SEPTEMBER
for beekeepers in tropical & subtropical countries Beekeeping in China
Liu XIANSHU Institute of Apicultural Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xiang Shan, Beijing, China Introduction research in apiculture are also ex- research work was done in China, China is a vast country with favour- panding steadily. The following are but in 1958 the national apicultural able natural conditions; it is rich in the main reasons for the remarkable institute (Institute of Apicultural Rehoney sources and has great development of apiculture in China search of the Chinese Academy of beekeeping potential. Beekeeping since 1949, Agricultural Sciences) was estabwith the native bee (Apis cerana) has lished in Beijing. It now has a staff of Government attention to a long history, going back more than over 120, of which about 70 are 3000 years. Western bees (Apis mel- apiculture The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal university graduates doing research. The Institute is divided into 5 departlifera) were imported early in the and Fisheries has a detwentieth century. Just before the Husbandry ments: Bee Genetics and Breeding; for apiculture revolution (1949), there were less partment responsible in most provinces and counties. Its Beekeeping Technology; Prevention than 500,000 honeybee colonies in and Cure of Bee Diseases; Honey officers guide and organize apicultuChina, and the total yield of honey ral production and they help Plants and Bee Products; Chinese was only 8000 tonnes. Since then Bee (Apis cerana cerana). with their problems. apiculture has developed rapidly, beekeepers The Institute plans short- and longadvise on funding, equipment and there are now about 5 million They term scientific development in apiculand on the planning and distribution colonies in hives; total honey producand coordinates important apiof plant sources of honey, and they ture, tion is over 100,000 tonnes per year, cultural research projects throughout and coordinate programmes and royal jelly production is over 400 design the country. There are regional instifor improving production. tonnes per year. Honeybee colonies tutes in areas with well developed are used increasingly for pollination National organization of apiculture or with a good potential of fruits, vegetables, oilseeds and scientific research for development. These institutes Other crops. Education and scientific Before the revolution, no apicultural carry out local apicultural projectsp
In this
issue...
Beekeeping in China New Institute opened in India Practical beekeeping: The need for appropriate beekeeping without fear: News around the world Bookshelf New leaflets available from
IBRA
Letters to the Editor Forthcoming events
Part of the Institute of Apicultural Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing (Peking).
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International Bee Research Association
ISSN 0256-4424
with guidance and help from the national Institute. The national Institute edits and publishes the journal ‘Chinese Apiculture’. The Chinese Beekeepers’ Association and the regional beekeepers’ associations organize national and regional exchanges, and discussions on apiculture, and they assist the government department responsible for honey production.
Wide range of bee products
In China, apiaries are generally small—most are family apiaries of 50-80 colonies, though there are some large-scale apiaries with hundreds or thousands of colonies. An average beekeeper has only 30 colonies and is very meticulous; as well as honey, royal jelly, pollen, and propolis are also produced. In some regions (e.g. Zhejiang Province) 1.5
An apiary of Apis cerana colonies in Fujian province in S. E. China.
Education in apiculture
Since 1960, the Chinese Fujian Agricultural College has run a 2-year
‘Apicultural speciality’ course in the Department of Plant Protection. In 1980, in order to improve the training of apiculturists, the course was extended to 4 years. Students come from various parts of China, and after graduating, they are assigned work according to the needs of the State: some do apicultural administration work, some are engaged in apicultural research, and some take up beekeeping technology as a profession. Some other agricultural universities also offer courses in apiculture. The Ministry and its departments in the major beekeeping regions frequently run training courses, e.g. on bee breeding, instrumental insemination, the prevention and treatment of bee diseases, and processing bee products. 2
kg of royal jeily is produced per colony per year. We are constantly exploring new ways of using bee products in food-stuffs, in medicines and cosmetics, and in agriculture.
Improved utilization of honey sources and bee races China, which is 9.6 million sq. km. in area, contains mountains, rolling hills, great plateaux, huge basins and vast plains; and it spans north temperate, temperate, subtropical and tropical zones. The nectar plants characteristic of an area depend on the geographical and climatic conditions. The most important nectar plants are: Eurya spp, Eucalyptus spp, litchi (Litchi chinensis), longan (Euphoria longan), loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), rape (Brassica napus), milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus), vetches (Vicia spp, especially Vicia villosa), orange (Citrus spp), Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum), jujube (Ziziphus jujuba), cotton (Gos-
sypium spp), false acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia), chaste tree (Vitex negundo), sweet clover (Melilotus spp), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), sunflower (Helianthus annuus), linden (Tilia spp). Since the late 1950s, the government departments have organized beekeepers to undertake long-distance migration of colonies in a planned way—moving to the various nectar flows and thus utilizing these plants fully. At present, the subtropical and tropical zones are the main areas for producing colonies of the Western bee (in winter and spring) which are used in other regions for the production of honey and other bee products. The Chinese bee (A. cerana cerana) is present everywhere, especially in south-western and southern China. These bees are industrious foragers, they survive well in unfavourable conditions and are adaptable to local climates and nectar plants. In some provinces in the south, equal attention is paid to Chinese and Western bees, but in other parts Chinese bees are preferred because they survive well throughout the year in the subtropical mountains, whereas Western bees do not do well in the hot summer when there is little nectar. Chinese bees are kept in round wooden buckets, in which they yield little honey—on average 5kg per colony per year. To increase productivity, the local departments, with the assistance of the national Institute, have introduced techniques using movable-frame hives, with considerable success. In Guangdong province there are 220,000 colonies of the Chinese bee, almost all in movableframe hives, producing 15-20kg honey per colony per year on average. This Province has become the main production area for litchi honey.
Improvement of bee strains Of the 4 million cultures of Western bees in China, the vast majority are Italian bees, followed by Carniolians, and a few Caucasians. There are no
large-scale specialized queen-rearing apiaries, and each apiary rears its own queens. Before colonies were migrated, the purity of bee strains p
Generally, after two such courses of treatment, no mites appear the following year. Colonies are not usually treated during the active season.
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Pollen harvesting is an important part of Chinese beekeeping. This shows a Chinese pollen trap as used in the Hanzhou area. The trap fits over the front entrance to the hive and forms a vertical barrier which bees must pass through to enter the hive. In doing so, pollen is knocked out of their pollen baskets and falls down into a collecting tray. was easily maintained, but since the Start of long-distance migratory beekeeping in the 1950s, strains have become mixed and quality has deteriorated. To overcome this problem quickly, the national Institute has organized apiaries to cooperate in improving bee strains. This has been very successful, and has increased average honey production per colony by more than 25%.
combs of capped brood and keep them in an empty hive until the bees emerge. The adult bees are treated immediately, and the brood is treated after the young bees have emerged from the capped cells. During the broodless period just before wintering, colonies are treated again.
Improvements are still needed in Chinese apiculture, e.g. in beekeeping techniques and honey storage, in selection and breeding, and in the level of mechanization in beekeeping. We are keen to learn the advantages of advanced beekeeping techniques from other countries and to establish contacts and arrange academic exchanges with beekeepers of other nationalities. We constantly make great efforts to develop our apiculture and we would greatly welcome help from international orgaa nizations.
This article is abbreviated from “Advancing Chinese Apiculture’”’ by Liu Xianshu. The paper is published
in “Proceedings of the third International Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates, Nairobi, 1984”.
The Proceedings will be available: IBRA towards the end of 1985.
from
Prevention and control of mite infestation Varroa jacobsoni (which we call the
greater mite) and Tropilaelaps
clareae (the lesser mite) were found in apiaries on the SE coast of China in the 1950s. With long-distance migratory beekeeping, both spread quickly throughout the country, and at first they caused serious damage to colonies. The national Institute, after studying the life-cycle and behaviour of the mites, prepared a number of chemicals and Chinese medicinal herbs for killing them, and developed effective treatments for preventing and controlling the mites. Chemicals are applied in three ways: sublimation (for example with sulphur), fumigation (such as with DMXYJ), and spraying (such as with SMYH, commercial name). In autumn, before the colonies produce the bees that will overwinter, all colonies in the apiary are treated; it is necessary to take out
Caging the queen: a biological method to control Varroa. This is another method used to treat Varroa in China, and involves enclosing the queen in a small cage made from queen excluder. This allows the queen to interact with the colony, but prevents her from laying eggs. The adult female Varroa mite lays 2-6 eggs into a cell containing a four day old bee larva, and development of the egg to the sexually mature mite takes 6-10 days. Caging of the queen for 21 days prevents her from laying during this period and the subsequent absence of developing bee brood disrupts the life cycle of the mites. Combined with chemical treatment, this can be an effective method of controlling ectoparasitic brood mites. Since this treatment causes a break in the build up of the bee colony, it is best carried out during a gap in the nectar flow.
The photographs of beekeeping in China accompanying this article were kindly provided by Mr. Vince Cook, UK National Beekeeping Specialist, and were taken during his official visit to China in 1984.
New Institute opened in India Beekeeping in India took a further step forward with the formal opening of the new building of the Central Bee Research Institute in Pune, on 28 April 1985. India’s Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, the Honourable Mr. V. N. Gadgil opened the building at a function held under the presidentship of Mr. A. M. Thomas, Chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, the parent body of the Central Bee Research Institute (CBRI). The Minister, expressing his happiness over the pioneering work done by CBRI, said that it was important to take the results of beekeeping research to the field, with a view to increasing production. Beekeeping is one industry which can be taken up by everyone and its expansion will lead towards the village upliftment and independence visualised by Gandhi. Tracing the history of beekeeping in the country, Mr. Thomas mentioned the significant achievements made by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission in the field of development of beekeeping. There are now 800,000 bee colonies kept in 35,000 villages by nearly 200,000 beekeepers, who yearly produce over 6,000 tonnes of honey valued at RS 90 million.
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The new building of the Central Bee Research Institute in Pune.
The New Building
The new building is double storeyed, and built in a ‘T’ shape. The administration wing is in the head of the T on the ground floor, and the scientific sections are in the stem portion. There is a library wing on the upper floor accommodating books, reprints and journals from throughout the world, and also a reprographics section. The scientific sections include apiculture, bee breeding, instrumentation and rockbee on the ground floor and pollination, palynology, botany, pathology, entomology and biochemistry sections on the upper floor. A spacious seminar hall is being furnished for monthly seminars, workshops and other meetings.
A
museum is being developed in the
ground floor hall. The Institute premises also have separate buildings for a workshop and guest house. The workshop will be used for design and development of beekeeping equipment, and for testing honey processing outfits.
The origins of CBRI
The opening of the new building marked the end of the 23-year problem of accommodation for the Institute, which has up until now been housed in several small residential premises. The CBRI began in 1952 as a small apicultural research centre with Prof. G. B. Deodikar and Shri.
C. V. Thakar starting an integrated bee research programme. This was at Mahabaleshwar and was founded at the instance of Shri S. G. Shende, the then Regional Organiser of Beekeeping for the Bombay Village Industries Committee. Up until then the development programme using movable-frame bee boxes had been show-
a Honourable Mr. V. N. Gadgil, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, opening the CBRI building watched by Mr. A. M. Thomas, Chairman, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (centre) and Dr. R. P. Phadke, Director, CBRI. The Minister inaugurated the building by unveiling the plaque, cutting the ribbon at the entrance to the building and lighting the traditional lamp.
ing indifferent progress, although they had been introduced in the early 1930s. The Indian beekeeping industry had been largely forest-based, while that in the western countries was farm or orchard-based. The Indian hive bee (Apis cerana) is about one third smaller in size than the western bee (Apis mellifera), so there were great variations in beekeeping between east and west, in climate, soils, vegetation and in the bees themselves, and a new type of beekeeping management was re-
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quired for using movable-frame hives under Indian conditions. Since the People involved in the industry were mostly rural, tribal and forest populations, they could not underStand these variations and were content to use the traditional unhygienic and uneconomical methods. This Situation called for a thorough underStanding of the bees, bee plants, conditions of the people and the total ecosystem in each beekeeping region. The different scientific disciplines involved (bee botany, entomology, bee management, ethology, bee pathology, chemistry, cytogenetics and bee breeding), made it necessary to approach the problem of improvement in the efficiency of the
beekeeping industry in a comprehenSive manner, with attention paid to all these aspects. This was how the research programme was undertaken by Prof. Deodikar and Shri Thakar, and it showed encouraging results in the Mahabaleshwar plateau. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission recognised the importance of a strong research base for improving the beekeeping industry and established the CBRI at Pune in 1962, entrusting it with the responsibility of apicultural research and training. The Beekeeping Directorate in Bombay looks after extension and marketing aspects of beekeeping. Thus the research, training, extension and marketing wings of the beekeeping industry go hand in hand towards the integrated development of the industry in India. During the past twenty years the Institute has risen by its dedicated and systematic work to an important national Institute, and has recently received international recognition.
Research The Institute has now studied over 3,000 flowering plants for their value to honeybees as sources of nectar and/or pollen. In addition, botanical surveys, preparation of floral calendars and vegetation maps for each beekeeping region, and the introduction, multiplication and propagation of important bee plants are just some of the programmes under the department of bee botany. Microscopical analysis of pollen loads and honeys are undertaken in the department of
melittopalynology. Investigations on the floral biology of crop plants, foraging behaviour of bees on them, experiments on the use of honeybees for crop pollination, and demonstrations of the value of honeybees in increasing crop yields are made in the bee pollination department. In the department of apiculture, equipment such as hives and honeyand wax-extractors are designed, evaluated and standardised. Experimental apiaries are located in representative beekeeping areas and the bee colonies are observed throughout the year to formulate appropriate seasonal bee management. All the experimental colonies are observed for various qualitative and quantitative characteristics, breeding apiaries are set up to secure combinations of desired qualities, and colonies with improved performance are multiplied and distributed to beekeepers. The department of entomology is concerned with the studies of the biometry and characterization of different strains of Indian and other honeybees, and possible utilization of rockbees for honey production q
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Part of a display used by CBRI for the promotion of beekeeping.
and crop pollination without destroying their nests. The department of bee pathology carries out investigations on pathogens, pests and predators and their control. Studies on the physical and chemical characteristics of honey, beeswax and other bee products, evolving methods of their hygienic collection, processing, storage and quality control are some projects under the
department of chemistry. The Institute has 15 Field Observation Stations keeping about 1500 experimental bee colonies (Apis cerana) in different parts of India. In its Pathankot (Punjab) and Haldwani (Uttar Pradesh) centres, the Institute is making comparative studies on Apis mellifera and native bee species. CBRI functions as the Centre of the All India Co-ordinated Project on Honey Bee Research and Training of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research with co-operating centres in 10 Agricultural Universities. The Institute houses the Tropical Asia Branch of the Library of the International Bee Research Association and has a good coliection of books, and a complete holding of IBRA journals and abstract cards.
Training CBRI runs training
programmes at a variety of levels and has recently accepted research and extension workers from other Asian and African countries for training.
The future The targets for beekeeping develop-
ment during the next five years and the broad approach to reach these targets were discussed at a three day meeting of the senior beekeeping staff of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, which was organised for the opening of the CBRI building. This was attended by about 30 Development Officers and incharges of the state beekeeping extension programmes. The new address of CBRI is: Central Bee Research Institute, Khadi & Village Industries Commission, 1153 Ganeshkind Road, Pune 411 016, India. Dr. R. P. Phadke kindly supplied the material for this article.
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BEEKEEPING
‘The need for appropriate beekeeping without
fear: coping with the persistant problem of the “aggressiveness” of African honeybees byBERNHARD CLAUSS
Bernhard Clauss has worked for many years with beekeepers in Botswana where a very calm and gentle approach to bees is adopted. This method of beekeeping is described in the following article which was prompted after Bernhard visited various African beekeepers after last year’s Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates. Bernhard Clauss is the author of The Beekeeping Handbook, an excellent guide to the successful beekeeping which can be achieved with A. m. adansonii using simple equipment made from locally available materials, and adopting the approach to the bees described in this article. Photographs by B. Clauss and L. Tiernan.
After visiting several Kenya
top-bar hive beekeeping sites, I would like to once more emphasise the importance of the philosophy of Botswana beekeepers. Their top priority in manipulating bees is to use a gentle and fearless, but respectful attitude.
* Beekeepers
ought to know that like any other creature, bees of every different strain and race are primarily docile when their colonies are left in peace; aggression comes to them from outside, and
An apiary of top-bar hives in Botswana. The hives are well shaded and cut branches give extra protection against disturbance by animals.
efficient defensive behaviour. The better we know how to identify the possible causes of defensive reactions the better we know we will be able to avoid them, or cope with them, and eventually adapt to them. Sometimes people do not realise that several causes can sum up to aggravate already dangerous situations. In Botswana we observed strange reactions by colonies which had been under persistent stress from various interacting disturbances: bees rushed out of the entrance holes after the first puff of smoke and attacked everything in the vicinity, even the smokers .
Respectful and unaggressive bee handling is an art which should be thoroughly understood by all beekeepers and their instructors...
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Inspecting hives only during the right time of day, when the weather is calm and it is not too hot or too moist and hot. This is especially important in coastal areas.
Making sure that hives are well shaded. Lack of insulating material on the lid can cause bees to cluster Watching for a sudden decrease in the honey flow, which can cause bees to idle, and show highly defensive behaviour. Preventing ants from molesting colonies by hanging hives from trees, or if the hive is supported by a stand, by placing its legs in tins filled with a mixture of old engine oil, or smearing them with a mixture of grease and creosote.
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outside wherever they find holes, gaps and cracks in the hive.
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YOU CAN PREVENT EXCESSIVE DEFENSIVE BEHAVIOUR BY BEES BY:
Preventing people and animals from knocking into hives.
Keeping hives in good condition e.g. watch out for broken suspension, hives with cracks or other additional holes, and gaps left between top-bars because of hasty relocation. Preventing irritating smells such as pheromones or bee venom accumulated on protective clothing like gloves and overalls or from crushed bees, sweat under heavy protectives, smells of enclosed domestic animals, and smells of certain aromatic plants like Lantana camera or Tagetes minuta
(‘Khaki weed’).
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Removing the lid from a top-bar hive—note the insulating layer of grasses on top of the lid.
Combs which have been fixed to the walls of the hive are gently detached with a knife. Always take every precaution not to kill bees.
8
Not using offensive kinds of smoke. Cow dung is a good smoker fuel as it gives mild smoke. Do not let the fuel burst into flames; the aim is to have a constant supply of cool, white smoke.
9
Preventing careless smoking caused by ignorance or impatience. sure that smoke reaches all parts of the colony. Even smoking you must take care, for example when the entrance holes are on the narrow side of top-bar hives, or when bees are clustering outside cracks and gaps.
1 QMakins with patient
A home-made smoker filled with smouldering cow dung. s
Blow a litle smoke.into the entrance holes, first
on the right, then on the left.
Smoke again after a minute. Repeat five or six times, or even more.
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Not manipulating more than colonies per apiary per day.
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hives
neighbouring 1 Domoking before a colony is opened
for a lengthy inspection or harvest.
leaving honey 13%” exposed or spilled
combs honey;
robbing builds up uncontrollable viciousness!
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having too many colAno onies at one site e.g. more than 3 hives per apiary in areas with hot and moist climates.
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No
being nervous or hasty showing panicky behaviour. or
wearing dark clothing 16%” when working with bees
who are already irritated.
Use smoke before inspecting each comb. Do not touch the comb with the smoker as this will alarm the bees. Blowa little smoke until you hear a buzzing sound and then stop; too much smoke will make the bees irritable. Before you take a top-bar with comb out, push one enda little aside so that the following comb is visible in the gap. Blow smoke into the gap.
African honey hunters and traditional beekeepers have been handling bees without protective clothing for centuries. Having seen the traditional honey hunters in the north of Botswana I understand that they had no other choice but to manipulate the bees the gentle and cool-headed way. Now as colonies in modern (Kenya) top-bar hives are so much easier to handle it is ironic that together with heavy and sophisticated protective equipment, we have also introduced fear of bees which in many cases leads to a vicious circle of reactions and counter-reactions. Every beginner should gain confidence during an initial period of training in tight but light daily clothes, a hat, and at most with a self-made veil, but without an overall, gloves, and rubber boots. All this means that a fearless, sensible and understanding beekeeper needs only a minimum of protective equipment which he or she can rely on at any time. Equipment must be as simple and cheap as possible, preferably homemade.
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A feather makes a good bee brush.
THERE ARE GOOD REASONS FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF A MODEST APPROACH TO BEEKEEPING: % Poor rural beekeepers will hardly %
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use overalls or rubber boots exclusively for a few beekeeping activities. What happens when these items are torn after a short while because they have been worn for other jobs? A small set of unsophisticated protectives can be in every beekeeper’s house—above all simple tin smokers. ‘This is essential when unexpected and urgent problems caused to bees by external interference and carelessness need cool-headed actions. The beekeeper will be more independent of the visits of beekeeping extension personnel and their equipment. This independence can help to develop self-confidence and co-operation between beekeepers, and can greatly help to spread the idea of beekeeping in rural areas. With little special protective clothing the beekeeper will notice each single sting and will try by all means to minimise the danger of irritated colonies. There will be hardly any accumulation of defensive pheromones on his or her daily clothes, as they are washed regularly, unlike bee overalls and gloves. All this can be of benefit to neighbouring people and domestic animals. Colonies inspected and harvested in an unaggressive and adapted way will return to normal efficiency sooner than those which have been made upset.
GUYANA
Mr. Ahnand Rajkumar writes: “The honey industry in Guyana has declined since the arrival of Africanized bees. Africanized bees were first noticed in the Rupununi district (bordering with Brazil)
ANTIGUA
Meals for Millions/Freedom from Hunger Foundation has been instrumental in providing technical and financial assistance to develop a small scale but commercially viable beekeeping project on the island. Mr. Eustace Samuel is the key beekeeper and manages over 80 hives, and there are other beekeepers with smaller numbers of hives. These are kept in the southern portion of the island—at Orange Valley and Christian Valley where nectar and floral sources are most abundant. The honey is sold in local stores and supermarkets where there is a strong demand for local honey. There are plans to increase the operation to 300 hives in the near future. (Ruth Spencer, Program Advisor, Meals for Millions)
ETHIOPIA
Mr. Alemayehu Wolde Senbet is in charge of a Beekeeping Development Project. Mr. Wolde Senbet writes: In some parts of Ethiopia many peasants are involved with beekeeping. Modern beekeeping started some years ago but
development did not reach many rural areas. Some beekeepers are only achieving low yields because of problems with disease, insect pests, wind and lack of knowledge about bee management. Honey is highly valued throughout the country by both urban and rural people; some prepare a drink from honey, but many eat honey and use it for treatments. The main objects of the Beekeeping Programme in Wolayita are to test adapted techniques at peasant level, to organise demonstration and training programmes and to improve bee product marketing. Beekeeping is a good way of development for Wolayita people who are living in very small land areas and whose farms cannot provide enough crops.
GHANA 85 people attended a five-day beekeeping workshop held in Accra, in November 1984. The workshop was organised by the
10
Technology Consultancy Centre of the University of Science and Technology, and this, the seventh such workshop, was sponsored by the Ministry of Industries, Science and Technology. Mr. Kwame Akrofi, undersecretary for the Ministry, described the potential of beekeeping as a desirable form of industry, encouraging people away from constantly importing goods and towards the development of local materials, especially for the production of beeswax urgently needed by many manufacturing industries. Mr. Nyamekye of Densu Industries Ltd, Accra, provided financial support for participants attending the workshop. Topics included beekeeping in Ghana, anatomy and physiology of the bee, traditional and Kenyan top-bar hives, apiary siting and selection, obtaining and safe-handling of bees, bee foraging and crop pollination, factors militating against the bee industry in Ghana, honey and beeswax processing, apiary management and demonstrations of honey harvesting and beeswax extraction. (Mr. Stephen Adjare, Ghana Bee News)
in 1974, and by 1976 they were found throughout the country. Some efforts were made to sustain honey production by the importation of mated Italian queen bees from the United States but this was not followed through. As a result, colonies became Africanized and beekeepers abandoned them. Other factors responsible for the slump in honey production were: (a) Beekeepers were not aware of the management techniques required for Africanized bees, and hence they did not know how to cope with them. (b) Before the arrival of Africanized bees, beekeeping was in most cases a secondary source of income, and was largely a backyard industry with members of the family assisting. Such apiaries have been done away with. Last year, the Beekeepers Association founded in 1932, was reactivated after nearly four years dormancy, and many new faces were present.”
Mr. Rajkumar goes
on to say I to a beekeeping fami“although belong
I only became interested in beekeeping after the arrival of Africanized bees. Then and now I find it a pleasure to capture swarms or established colonies of Africanized bees. There is an old saying that once you have been stung you cannot be cured. Bees are now an inseparable part of me and I have grown to love and learn a lot from them”.
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Participants at the 7th National Workshop on Beekeeping, Accra, Ghana, try their hands at extracting beeswax by the hot bath method.
INDIA Apis mellifera in India. Many workers in
India have attempted several times to import and establish the exotic species, Apis mellifera in the country. But successful introduction and establishment of this exotic bee dates to 1962-64 in Himachal Pradesh. Beekeeping with A. cerana indica was practically unknown in the adjoining states of Punjab and Haryana until such times as colonies of A, mellifera were introduced to these states from Himachal Pradesh. During the last decade many tree plantation programmes have caught up and large scale plantations of trees (e.g. Eucalyptus) have provided plentiful forage for bees. Honey yields as high as 80kg per colony are being obtained from A. mellifera in the northern states. There are many large areas with conditions similar to Punjab and Haryana which offer great potential for the success of apiculture. Extension of A. mellifera was purposefully kept slow for fear of spreading bee diseases hitherto unknown in India. But constant vigil and surveillance revealed no new bee diseases during the last two decades. A widespread consensus has been developed and it has now been decided at the 2nd annual workshop of All India Co-ordinated Project on Honeybee Research and Training that A. mellifera should be allowed to spread to other states. (Dr. R. C. Mishra, Dept of Entomology & Apiculture, Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University)
Trials with Apis mellifera outside Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, can be
undertaken only by ICAR and CBRI research units and not by any private individual. Keeping these colonies by private beekeepers endangers the beekeeping industry. (Bee Science News, July 1985)
MOZAMBIQUE Mocambique
Stamps featuring bees and beekeeping provide a good way of increasing the public’s awareness of the subject. Four excellent stamps have been issued in Mozambique this year, and they feature a worker bee, a drone bee, a queen bee, and a beekeeper smoking a hive entrance. The stamps are illustrated.
NICARAGUA
Under the national plan for expanding beekeeping, 20 Nicaraguan beekeepers were sent to Panama, Costa Rica and Brazil to study ways of keeping African bees. At the same time 180 qualified beekeepers and 60 technicians familiar with these new bees were being trained. Advice has also been sought from France about setting up agricultural cooperatives where the members will have apiaries. Under the plan of growth (up to 1986) the number of colonies is to go up to 266,000 and honey production to 400 tonnes, some of which may be exported, though honey has to be imported to meet demand. Apart from honey production, experiments in Colombia and Panama have shown that Africanized bees are very good for pollination of coffee plantations and vegetable and bean-fields. (A. Stroev, Pchelovodstvo, 3, 1985, Translated by D. Galton)
UGANDA
A
promotion programme has been started to introduce more effective
methods of beekeeping throughout Uganda. This is a joint venture by the Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Animal Industry and Fisheries, the Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE) Uganda Ltd., the Uganda Red Cross and Uganda YMCA. A three day beekeeping seminar attended by over sixty participants representing the various Red Cross and YMCA Clubs throughout Uganda, was recently conducted at YMCA headquarters in Kampala. Commenting on the success of the Seminar, YMCA official, Mr. Wabwire Muwesa, said that the introduction of small scale industries which can easily be embarked upon by the ordinary Ugandan, will go a long way in helping to uplift the rural areas. It will also help to utilise unused land that is abundant up-country. Mr. Muwesa said that the Seminar was particularly important in motivating the participants who will in turn motivate the clubs members whom they represent. The YMCA is using its club system to mobilise the masses in small scale industries such as beekeeping, which require little capital. This venture to promote beekeeping is intended to enable Uganda to become self-sufficient in honey as food and to sell
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APICULTURA
beeswax and honey to earn foreign exchange. Efforts have been made through the relevant ministries to acquire financial and technical aid from CARE, which has given technical assistance and modern equipment. Four major honey refinery plants have been set up at Nakasongola, Nalukolonga, Mbale and Soroti, and apiary demonstration firms are being established in
Gulu, Lira, Arua, Nebbi, Kumi, Kitgum, Kasambya, Mbarara, Namanve, Masaka, Kamuli, Apach, Amuria and Tororo. CARE has established a central workshop at Njeru, Jinja to manufacture beehives and these will be obtainable through district veterinary officers and apiary extension workers.
(Elias Wabwire Muwesa, YMCA, Kampala)
id
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BOOKSHELF The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Beekeeping, edited by Roger Morse and Ted Hooper. Sherborne, UK: Alphabooks. ISNB 0 906670 05 5, 432 pp. 1985. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Beekeeping brings together a surprising amount of information between one pair of covers so producing a book that will be needed by everyone who is concerned with beekeeping education or development. Its editors, who both have lifelong practical experience and are skilled teachers, are Professor R. A. Morse, Corneil University, USA and Ted
Hooper NDB, Writtle College of Agriculture, Essex, UK. As well as their own contributions they have obtained material from 46 specialists in apiculture and the life of honeybees and their colonies. In addition to a series of colour plates there are (on nearly every page) well produced black and white photographs and drawings, and technical
descriptions are supported by uncluttered diagrams particularly of honeybee anatomy and the hive and its constituent parts. The succinct entries have a reasonable balance and do not leave the reader bemused by a wealth of cross references, but it would have been helpful to have had more indications of the key literature. In turning to the section on bee books readers will feel the lack of M. V. Smith’s Beekeeping in the tropics, 1960, Longman, London, UK and of the Bibliography of tropical apiculture, 1978, IBRA, London, UK. No doubt this omission can be corrected in a subsequent edition. The Illustrated Encyclopedia is an important book, it is different from any other currently in print, it has a world-wide appeal and will be invaluable to ali who take a serious interest in beekeeping, particularly if they do not have the resources of a large apicultural library to call Karl Shower upon.
The Encyclopedia of Beekeeping is available IBRA, price 18.70 including postage.
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LETTERS TO THE
IBRA
EDITOR If you want to comment on anything you have read in the Newsletter then write to Dr Nicola Bradbear at the address given below Some questions and comments on the ‘Maputo Hive’ (p.5) and the ‘Barrel Hive’ (p.9) in Newsletter 6.
‘Maputo Hive’
African honeybees are notorious for
rapid development of colonies and for their strong swarming impulse. I wonder how a colony in such a narrow space could be happy and profitable? We are aiming at the development and extension of adequate beekeeping techniques and methods in rural areas. Should we therefore not try by all means to concentrate on the cheapest or freely usable materials? If we follow this way we may encourage beekeepers to become more self-sufficient and self-confident.
‘Barrel Hive’ This type of top-bar hive seems to work
successfully under moderate climatical conditions. However, it seems to be problematic to transfer the findings to tropical countries. During the late seventies we had some very frustrating experiences with barrel hives in the Kalahari of Botswana, apparently due to insulation and internal climatic problems. Colonies absconded regularly, even after coating the hive with cow dung/clay layers or sacking material, and also after it was made possible to drain condensed water through holes in the hive bottom. Later I learnt that similar trials with barrels and plastic troughs in Kenya’s Ngong area failed too, because of insulation difficulties. On the other hand we had very encouraging results with interim cardboard box hives (this goes well with the
findings by Professor Ademilson Espencer Egea Soares, Newsletter 6, p.3!). This led to the development of the
more durable ‘Tshwaragano’ Hive: two cardboard boxes tied together, and then coated with layers of cow dung/clay mixture. To create an even more durable and cheap top-bar hive a Motswana beekeeper developed the ‘Noah’s Hive’, a rec-
tangular, long basket of straight sticks tied together with wire, and then coated with a cow/dung/clay layer. B. Clauss.
erratum erratum tum erratum.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
New leaflets available from
etra-
erratum
Newsletter No.6, March 1985, page 6, column 2. Item 3 should have read: Carry the hive away towards a different direction not in the same flight-runway and place it on a temporary platform erected about forty metres away from the nearest hive in the apiary; S. Adjare
Information leaflet 1:
Information available from the International Bee Research Association. 6 pp. This leaflet lists published information which is available from IBRA free of charge to individuals and Institutes in developing countries, and also gives details of pub-
lications on tropical beekeeping which can be purchased from
IBRA.
Information leaflet 2: The Management of Africanized honeybees by Dr Nicola Bradbear and Dr David De Jong. 4 pp. This illustrated leaflet is intended for beekeepers in South and Central America who are having to adapt their methods of beekeeping to successfully manage Africanized bees. The leaflet gives practical guidance on clothing and equipment, apiary siting, colony management and
changing queens. Leaflet 2 is available in English and Spanish. The above leaflets have been prepared under grant aid from the Overseas Development Administration, UK, and are available free of charge to beekeepers in developing countries.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TROPICAL ENTOMOLOGY—NAIROBI, KENYA The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), on behalf of the Council of International Congresses of Entomology, is hosting a “Conference on Tropical Entomology” in Nairobi from 31 August to 5 September, 1986. The Scientific Programme will include sessions covering the following areas with emphasis on tropical entomology: Taxonomy, morphology and evolution, Developmental biology and genetics, Integrated pest and vector management methods (including chemical control), Behaviour and physiology, Ecology and population dynamics, Agricultural entomology, Vector biology, Information, education and training. For further information, contact: Dr. M. F. B. Chaudhury, Conference Secretary General, PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya.
WORKSHOP AND POSTGRADUATE EXOTIC BEES TOUR IN THAILAND
October 18-22, 1985, organized by VISTA, Scieuce Society of Thailand A tour has been arranged for those who wish to visit Thailand after the 30th International Apicultural Congress in Japan this October. The tour includes visits to beekeeping sites and sight-seeing activities. The cost is US$700 per person including full board for 4 days programme. Details from the Secretariat, Bee Biology Research Unit, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10500, Thailand. Telex: 82900
SCREDIT TH
.
ADVANCE NOTICE
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON APICULTURE IN TROPICAL CLIMATES The INTERNATIONAL BEE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION is pleased to announce that the GOVERNMENT OF EGYPT has agreed to host the 4th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON APICULTURE IN TROPICAL CLIMATES. DR. YOUSSEF A. WALLI, MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY has invited IBRA to convene this Conference in CAIRO in MARCH 1988. The President of the Conference will be DR ABDEL RAHIM SHEHATA, Director of the Agricultural Research Centre Cairo, and the Conference Chairmen will be DR. AHMED AWADALLAH, Head of the Plant Protection Research Institute, Cairo, and MR. TECWYN JONES, Deputy Director, Tropical Development and Research Institute, London. DR. M. M.
MAZEED
of the Bee Section of the Plant Protection Research Institute, Cairo, will be Conference Secretary. The Conference will be organised by a local committee of representatives from the Ministry and a number of University Departments in Egypt, and by a Steering Committee of international specialists including, from IBRA, DR MARGARET ADEY Director, and DR NICOLA BRADBEAR, Information Officer for Tropical Apiculture. Further information on dates, programmes and organisational matters will be issued as soon as this is available. This Newsletter is edited by Dr Nicola Bradbear, Information Officer for Tropical Apiculture at the International Bee Research Association (IBRA), and is produced under funding from the Overseas Development Administration, UK. There are two editions of the News/etter each year and these are sent, free of charge, to those in developing countries who are involved with beekeeping. Views expressed in the Newsletter are not necessarily those of the International Bee Research Association. Contributions, letters and news of forthcoming events are welccmed; these may be edited for reasons of space and clarity. Many thanks to everyone who has sent information and articles; some items have had to be held over for the next edition. If you have any enquiries about beekeeping and the information you need is not available locally, then write to me here at IBRA and will try to help you. |
Atalu Bradhear
international Bee Research Association, Hill House, Gerrards Cross, Bucks SLO ONR, UK.
