Caucasian honey bee workshop

July 14-23 2006, Camili, Artvin, Turkey

In the Caucasus Region of North-east Turkey, a remarkable project has been taking place. It has been planned to conserve precious stocks of Caucasian honey bees (Apis mellifera caucasica). to provide people in this remote northeast corner of Turkey with an excellent livelihood, and to support beekeeping throughout Turkey by provision of queen bees. All three outputs are proving successful. Researchers from several other countries were brought together at Workshop, a held in Camiti village in Artvin, Turkey, in July 2006, to consider the project and discuss its approach. honey bees

The workshop began with field visits to Eastern Anatolia beekeeping sites, and the lectures and discussions were held in Macahel (Camili) village of Artvin Province. The honey bee selection, breeding and queen rearing programme has been carried out in Macahel since 1998.

Beekeeping in Turkey

There are approximately 4.5 million bee colonies, 38,000 beekeepers and an annual honey production of 65,000 tonnes. Average honey production per colony is 17 kilograms. 75% of the colonies are owned by beekeepers that move colonies from one place to another as different plants come into flower. The queens of these colonies mate with local drones, yielding natural cross-breeds of various kinds. The current commercial production of queen bees in Turkey is around 200,000 per year, however, the quality and the quantity of this production is insufficient.

Before the advent of migratory beekeeping, regional honey bee races such as Apis mellifera anatolica, A. m. caucasica, A. m. syriaca, A. m. meda and A. m. carnica retained their original status. In addition, there were several local races depending on the floral diversity, such as Mugla in the Region. The specification of isolated local races is still not studied thoroughly, and their characteristics ate not determined. On the other hand, due to the high honey yield migratory beekeepers are now moving their colonies to those remote areas, thus resulting in hybridization and even loss of those unique local races. Some of the commercially produced queen bees on the market are known as Apis mellifera caucasica although they are produced in the Mediterranean and Central Anatolia. The colonies used as mother colonies for grafting and the mating nucs are established for mating in areas where Apis mellifera caucasica is not present, so the resultant queens are not pure Caucasian because the drones are coming from the surrounding region - which are not Caucasus honey bees.

The Artvin/Borgka/Camili Rural Development Project

Camili Valley is 27,000 hectares in the north-eastern, mountainous region, close to Georgia. It is accessible only during summer months, as the roads are closed in winter because of avalanche danger. The land is densely forested and abundant in nectar-rich, flowering plants. The mountains reach a summit of 3,415 m, and the lowest elevation is around 400 m. Flowering starts in March and continues all summer, due to the different elevations: the most important honey plants are species of Castanea, Rhododenaron, Ribes, Salvia, Taraxacum, Tilia, and Trifolium.

Social and economic structure

300 families live in six villages within the valley. They have typically 0.5-1 hectare of land, one or two cows, and walnut, apple, pear and cherry trees to provide their home consumption. The average annual income for a family here is $1,000.

Local style beekeeping

In 1998, there were approximately 2,400 honey bee colonies within the valley. 50% of these were housed in local style, log hives made from the trunks of Linden trees (Tilia spp.) These hives were installed at the top of trees to protect them from bears and other possible damage. The honey was harvested by climbing the trees. The other 50% of the colonies were kept beside the village houses. Some of these colonies are in local-style log hives. The average annual honey production from colonies in these hives was approximately 25-30 kg. Currently, some exceptional colonies are producing annually 80-100 kg of honey.

Developing isolation

During a study by Ahmet Inci in 1998, it was discovered that all colonies in the valley were of the pure Caucasian line, indicating that it is possible to produce and maintain pure line queens with natural mating in this area, and making a necessity to protect these pure colonies from crossbreeding. A number of other researchers have proved the identity of these bees. In the surrounding areas, Caucasus honey bees were hybridized with the other races, due to the effect of migratory beekeeping. One reason why Camili valley is retaining its precious stocks is its isolation, preventing honey bee colony movements by man. Also, the geographical barriers do not allow bees to fly over the high mountains to reach the valley. It was determined that the closest honey bee colonies on the Georgian side were more than 30 km away, so that it is unlikely that bees will reach this valley from Georgia. There was urgent necessity for conservation of this region for the sake of Turkey and for the beekeepers. The TEMA Foundation began to take action to protect both the pure line Caucasian bees and to protect other natural surroundings and habitats. It is now prohibited to either bring in or remove any bees or other biological materials from this valley.

TEMA Natural Values Protection Project

This Project, begun in 1998, is to protect the pure Caucasian honey bees and their natural surroundings in the valley area. while at the same time to increase substantially the income of families in the valley, and therefore halt any further damage to the natural area that has been caused by poverty. Several achievements have been made: there has been a growth in ecological agriculture activities and eco-tourism. A new Training Centre and living accommodation have been constructed.

Youth training in the production of queens

TEMA has established a programme in which young men and women are trained to produce queens. During the first month, trainees learn the theoretical knowledge necessary to produce the queens. Successful candidates are next given 5 colonies and 20 mating boxes, and begin practical field training. The trainees, from this point on, live in their own household. and technicians visit the trainees every 2 days throughout the training period.

The Macahel Beekeeping Company

This company was formed in a partnership with The TEMA Foundation, and it provides all the necessary supplies and equipment such as colonies. mating boxes. comb foundation, feeding materials, and medicines for Varroa. The company supervises the production, technical Staff, 100 selected pure line Caucasus colonies, an artificial insemination laboratory and queen quality control and marketing departments. Using funds from the EU. another 60 unemployed young men and women were trained, and another 40 beekeepers supported to harvest organically-produced honey.

In 2004, 7.000 queens were produced. generating an income of US$105.000. The pure line queens that were produced in the valley sold for US$16 each, and the crossbreed queens that were produced outside of the valley sold for $12 each. Families who produce queens are now able to generate an annual income of US$15,000 from 20 honey bee colonies.

The main purpose of this operation is to produce Apis mellifera Caucasica queens in Camili, and distribute them to commercial queen producers. that are rearing pure Caucasian or hybrid queens. All the queens produced in Camili are sold under the brand name of MACAHEL Beekeeping Co., and the selected queens that are inseminated instrumentally are marketed to the commercial queen producers having contracts with the company. On the other hand, queens produced from the selected colonies are also mated naturally in this area, and the laying queens are marketed to beekeepers who want to produce more of their own queens, or for honey production.

Future plans

Over the next five years, the project plans to increase production to 250,000 queens, 500 tonnes of organically produced honey, and another 900 trained beekeepers in the mountains of Artvin and the surrounding areas. This will allow the means for 1,000 unemployed local people to remain in their birthplace and support themselves and their families. Moreover, with the queens that are produced in this area, the productivity of colonies will increase throughout all of Turkey.

Resolutions agreed at the Workshop

Turkey is in the admirable position among the countries of the world in terms of the genetic diversity of honey bees. It ts a duty and responsibility to preserve this genetic "treasure" with great care for future generations. The presence of multiple bee races, rather than one homogeneous bee gene pool, will make it easier to confront successfully new threats such as environmental change, emerging epidemics, drought and other natural disasters. For this reason, we have to consider long term sustainability of our apiculture, instead of short-term economic profit.

1. For this purpose, we present the following proposals:1. As protection of biological diversity and eradication of rural poverty are among the ultimate goals of TEMA Foundation, establish a coordination centre under the auspices of TEMA foundation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Turkiye Beekeepers Association, and similar organisations, to prioritize and pursue the suggestions put forth in this Workshop; establish a secretariat, internal and external advisory boards.

2. In order that the information compiled and collated during the workshop is shared with interested, parties and the scientific Community, documentation should be prepared to be published both in written format and on the internet.

3. To establish a joint working committee with the authorities/ interested parties where the Caucasus bee population occursnaturally.

4. Inline with the local approach adopted in the Camili basin of the Caucasus, identify and define other honey bee types and genotypes, including isolation, selection and certification of possible genetic reserves.

5. Plan studies to characterize and quantify behavioural traits, (pollination, hygiene, resistance towards disease and parasites, aggressiveness. etc.) of Caucasian and other indigenous honey bees.

6. Advocate to the relevant government agencies for the allocation of suitable land to the persons and organisations willing to invest in the rearing of genetically pure or hybrid queens.

7, Draw up recommendations for the types of bees that are suitable for Stationary and migratory beekeeping.

8. To establish quality and control! criteria for the production and marketing of queens.

9. To assist in the transfer of information and experience accrued thus far, continue with the workshops in the future. Explore other possibilities of funding for future meetings.

10. As there is a genuine demand for queens that survive in cold weather conditions, conduct studies to select Caucasian bees that are resistant to parasites and diseases and explore the possibility of the Caucasian queens’ exportation to meet the demand of countries without indigenous honey bees.

11. As the Project could only be construed to be successful if the designated bee-derived products are marketable, this issue should not be overlooked.

12. To revise the queen performance evaluation forms, and incorporate questions to determine the well-being and status of the queen and the colony, for two years following the sale.

13. As there is a fundamental linkage between local beekeeping methods and the established protection of honey bees in the Camili area, these methods should be evaluated and promoted where appropriate. This will assure that the ecological, economic and cultural benefits will not be lost before they are fully understood.

14. There should be strict regulation against entry of exotic bee races, such as Italian or Carniolan bees into Turkey.

ANG & TEMA FOUNDATIONS

This Workshop was sponsored by the Ali Nihat Gokyigit Foundation (ANG), under the umbrella of the TEMA foundation. ANG Foundation works on specialised projects such as apiculture, education, publishing botanical books. and sponsoring and managing some of the TEMA projects. ANG is a donor for various civic, environmental and cultural activities of other foundations as well as seeking funds from other donors. Another ANG project is the Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra with players from 23 Countries of the Caspian, Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. This unique “Sound of three seas" orchestra encourages integration and understanding among different cultures. ANG has recently decided to focus on educational projects related with apiculture. as well as the Nezahat Gokyigit Botanic Garden. a special 50 hectare botanic garden created from what was wasteland beside one of Istanbul's motorway intersections. The garden contains both formal and wild planting, and naturally includes a well-stocked apiary, with bees enjoying this unexpected green oasis, alongside many people from Istanbul's nearby urban housing schemes.

TEMA is one of the largest environmental NGOs in Turkey, with 260.000 supporters. TEMA works to combat soil erosion and to protect natural habitats and maintain biodiversity by encouraging environmentally friendly interventions. For example. in Camili, where the Workshop was held, TEMA runs a rural development project with three main activities: apiculture, green tourism and ecological fruit production.

Bees for Development would like to thank Ahmet inci, Supervisor of the Project, and Irfan Kandemir for the information given here, and Ali Nihat Gokyigit, Chairman of the ANG and TEMA Foundations, for sponsoring Nicola Bradbear's participation in this Workshop.