noted, as well as his investigations into the biology and control of the parasitic mite Tropilaelaps clareae.

This is the first time that the Award has recognised apiculture.

NIGERIA

Healing with honey

A pupil arrived back at his school in Lagos with a deep cut on his ankle. His mother had searched everywhere for an antiseptic lotion, but was unsuccessful. A neighbour suggested applying honey to the wound with the assurance that it would do the same job as any disinfectant.

Initially his mother was not sure, but her fears were allayed by a medical report that confirmed the potent antiseptic properties of honey. This explained that glucose oxidase (an enzyme found in bee saliva) breaks down the glucose in nectar. A by-product of this reaction is hydrogen peroxide which is well known as a disinfectant. Honey also stimulates the formation of capillaries and triggers cells that produce new skin to grow. Antioxidants in honey possess antiinflammatory action that helps reduce swelling, improve circulation and keep the wound from weeping. The report advised against giving honey to children under the age of one. Kparev Emmanuel, Abuda.

PAKISTAN

Varroa mite has finally reached every apiary in Pakistan. Beekeepers in the country have been reporting serious losses. A recent visit to ten beekeepers revealed that for the past 6-9 months they have been using Manpu strips to control Varroa: the active ingredient is unknown. This product is from China and one supplier has imported a container of the strips. Dr Elizabeth Wagchoure Stephen, NARC, Islamabad

TANZANIA

Heifer International

Beekeeping in Tanzania is considered an inheritance. From one generation to another bees, hives and knowledge are passed on. This practice corresponds to one of Heifer International's Cornerstones of Passing on the gift to a neighbour.

The Workshop provoked many discussions

© Heifer International

Beekeeping has not been fully exploited for the socio-economic development and environmental conservation that would help boost Tanzania's economy. This is due to a number of limiting factors that include:

(i) lack of capital or credit facilities

(ii) low priority by both private and government sectors in investing for development of the beekeeping industry

(iii) lack of information dissemination

(iv) poor marketing system

(v) low production of bee products

(vi) beekeeping ispractised mostly by old men

(vii) poor networking.

In February 2003 Heifer International- Tanzania organised a three-day workshop and exhibition in Arusha to share best practice on Production of Bee Products and Marketing Promotion. The aim was to come up with strategies to help the beekeeping sector move forward.

Participants agreed on the importance of creating a Forum with representation from each of the beekeeping zones for all stakeholders to spearhead beekeeping activities in Tanzania. Beekeepers, sellers of bee products, exporters, co-operatives and associations, extension officers, trainers, researchers, NGOs, CBOs and consumers would be involved. By the end of June, each beekeeping zone was to meet and discuss what they would like the Forum to achieve. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and Heifer International-Tanzania were urged to facilitate the meetings. It was agreed that Zonal Representatives should be invited to the National Meeting in October 2003 to provide feedback.

Information supplied by Erwin Kinsey, Heifer International in Tanzania

A copy of the Workshop Proceedings can be downloaded at www.beesfordevelopment.org/downloads/files/13.shtml. Please provide acknowledgement of Heifer International-Tanzania and the origin of any material you reproduce.

Miombo Beekeepers

Thanks to Bees for Development for the workshop materials provided to Miombo Beekeepers' Association (MIBA). Some were displayed at National Farmers' Shows held at Mwalimu Nyerere National Showground, Morogoro. The information was powerful and attracted the interest of the public. We held a meeting with representatives from the Lutheran church with whom we have a history of collaboration. The Church promised to support some of the village beekeeping communities at Masagati and along Udzungwa Mountain Rainforest National Park. We are also working closely with Habitat International with the idea of promoting beekeeping for groups with annual loan repayment schemes. It has been realised that beekeeping is sustainable enough to pay for a house loan scheme from Habitat International Ifakara. Katurukila village have already set aside a lowland forest in Kilombero Valley, as a bee reserve. The area covers 162 ha and is close to Selous Game Reserve, the second largest UNESCO world heritage site. Another village Machipi has set aside 1000 acres close to Udzungwa National Parks as a bee reserve. In 2003 we expect more villages to set aside land exclusively for beekeeping in line with the National Beekeeping Policy 1998 and National Beekeeping Act of April 2000.

MIBA is mobilising local beekeepers at Masagati Ward and purchasing their honey. We discovered that 75% of the honey has been boiled because this seems an easy way of extracting honey from the comb if no honey press is available: we are encouraging the beekeepers not to cook their honey! Masagati is very remote with a road passable only in the dry season. Citrus has been the main cash crop but recently production levels have dropped significantly due to a serious disease outbreak. Rice is an alternative cash and food crop but due to the unpopularity of upland rice to consumers, the price has been very low. Upland rice farming also involves clearing virgin forest and leads to land degradation. There is good news from the Ministry of Industry and Trade that bee products are one out of four products approved for export to the USA.

Kennedy Sabas Haule, MIBA Project Developer

UGANDA

Honey factory to open

Beekeepers in Uganda will no longer have to hassle for a local market for their honey with the opening of a new honey processing plant in Kampala by the Mazima Group of companies. The plant, to cost Uganda Shillings 500m (about US$300,000) is under construction in Nalukolongo near Kampala and on completion will process honey from various parts of the country, for local consumption and export. Harshad Barot, Managing Director of Mazima Group said they were undertaking this venture to exploit the untapped value of organic honey that is plentiful in Uganda. The Mazima Group is working together with the Uganda Beekeepers' Association to provide materials and some financial assistance.

Source: FAO NWFP Digest quoting New Vision (Kampala), Uganda, 25 March 2003. For full story see: http://allafrica.com/stories/ 200303250292.html

Grace Mande demonstrates to participants undergoing training at Honey Point Ltd Resource Centre that where the queen goes, the swarm will follow. In this instance on his back and head!

© Grace Mande

ZIMBABWE

ITDG launch

The Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) of Southern Africa has launched the Zimbabwe Small-Scale Beekeepers' Association (ZSBA). The formation of the new organisation has been necessitated by the absence of a collective voice to represent the interests of over 10,000 small-scale beekeepers in the country. ZSBA's mandate is to provide a public platform from which beekeepers can articulate the challenges they face and pursue options that will improve production.

ITDG said there was need to create a vibrant association to set up linkages between small-scale beekeepers with national and regional organisations facilitating exchange of information and experiences. The organisation would seek to strengthen networks to increase poor producers' access to credit, training, research, improved technologies and markets. The new organisation could be a collective voice which facilitates more effective interaction with relevant government departments and other service providers.

ZSBA would also provide a platform for knowledge sharing on value addition of honey related products, the practice of using bees for pollination and implementing sound environmental management practices. Apiculture has largely been ignored as an agricultural activity in the country. The potential for beekeeping for income-generation is beginning to be realised and beekeeping associations, NGOs and extension services are looking at ways of improving small-scale beekeeping by building on people's knowledge and skills. Beekeepers are failing to supply enough honey for the local market and demand is being met by imports from South Africa. The initiative taken by ITDG will fill the information gap. An International Beekeeping Symposium held in November 1999, which focused on beekeeping in Southern Africa, demonstrated that there is an increasing demand for information dissemination and training in improved beekeeping. In regions such as Vumba near Mutare where rural people have been given assistance, the production and processing of quality honey and other bee products has dramatically increased and yet demand is still greater than supply. Efficient information dissemination would not only see increased honey production but also save the environment. Apiculture has a saving effect on the environment since beekeepers avoid cutting trees as well as avoiding veldt fires. Players in the industry have projected that the assistance from the associations, NGOs and Government would speed up the growth of apiculture and it would not be long before it started competing with other industries.

Source: FAO NWFP Digest quoting The Herald (Harare), Zimbabwe, 27 March 2003. For full story see: http://allafrica.com/stories/ 200303270033.html

Varroa has arrived

Varroa destructor, the mite that is predatory upon honeybees, was identified by Michael F Schmolke Jnr in honeybee colonies on Nottingham Estate, Beit Bridge in southern Zimbabwe in April 2003. The level of infestation may indicate that the colonies were first infested 18 months previously. In June 2003, Varroa was identified in samples collected 50 km north of the first discovery and at Hippo Valley Estate, 250 km to the north-east, towards the Mozambique border.

Winkie Schmolke and Michael Schmolke, Apiculture Technical Committee, Zimbabwe Beekeepers' Council

Varroa destructor

Varroa destructor is a parasitic mite that lives on honeybee pupae and adults. It feeds on the haemolymph (blood) of bees. Varroa mites occur naturally in colonies of Asian honeybees: here the mites never kill the colonies, and the bees never completely get rid of the mites. This is a normal host-parasite relationship. However, during the last century as humans moved bees around the world, Varroa mites were accidentally introduced to Apis mellifera colonies.

Apis mellifera is the honeybee indigenous to Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and has been introduced to most other world regions. Apis mellifera has not evolved in the presence of the mite and has no resistance, therefore Apis mellifera are killed by the mite. Once present in a area the mite kills all natural nests of Apis mellifera honeybees, and colonies in hives can survive only if action is taken by the beekeeper.

What are they telling us?

Börje Svensson's bees in Sweden have been busy! He sent us this picture of a frame, where the bees seem to be making a map of the world. Is it a map of Varroa destructor distribution, or the future effect of global warning?