Beekeeping in Okuku, Nigeria

Ichire Ojating and O I Ojating, University of Calabar, Nigeria

Beekeeping with Langstroth frame hives was undertaken for the first time in Okuku for two years between December 2001 and June 2003. The work is on-going.

Baiting and siting of the hives

Six Langstroth frame hives were baited by smearing a mixture of palm wine and honey on the frames as well as on the inside walls and flight entrance of the hives on 3 December 200I. The hives were sited under Gmelina arborea, Delonix regia and Cassia nodosa (Cassia siamea) trees. The baiting of the hives was repeated every two days and was discontinued as soon as a hive was occupied by a colony of bees.

Hive occupancy

The first hive was occupied by a swarm of bees on 3 September 2002, ie nine months after the baited hives were placed in the apiary (see Table right for the hive occupancy details}. From this record it is evident that the best hive occupancy rate was observed at weeks 65-76, during which four hives were occupied. This means that the rate of hive occupancy was highest at Okuku one year after the hives were baited and sited under the trees. The implication is that a beginner beekeeper using Langstroth frame hives in Okuku has to continue to bait hives for at least a full year before having a reasonable number of bee colonies.

HIVE OCCUPANCY DATES

Hive number 1

- Date of hive occupancy: 3 September 2002

- Number of weeks before hive occupied: 39

Hive number 2

- Date of hive occupancy: 10 September 2002

- Number of weeks before hive occupied: 40

Hive number 3

- Date of hive occupancy: 27 February 2003

- Number of weeks before hive occupied: 64

Hive number 4

- Date of hive occupancy: 28 February 2003

- Number of weeks before hive occupied: 64

Hive number 5

- Date of hive occupancy: 3 April 2003

- Number of weeks before hive occupied: 69

Hive number 6

- Date of hive occupancy: 21 May 2003

- Number of weeks before hive occupied: 76

Bee colony management

The bee colonies in the hives were inspected twice each week for pests, diseases and general condition. Such insect pests as black ants, red ants, sugar ants, small and large hive beetles, and wax moths were killed if present. Agama lizards, toads and geckos were driven away from the hives. The bee colonies were never fed with sugar syrup.

Hazards

Bush fires are a very serious threat to beekeeping in Okuku. In this Savanna Zone, vegetation is always burnt completely every year during the five month dry periods between November and March. These annual bush burnings cause colonies to migrate to distant lands and the colonies hardly come down to occupy hives baited with attractants. Such baited hives normally remain fallow, unoccupied by bees for a long period. Bush fires also destroy all plants including melliferous trees. Consequently bees are unable to find enough nectar or pollen.

The cutting of branches of melliferous trees such as Gmelina arborea by farmers also causes shortages of nectar and pollen. The farmers use the branches of the trees as yam stakes. The small hive beetle Aethina tumida and the large hive beetle Holplostomus fuligineus are very common and very dangerous insect pests of the bee colonies at Okuku. These insect pests caused the absconding of three colonies in April and August 2003.

The wax moth Galleria mellonela, is one of the great pests of colonies at Okuku. Galleria mellonela destroyed all the combs of one colony in August 2003 and caused all the bees to abscond from the hive as they laid eggs into the comb cells and their larvae fed on honey and produced cobwebs that damaged the entire combs.

The house flies Musca domestica also do some damage to the combs as they eat the honey and lay eggs into the comb.

The red Safari ants, locally known as Tailor ants, Dorilidae and Sugar ants did some damage to colonies as they fed on the stored honey of the very weak colonies. The black Soldier ants are the commonest that cause absconding in Okuku during the rainy season from May to October.

Agama lizards, Agama spp were always seen at the flight entrances in the afternoons catching the bees and eating them. These reduce the population of guard bees and thereby weaken the strength of the colony. While Agama lizards eat bees in the day time, the Gecko lizards feed on bees at night. Hives placed near the ground were disturbed by toads which were often found around the flight entrance catching and eating the bees at night time.

Prospects

Honey hunting is practised and there is a high demand for honey: surplus can be sold easily in the local and city markets, and people in nearby hospitals are in need of honey. Frame hives can greatly improve and increase beekeeping as the few beekeepers and/or traditional honey hunters are eager to receive advice geared towards making beekeeping a more rewarding and lucrative business.

The flora of Okuku could support about 5,000 productive bee colonies. This represents an annual production capacity of 83,000 kg of honey (ie 16.67 kg per colony) worth about N3,000 or US$30 per colony based on 2003 domestic market prices.

Today's production of honey in Okuku is less than 1% of the potential. Production can be raised through education of the people on the benefits of beekeeping. The people should be made to know that bush burning does more harm than good.

Concluding remarks

The moral and financial support of Bees for Development and readers of this Journal is being solicited to enable the authors to promote further beekeeping in Okuku for meaningful economic and social benefits.