Apimondia 2005

APIMONDIA CONGRESS, DUBLIN 2005

Dublin, the capital city of Ireland, became the capital city for bees during the last week of August, as the Apimondia Congress took place. All aspects of the apiculture sector were represented as beekeepers, researchers, government staff, the international honey trade, and experts on every aspect of bees, met in Dublin.

The work of Apimondia is divided between seven Standing Commissions, and one of these is Beekeeping for Rural Development. This Commission organised one morning where papers were presented from around the world, and three days of practical workshops. The latter were a new feature for Apimondia and proved highly popular. Demonstrations by skilled practitioners telling their trade secrets, for example of good hive making, soap making and candle making - kept the full attention of the audiences.

The Congress was attended by 3,500 people, with 101 countries represented. This was the largest international Congress to have been staged in Dublin, and was much enjoyed and appreciated by all who participated. The closing ceremony featured the voting procedure for the Congress in 2009, with France succeeding in their bid to host the event. Friday saw thousands of delegates head off on organised tours to experience the Irish countryside and visit Irish beekeepers in their natural environment.

ApiExpo featured 120 stands and displays from companies and organisations from 30 different countries

Resolutions passed by the Apimondia Congress include:

Establishment of a new Working Group

The Eastern and Southern African representatives at Apimondia 2005 Dublin have resolved to start a regional forum aimed at promoting honey trade in Africa, under the auspices of the Apimondia Standing Commission Beekeeping for Rural Development.

The Group have set up an interim Steering Committee that will facilitate the organisation of a meeting to be held in Uganda in May 2006. This meeting will formalise the operations and functions of the Working Group.

Increasing honey trade opportunities for small-scale African beekeepers

It is recognised that the beekeeping sector holds potential for creating sustainable incomes for Africa's rural beekeepers, but this potential is hardly tapped because these producers do not have access to infrastructure and organisational systems to allow them to reach the niche/speciality markets their products would otherwise reach, especially in the EU.

To open new market opportunities for these beekeepers, a resolution is hereby made for the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) to take cognisance of the situation in Africa, and put in place a system of recognising and registering small-scale private sector firms that are linking the producers to buyers in the fair trade market. A detailed proposal on how these firms will address the principle guidelines of FLO will be submitted to FLO for action.

New honeybee health research award

A new award to promote research into honeybee health was launched at the Apimondia Congress by Vita (Europe) Ltd, the honeybee health and mite control specialists. Valued at up to €10,000, the award will be made on a regular basis to help fund new honeybee health research. Any individual or organisation can apply.

President Viktor Yuschenko of Ukraine, a life-long beekeeper, has agreed to become the Award's Patron.

"This award is designed to stimulate new research into any of the diseases that affect honeybees," explained Jeremy Owen, Sales Director of Vita. "We will be especially, but not exclusively, interested in naturally-based treatments that are really effective since that is clearly a priority for many beekeepers across the globe."

Owen continued: "We are naturally thrilled that President Yuschenko has agreed to become the Award's patron. As a beekeeper and a president, he fully understands the significance of a healthy honeybee population to national economies."

Amongst the diseases and pests of particular interest to Vita are those which as yet have no known effective controls: the small hive beetle which is spreading globally and almost established a foothold in Europe last year; chalkbrood which seems to be increasing in prevalence in certain areas; and the long-established problems of Varroa and foulbrood.

The inaugural winner of the Vita prize is Dr Alexandros Papachristoforou of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece for his ongoing work on chalkbrood control. As a fungal brood disease, chalkbrood can debilitate colonies and is especially serious in certain parts of the world. As yet, the incidence and extent of chalkbrood is not fully understood and until now there has been no effective treatment. Papachristoforou is discovering that both a new bacterial product CBB and Apiguard can be very effective and is undertaking further work to establish the conditions for its maximum efficacy. Application details for the next award are at www.vita-europe.com

Alexandros Papachristoforou (left) receives the Vita-Europe inaugural award from Max Watkins, at Apimondia 2005