Bees for Development Journal 143 June 2022
Bark hive beekeeping and forest maintenance - Part III Janet Lowore, Programme Manager, Bees for Development In this article we consider this last point in more detail – the actions taken by forest beekeepers to reduce the damage caused by hot, late season fires.
This is the third article about bark hive beekeeping in Zambia and the connection between beekeeping and forest maintenance.
Impact of fire on beekeeping
Part I (BfDJ 140) considered whether bark hive making causes deforestation: it does not! There are a low number of trees suitable for making hives within any given area of forest, and most of the trees in an area used for forest beekeeping are retained – because they are the wrong species, shape or size for hives. Smaller trees are left until they grow larger.
During focus group discussions held with beekeepers in Ikelenge and Mwinilunga in 2015, beekeepers explained that fires which burn at the end of the dry season are intense and can destroy the flowers which provide nectar and pollen for bees. This must be avoided if possible. Hot, late season fires also disturb bees, burn hives and kill tree saplings. “Late fire is a problem ”, and beekeepers in Jimbe said, “If the forest burns at this time [end of dry season] it is bad”. These comments fit with an observation by Clauss, who noted that, ‘… beekeepers are generally worried about late fires between August and October which widely scorch the flush and above all the flowers of the most important nectar sources’, (Clauss 1992).
Part II (BfDJ 141) showed that beekeepers are very protective of their hive sites in the forest, as they provide them with all the resources they need to make an income from beekeeping. Beekeepers use forest resources carefully and wisely, yet there are many causes of forest loss which are outside their control. Where beekeepers can control factors which damage forests, for example, harmful late season fires, they will do so.
To reduce the impact of late season fires, beekeepers explain that they engage in a practice known as ‘early burning’. Beekeepers in Muzhila explained, “Fire destroys flowers. Early burning is the solution and the Forestry Department used to get people to do that in June and July. We beekeepers do that now, we burn here and there, where the hives are, in June”, (beekeepers, Muzhila, 2015), corroborated also by others, “We do early burning - to protect the flowers from late fires. Yes, everyone does early burning”, (Beekeepers, Saluzhinga, 2015).
Image © Janet Lowore
This fire was set in June when the ambient temperatures are relatively low. At this time of year the fire creeps along the ground and does not reach the tree canopy (Chibwika, Zambia, 2018)
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