Restoration of Apis cerana japonica on the Goto Islands

Fujio Hishahi, Nagasaki, Japan

The Goto Islands are Japanese islands in the East China Sea. When I visited Fukue Island, one of the Goto Islands, during the oilseed rape blooming season four years ago, I looked for Apis cerana japonica on the flowers, but found none. visited the other Goto Islands several times, in golden rod blooming seasons between 2004 and 2007, and found no bees. I discovered that three of the other islands also had no Apis cerana japonica, and only Tsushima and Hirado had bees. I wanted to know whether the bees had never inhabited the islands or if they had become extinct. If they were | extinct, I wanted to know the cause and how plants could bear fruit without these major pollinators.

I interviewed elderly people I met for information about the bees. I looked for beekeepers and evidence of the bees’ previous presence, and became certain that Apis cerana japonica had been indigenous. The bees disappeared from three of the islands 60 years ago and from the fourth island about 15 years ago. I that there was a common cause for the disappearance of these bees - deforestation of the indigenous trees on the islands.

Cause and effect

During and after the Second World War (1939-1945), many people were evacuated from air raided cities to the islands, and the islands quickly became over-crowded. The new inhabitants cut down trees and opened the land to farming to provide much needed food.

Some islands are flat while others are mountainous. On the flat islands, almost all the trees were cut down, while some were left on the mountainous islands. A few trees were left uncut on cliffs along the seacoasts because the woods there were believed to attract fish. However over time the remaining trees were also cut down for fuel for cooking, making charcoal and drying tobacco leaves. Young trees grew from the stumps but it took the trees about ten years to begin blooming again. So there must have been a period when there were no flowers. Thus, people deprived the bees of their food and the bees starved to death and became extinct about 60 years ago.

Poor harvest

Farmers say that they do not grow many kinds of crops on the islands, such as pumpkins, cucumbers, melons and watermelons, because they cannot expect a good harvest. Instead root crops, mainly sweet potatoes, are grown. Very few of the islanders noticed the absence of the pollinator, Apis cerana japonica. Bumble bees, butterflies, beetles and birds sparsely pollinate the islands.

But now the indigenous trees, evergreen, shiny leafed trees have grown again in the islands: people made windbreaks for their crops by raising the trees, and once more they could provide forage for bees.

Indigenous nectar sources in southern Japan

Camellia sasanqua (Sazanka)

Castanea crenata (Japanese chestnut)

Castanopsis sieboldii (suda jii)

llex integra (mochi noki)

Ligustrum japonicum (nezumimochi)

Pasania edulis (mateba shii)

Phus javanica (Nurude)

Prunus jamasakura (Japanese wild cherry)

Viburnum awabuki (Sangoju)

Project begins

determined to restore Apis cerana japonica to Goto Islands. Most of the islands are becoming depopulated year after year, and the neglected fields are spreading. I thought the presence of bees might help the land produce more crops and help people to make their living.

I chose Uku Island to start. This island is nearest to my home and has no economic forests.

Fortunately, couple who love Apis cerana japonica live there. I asked them to co-operate with me to restore the bees. I sent four of my colonies to them in February 2007.

A local newspaper reported my activity, and some people of the Goto Islands asked me how to get the cclonies. They wanted to keep bees on their islands. We began the Project for restoration of Apis cerana on Goto Islands. Many people have joined us. Some began making trap hives to set at their friends’ homes on the mainland.

Impossible restoration

The bees died out from Nakadori Island only 15 years ago, after 45 years of survival through the post-war confusion. I met a carpenter, Mr Uno, who had kept Apis cerana japonica in his back yard. He is the last Apis cerana japonica beekeeper on the Goto Islands. The trees were not all cut down after the war because the land was too mountainous for farming. So the bees survived. Later however, came the time of rapid economic growth and the government mounted a campaign to plant cash trees, such as cedar and cypress, for housing construction. The indigenous trees were cut down and subsidised cedar saplings were planted. Now most of the island is covered with the cedar forests and bees cannot be found anywhere. It seems impossible to restore bees to Nakadori.

Trap hives

One of the project members, Dr Miyazaki, decided to take care of the restoration on Fukue Island. He and I set the traps around Mount Mayu in Shimabara City. I estimated the area to be suitable for 1,000 colonies. But to our disappointment, no bees appeared around the traps. We learned that pesticide had been sprayed from helicopters and exterminated the bees in that area. The local government did it to get rid of pine tree pests.

The government staff found our traps and demanded we remove them. Their excuse was that the bees might sting the tourists. We also found out that they had been spraying the pesticide on Uku Island and the other islands for the past 30 years. They have been devastating the islands killing many kinds of insects, crustacea and seaweed. We protested at the city hall and started a movement to stop it. They insisted they should preserve the beautiful sights and block the wind with the pine trees. We are now in dispute.

Some people who grow strawberries and blueberries on Uku Island became members of the project to use Apis cerana japonica instead of Apis mellifera which they had leased from the mainland beekeepers. Apis cerana japonica are easy to keep and can protect themselves from hornet attacks.

Hives

I used two kinds of hives for keeping and transferring the bees to the islands: local log hives that we call 'turnover' hives and box hives. There are also various other kinds of traditional hives in Japan. The hives I use have advantages in colony management, and harvesting honey is easy. Turnover hives used to be woven with bamboo and coated inside with clay. But now there are no bamboo craftsmen left alive, So I some are made from logs. made mine with wooden planks. You turn the hive upside down after harvesting from the top of the hive. This means the brood cells that occupied the bottom of the combs become the top. The bees take care of the larvae with no problem. The principle of this hive is not widely known even in Japan. I was informed that the colonies I sent to Uku Island have developed into 19 colonies during this breeding season. After the breeding season I visited Uku Island to see how the colonies were doing, and I found them all large and active. They have on average multiplied five fold, and are surely going to reproduce themselves into more than 1,000 colonies in a few years. Then fruits and vegetables can be grown on a large-scale.