Bees/o; Development Journal 88
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD EGYPT Alfalfa pollination in Ismailia Agriculture development in Egypt has been a national goal for several decades, and has involved the expansion of cultivated land and maximization of production. One of the major
yield in Kerala's Wayanad region this year, depriving the hard-pressed indigenous people of their supplementary income. “Torrential rain and strong winds have caused massdropping of flowers in deep forests, forcing the bees to move to greener pastures to nest
problems facing most of the newly reclaimed areas is the relatively low production of crops
and extract nectar. While a total of 15,000 kg of wild honey was collected in summer 2007,
due to the lack of insect pollinators. A similar problem is found also in certain areas of older
the yield was estimated to be 1,500 kg this season,” said P M George, Secretary of
cultivated land due to the wide use of
Sulthan Bathery Scheduled Tribe Co-operative
pesticides. The mechanisation of agriculture affected the wild pollinators as well as the honey bee industry.
Society,
INDONESIA Sweet way to save forests “We aim to promote sustainable honey harvesting, preserve the forest as bees’ habitat, maintaining indigenous cultures and improve the quality of the honey,” said
indonesian Forest Honey Network Executive, Valentinus Heri. He was speaking during the Honey Festival in Bogor Botanical Garden held in April 2008, at a honey product launch in collaboration with the Non-Timber Forest
“Heavy downpours at the wrong time of the year have made the bees fly away and seek
Products (NTFP) Exchange Program and another Bogor-based environmental watchdog, Telapak. The ‘Dorsata brand honey’
Besides using honey bees to pollinate many crops and fruit trees in Egypt, we try to find other species that are efficient in pollination. Ismailia is mainly an arid zone, with agriculture concentrated around the Nile
shelter on tall trees, rock crevices or termite hills,” said the chief of Rampally colony,
is harvested by the indigenous people of the preserved forest Sentarum Lake National Park
Kumaran. “You will not get honey when flowers are not there. Many of us made arduous treks deep into the forests only to
in
River. Much effort has been put into land
return with empty hands as we could not find
reclamation and to convert the desert. We carried out a survey of common bee fauna in
many colonies this year."
that area and found that the major bee species are honey bee Apis mellifera, mason
bee Osmia sp, and leaf cutter bee Megachile sp. The main crop in Ismailia and most newly reclaimed areas of Egypt is alfalfa. Pollination of alfalfa flowers needs to be tripped by bees, and its major pollinators are leaf-cutter and mason bees. We have attempted to establish
artificial nests to replace the natural nests in the walls of the old mud houses in the villages that were destroyed to build new, concrete houses. We aim to establish a leaf-cutter bee management industry and to
guide the farmers to increase the seed yield production of alfalfa and other crops.
Mohamed Shebl Abd Elfatiah, Department of Plant Protection, Suez Canal University
Fil Fiji’s first ever honey export has
left for the
Wild honey is one of the forest products whose collection and extraction is the preserve of indigenous people in the State. The honey collected is procured and marketed by Scheduled Tribe Co-operatives
Surianto, member of Apis dorsata honey farmers group in Sentarum, said they harvested honey in the forest from October a
March, while relying on freshwater fishing to make a living for the rest of the year.
Previously the people had cut trees down to harvest the honey. “Local environmental group Riak Bumi taught us how to take honey without destroying the ecosystem. We rely too much on the forest for our tivelinood, so we
which has a state-level apex body. Wild honey is mostly purchased by Ayurvedic medicine makers, whose demand for natural, unadulterated honey has been on the rise.
are keeping it safe," Surianto said.
In Wayanad, the Kattunaikkar people are the traditional honey collectors, but recently other groups have started honey hunting as it offers
forest is the biggest wetland ecosystem in Kalimantan, and home to the indigenous /ban
a supplementary income in lean months.
Source: www. hindu. com/thehindu/hoinus
Head of National Park Management Mr Suwignyo said that the 132,000 hectare
and Malay people. “We support the
environmentalists in training residents on the best way to harvest honey. They have an
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MALAWI Collins Kasimba works for the Small Holders Coffee Farmers Trust at Luwinga near Mzuzu. He organises training courses for local beekeepers. He works as a beekeeping extensionist with 436 farmers who keep bees, and together they harvest over 12 tonnes of honey.
USA. John Lewis, Managing Director of Island Apiaries (Fiji) Ltd sold the consignment and said the dea! represents a bright future for
Fiji’s fledgling honey industry. “Honey is a very profitable business that requires strong management practices,” he said. “Our honey meets the bio security requirement for the US market.” Mr Lewis started his business in
1997 and now has a farm in Tavua with 50 hives and harvests 2-3 tonnes of honey per year. The honey sells for about €1 1
(US$15) for
West Kalimantan.
a 750 ml bettie.
Source: Spore 133, February 2008
INDIA Climate change dents honey yield Unseasonal rains, seen as a sign of climate change, have sharply brought down the honey
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