Bees for Development Journal
73
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD ARMENIA The Multi Agro Beekeeping Centre, opened in September, is working with 2,567 beekeepers. This year, of 14 tonnes of honey harvested, half was retained to feed to the bees. Centre Director, Roza Tsarukyan, says honey will be exported in the future, and they have plans also to export pollen and medicines. Source: Al Plus, September 19, 2004 (in INFO CENN, 30.9.04) BRAZIL Record for deforestation The 2005 edition of the Guinness Book of Records will be published in November with an embarrassing record for Brazil: it has the world's highest deforestation index. The annual forest loss was 22,264 km?. Brazilian researchers confirm the information. Amazonia lost 17% of its forestry cover, principally in the last 50 years. The researcher from the National Spatial Research Institute, Carlos Nobre, admits that Brazil has the largest deforested area with respect to the size of the country. Dalton Valeriano, who continually monitors Amazonia deforestation, states that the most common
Do your bees
make propolis?
use for deforested lands in the region is cattle ranching. In second place comes agriculture and much of this is growing cattle feed. The deforestation rhythm in Amazonia has registered a growing rate in the last five years. In 2002/3 for example, the area deforested was 23,750 km2. In the period 1977-1988, only 21,050 km2 were cut down. Source: Radiobras, 9 October 2004 (in Amazon News, 14.10.04)
CONGO Everything has been destroyed by five years of war - the groups who had 200 hives now have less than 20. In the forests, where only Land Rovers or Hilux vehicles can go, the beekeepers burn the area to get the honey and thus destroy the honeybee colonies. The new NGO, APIFLORDEV (of which am a member), is preparing two projects to develop beekeeping near the frontier with Gabon. Many women and pygmies want to become true beekeepers. The equatorial forest can give great quantities of honey, but the villagers do not eat it because the price is too high for them. The EU and UNDP are interested by these projects. André Romet, APIFLORDEV |
CONGRATULATIONS
was created in 1901, the Prize Committee said, "Mrs Maathai (Kenya's
We would like to test it
it
and possibly buy
from you.
James Fearnley of BeeVital
is a leading
world authority on the nature of propolis & its medicinal properties, he is author of Bee Propolis-Natural Healing from the Hive retailing at 7.99 plus p&p.
A major research project has been started by BeeVital and we would like your help. If you are interested in finding out whether your propolis is suitable for medicinal use and learning about sustainable ways of harvesting & using propolis please send a sample (50g) to:
BeeVital, Brereton Lodge, Goathland, Whitby, North Yorkshire
YO22 5JR, UK
Tel: ++44 (0) 1947 896037 Fax: ++44 (0) 1947 896482
Email: info@beevitalpropolis.com
country that suffers from an extremely high rate of unemployment and poverty. These problems are most acute among rural communities because of limited access to livelihood opportunities, land, water, sanitation and education. Find Your Feet (FYF), an international development charity, is working with the organisations Vusumnotto (meaning to restart the economy) and Lujilo Lwamaswati (Swazi Beekeepers' Association) to promote beekeeping and honey production. Because of low start-up costs and the rapidly increasing market for organic honey, beekeeping is proving to be a lucrative and sustainable small business activity. The indigenous. honeybee species Apis mellifera scute is present throughout Swaziland. Traditionally, honey collectors would smoke out wild bees from their nests by using burning sticks or rags: this often resulted in fires that destroyed large areas of forestland. The FYF programme encourages the use of smokers that greatly reduce the risk of fire hazards.
NOTICE BOARD NOTICE BOARD Environmentalist and human rights campaigner Wangari Maathai awarded the Nobel! Peace Prize. The first African woman to receive the Award since it
www.beevitalpropolis.com
SWAZILAND Find Your Feet with top-bar hives Swaziland is a small, resource-poor
deputy environment minister), is an example for all Africans fighting for democracy and peace". In the late 1970s Mrs Maathai led a campaign called the 'Green Belt Movement! to plant millions of trees across Africa to slow deforestation. The Movement grew to include projects to preserve biodiversity, educate people about their environment and promote the rights of women and girls. Full story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/
hi/world/africa/3726024.stm
PROJECT SUPPORT FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, supports beekeeping projects in
developing countries. Beekeepers' groups and associations may apply for small project funding (less than US$10,000) from the TeleFood Special Fund. Request documents should include a brief description of the
12
project's objectives, the proposed food production or income-generating activities, the work plan, the number of participants, a detailed list of inputs with cost estimates and the reporting arrangements. Submit your request to the office of FAO or UNDP in your country. Applications for projects wit
budgets over US$10,000 must be submitted through a Government Ministry. See www.fao.org Remember to tell BfD the outcome of your application
BEE CRAFT A full colour monthly magazine for beginners and experts alike covering all aspects of beekeeping in the UK and Ireland. FREE SAMPLE COPY on request, 20 for 12 issues. Credit cards accepted. Contact secretary@bee-craft.com
ULUDAG BEE JOURNAL Publication of Uludag Beekeeping Association. Quarterly, in Turkish with English titles and summaries of articles. News, practical information and research articles - a link between Turkish beekeeping and the world. Contact www.uludagaricilik.org
