Bees for Development Journal
African Pollinator Initiative West African bees to the roll call The contribution of bees to the conservation of biodiversity came into prominence during a four-day workshop in December 2003 on the taxonomy of West African bees. Tropical and subtropical areas of Africa South of the Sahara have an estimated 3000 bee species, all of which are important in the pollination of wild and cultivated plants.
Four days of intensive field and laboratory sessions covered the following: —
methods of collection of insects and other pollinating organisms
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identification of bee species using taxonomic keys
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methods of preservation of sampled specimens for future scientific work
At the opening ceremony, the FAO country representative in Ghana, Mr A Ndong Mba, expressed the need for farmers to adopt sound agricultural practices to conserve pollinators. Dr Peter Kwapong, the West African
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Co-ordinator of API, called on all stakeholders in food production to promote the use of farming methods that are friendly to organisms that play key roles in crop pollination, as he said: "Without these pollinators yields of farm produce will dwindle". Dr Eardley outlined plans and ongoing activities of regional groupings under the International Pollinator Initiative which seeks to promote the conservation and use of organisms such as bees for effective pollination of plants.
Kwame Aidoo BfD's Correspondent
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The workshop tackled some aspects of the main objectives of the African Pollinator Initiative (API): identifying all pollinating organisms in Africa, including bees, and promoting their conservation for improved pollination of plants.
The West African Secretariat of the AP| based in the Department of Zoology, University of Cape Coast, Ghana organised the meeting which was sponsored by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Research scientists, agricultural extension officers, beekeepers, and fruit crop farmers came together to learn about bees, and other pollinators. Dr Connal Eardley, a bee taxonomist from South Africa, was the resource scientist for the workshop.
After the spread of the Varroa mite to honeybee colonies across the world, beekeeping management has had to change dramatically. Varroa was found in the UK in 1992. It has had a bad impact on beekeeping in general, on professionals and on amateurs. Now it is more than 10 years since it was identified in the island. Since then, what has been
done? The pyrethroid chemicals namely fluvalinate (Apistan) and flumethrin (Bayvarol) have been. used for over seven years. The persistent use of these materials has allowed the mite to build up resistance to these substances and this has been recorded in some parts of the country. What is being done against this issue? Thymol compounds are to some extent effective in knocking down Varroa, yet they agitate the bees, are expensive to buy, and are not doing the job well
enough. There was talk about physical manceuvres, like drone comb trapping,
Field sessions included collection of insects and other pollinating organisms
queen confinement and the use of meshed hive floors. These tasks, although they are useful, are too time consuming for use on a commercial scale and might affect the build up of colonies during crucial periods.
Many hope that genetic selection will play its role. However, Varroa is an opportunistic parasite: it is not qa natural parasite of Apis mellifera. Thus Apis mellifera would need infinite time to show genetic mutation, if at all. The defence mechanism of the Asian hive bee, Apis cerana, is to have short incubation periods for drone brood and absconding of colonies to settle in another site, which is not the case for European honeybees, Apis mellifera. After all, if one scientist beekeeper succeeds in getting an inbred line of bees that shows some resistance against Varroa, the way of mating of bees, and the need for hybrids to gain vigour, would make this character lost after one or two generations. It is not as if finding a colony or group of colonies that have less Varroa mites means this
line is resistant to Varroa. Half facts can never be a compromise for the whole truth. It is not a matter of being pessimistic, but rather emphasising the need for alternatives. Integrated pest management may be the ideal solution. However, beekeepers need more than one material to apply and to have different manoeuvres. Beekeepers and decisionmakers need to plot immediate actions and long-term ones to solve the problem. Otherwise this problem of resistance will spread to a level that will jeopardise the British beekeeping industry. Nobody likes the use of chemicals in honeybee colonies, but leaving these tiny creatures unaided is another sour solution. The pyrethroid compounds have been used before and they are chemicals. We must make use of other countries' experience in finding and registering the use of alternative chemicals, as an urgent act. Meanwhile we should encourage any scientific approach, and any inspiration, as a prospect for the future.
