In Issue 69

Dear friends

Our cover picture shows Wellete Toby McMillan, Apiaries Officer for Tobago, working in her apiary of top-bar and frame hives in Tobago. Wellete is a member of Tobago Apicultural Society, working on the project to compare top-bar and frame hives in Tobago. The Project has been planned by Gladstone Solomon, President of Tobago Apicultural Society and Bees for Development, and has been supported by the Cariforum Agribusiness Research and Training Fund.

Beekeepers in Trinidad and Tobago (as in many Caribbean nations) import most of their beekeeping equipment and materials - even down to the beeswax foundation used in frame hives. The idea behind testing top-bar hives is to see if this could be a more economical basis for a self-supporting industry. Everyone participating in the Project is already an experienced beekeeper. This means that they are perceptive to the various strengths of the different technologies and can make valuable conclusions. All plan to continue with their top-bar hives alongside their frame hive beekeeping. One technical issue that has arisen is the presence of brood cells at the bottom of some honeycombs. This results in either (a) the beekeeper being unable to harvest the honey in that comb, or (b) the loss of valuable brood during honey harvest. This raises the necessity of considering the introduction of a physical device, or a management method, to prevent the queen from laying eggs in honeycombs during the honey flow season.

A second technical issue has been the collapse of some honeycombs. This must have been due to the temperature rising within the hive such that the beeswax comb increased in temperature, causing its loss of strength and comb collapse. In Tobago, average daily temperatures range between 32 and 34°C throughout the year. For this reason, we believe that it is important to take particular care about the siting of top-bar hives in shade, and to provide adequate ventilation to assist the bees to ensure that the nest temperature does not rise much above 35°C. To maintain the nest at 35°C in hot weather requires that bees expend much energy in fanning to ventilate the hive, and in collecting water. If hives are kept in the shade, then obviously this will result in greater honey harvests as less energy is wasted in maintaining temperature. Perhaps all hives in Tobago overheat in hot weather, but it is only in top-bar hives that this has been brought to the beekeepers’ attention? It is planned to continue the research for another season, to test the benefits gained by introducing greater shade, and possibilities for more ventilation, in the top-bar hives. The full results of the Project will be brought to you in a future edition of Bees for Development Journal.

This edition also contains more information about top-bar hives: our series by Pam Gregory continues on page 6, with additional technical comments from Bernhard Clauss on page 8. And there is news of bee projects and activities worldwide: starting with a Zoom in to Nicaragua. do hope you enjoy this edition: let me know what you think!

Nicola Bradbear, Director Bees for Development

Bees for Development

1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK Tel: +44 (0)1600 714848 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org

PS You can visit the beekeepers in Tobago by joining our Beekeepers’ Safari in March 2004: details on page 16.