Apis florea in Africa

This colony of Apis florea was photographed in Khartoum, Sudan in November 1985. It was discovered when a gardener found the colony in a lemon tree, cut it from its branch and took it to the Beekeeping Unit at the University of Khartoum for identification. On November 2, 1985 Siham Kamil of the University of Khartoum, William Lord (beekeeping specialist working for the Near East Foundation in Sudan) and myself were taken to see a second colony of Apis florea established in another Khartoum garden, and several more colonies have subsequently been found.

The city of Khartoum is surrounded by desert, but in the centre of the city where these Apis florea have been found, gardens are irrigated and there is flowering vegetation—obviously sufficient to sustain colonies of Apis florea. There are no colonies of Apis mellifera present in Khartoum, other than those maintained by the University Bee Unit which have to be provided with continual supplies of food and water to ensure their survival.

This is the first record of Apis florea in Africa, and it raises the interesting questions of how long these bees have been present in Khartoum, and how they arrived there. All colonies found so far have been well established and local people confirm that the colonies have been present for at least six months. The nearest place to Khartoum where Apis florea is recorded is Oman, some 2700 km to the East. A clue to their arrival may be the fact that all colonies found so far are near to Khartoum International Airport, which is also a base for aid lorries carrying supplies from Port Sudan.

Whether accidental or deliberate, human intervention must have been involved in Apis florea’s arrival in Sudan. Bees moved from one country to another can take with them diseases and pests which, once introduced, can never be eradicated. Introduced bees compete with Native species, which may be adversely affected. Fortunately, since Khartoum is not a beekeeping area, and the introduced bees appear to be disease-free, no biological harm seems to have been caused by this incident.

NB

Apis florea (sometimes called the Little Honeybee because it is the smallest of the Apis species) is a tropical species with a distribution extending from Indonesia westwards across Asia to Iran and Northern Oman. A. florea builds a single comb, normally about 30 cm wide and 25 cm long. The upper part of the comb contains deep-cells, and these are used for storing honey; a full-size colony of A. florea can store only about 1 kg of honey. Lower down the comb pollen is stored and brood is reared. A. florea colonies usually build their single comb suspended from a branch in the open air and never nest inside dark cavities as Apis mellifera and Apis cerana do. For this reason, and because it uses only a single comb. A. florea cannot be maintained in bee hives as are A. mellifera and A. cerana.