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OCR for page 363
35
Bees
Of all the livestock reviewed in this publication,
bees are the smallest, the least demanding of space,
probably the most familiar, and perhaps the most
easily adapted to worldwide rural development efforts.
For all that, however, they are an often forgotten
component in agricultural programs. This is unfortu-
nate because bees can be particularly valuable to tropical countries,
providing pollination of crops, useful products, and a premium source
~
OI lIlCOme.
TIC
Almost every village in every tropical country traditionally has had
a beekeeper or two. Most use "seat-of-the-pants" methods and
"rustic" hives, and this generally leads to low yields and inefficiencies.
Today, numerous innovative methods and appropriate equipment are
coming available. Many are still not widely known; however, their
importance is slowly being recognized. Indeed, some developing
countries are already turning bees into a valued natural resource.
For example, in less than 10 years Kenya has become self-sufficient
in honey production and-despite increased local consumption is
now exporting. In seven years, Papua New Guinea has met its local
honey requirements and now also exports its surplus. In only four
years, Thailand increased yearly production from practically nothing
to more than 1,000 tons. In Brazil, beekeeping is more widespread
and production greater than before the outbreak of the African honey
bee. These achievements can be largely attributed to the promotion
of innovative equipment, modern beekeeping techniques, and extension
support for small-scale beekeepers.
APPEARANCE AND SIZE
Honey bees are generally easily recognized and need no description
here. The major species and subspecies are all roughly similar in
appearance and size.
363
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364
MICROLIVESTOCK
DISTRIBUTION
Among several hundred species of bees that store honey and pollen
in harvestable amounts, only two "social" species, Apis mellifera and
Apis cerana, produce multiple combs and can be kept in hives. Given
adequate forage and proper management,-they can build up a honey
surplus that can be harvested without harming their colonies.
Apis mellifera, the most widely distributed and exploited honey bee,
comes from Europe and Africa. The subspecies from Europe (especially
the Italian type, A. mellifera ligustica) is normally preferred because
of its docility and high honey yields. It is now the predominant honey
bee throughout the temperate zones of Europe, North America,
Australasia, and China.
Of the many subspecies in Africa, A. mellifera adansonii and A.
mellifera scutellata have the widest native ranges. The latter was
accidently released in Brazil in 1957. It has become naturalized and
has dominated the European bees formerly kept by beekeepers. By
1990, it had spread northwards to the southernmost areas of the United
States and southwards deep into Argentina.
The docile Asian hive bee, A. cerana, is found in Asia from the
Middle East to Japan and as far south as Indonesia. Although it
produces much less honey per hive than A. mellifera, its overall
production in many Southeast Asian countries may be greater.
STATUS
Honey bees do not face extinction. However, genetic diversity is
disappearing due to loss of habitat, insecticides, displacement by mass-
produced, genetically uniform queens and exotic breeds, destructive
harvesting, and the spread of diseases and pests such as protozoans,
bacteria, insects, and mites.
HABITAT AND ENVIRONMENT
Honey bees can exist in locations from deserts to rainforests and
from near the Arctic to the tropics. They occur wherever there is
nectar, pollen, tree resin (for nest building), shelter, and a little water.
Heat, drought, and especially rain and humidity may curtail their
activities, but a well-managed colony can survive periods of extreme
adversity.
~ Large amounts of honey and wax are also collected from wild species, particularly
from the giant honey bee of Asia, A. dorsata. A. florea, the smallest honey bee, is
"managed" somewhat in Oman, and hunted throughout the Middle East for small
amounts of honey. Stingless bees, especially of the genera A1elipona and Trigona, are
also exploited. The scientific names follow those in C.D. Michener. 1974. The Social
Behavior of Bees. Belknap. Cambridge, Mass.
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BEES
BIOLOGY
365
Honey bees live in rigidly hierarchical colonies. Normally there is
a single queen. After mating, she begins laying hundreds of eggs a
day. Those that are fertilized become sterile females, called workers;
those that remain unfertilized develop into males (drones), whose only
role is to fertilize future queens.
After two or three years the queen, worn-out, starts laying fewer
and fewer eggs, and the colony may replace her. At that time a few
female larvae are raised on royal jelly, a nutritious, little-understood
secretion that causes them to develop into queens.
Workers perform different tasks as they mature. Young ones tend
the queen, guard the hive, and raise the larvae. Older ones, comprising
the vast majority of a colony's population, gather pollen and nectar
and water. Pollen provides the protein and fats, and the nectar,
converted into honey in the bee's body, provides carbohydrates to
feed the colony.
BEHAVIOR
Honey bee activities are dictated by weather, availability of food,
genetics, and the overall strength of the colony. They are mediated by
chemical interactions between the queen and the workers that control
almost all behavior.
While the Asian and European hive bees are relatively docile, most
of the African subspecies are unpredictable and may defend their
colonies in great numbers and with great persistence. The threat of
"killer bees" has been greatly exaggerated, however. Africans have
provided them nests and hives-and harvested their honey for thou-
sands of years.
Occasionally, large numbers of the bees in a colony split off from
their nest or hive. They usually cluster on a nearby tree or building,
calmly waiting for "scouts" to find a suitable new home. These
homeless swarms can be captured and will readily move into a hive-
the simplest and cheapest way for beekeepers to acquire a colony.
USES
Honey and beeswax are two of nature's best known and most
valuable products. Honey can be employed in hundreds of foods. It
is widely used in baking because, in addition to its Havor, it retains
moisture better than sugar or syrup, and the product keeps longer.
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366
MICROLIVESTOCK
Honey-based alcoholic beverages are popular in many parts of the
world.
Beeswax also is used in many products, including candles, lubricants,
polish, waterproofings, soaps, cosmetics, and electronics. Beeswax
can be locally important for "lost-wax" metal-casting and sculptures
as well as batik-dyed clothing.
Both bee pollen and royal jelly are used in cosmetics and can be
eaten. Bee venom is used medicinally, particularly in Europe and the
developing world. Bee larvae are eaten raw or fried in many parts of
Asia and Africa and are considered a delicacy.
HUSBANDRY
Keeping bees means managing a colony so that it produces surplus
honey or wax. Specifically this requires:
· Providing a suitable hive;
· Obtaining bees by collecting a swarm, transferring a wild colony,
or purchasing a colony complete with an active queen;
· Maintaining the colony free from natural enemies in an area that
allows it to produce excess honey; and
· Harvesting the excess honey without weakening the colony or
causing it to flee (abscond).
ADVANTAGES
Few other livestock enterprises require less capital, less space, or
less attention. Moreover, scarcely any other provides higher quality,
more marketable products.
Beekeeping is a respected and traditional activity in most areas of
the world. It promotes self-reliance and requires little, if any, land or
money. It is an easy-entry cottage industry that can be started with
minimal equipment or training. It can be done by any member of a
family as it requires no special strength or size. It is especially
appropriate for increasing women's income in the many areas where
men are away working.
Beekeeping is suited to remote areas where many agricultural
enterprises are at a competitive disadvantage because their products
are bulky and far from the markets. Honey, wax, pollen, and other
bee products can all be sold far from their point of origin, have high
monetary value for their weight, and generally find a ready market.
Local honeys often command premium prices (in part because many
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BEES
367
BETTER BEEllIYES
So many hives have been developed in recent years that a
design now exists for almost any level of expertise. One of the
most important for Third World beekeeping is the top-bar hive.
This crate-like box, derived from an ancient Greek design,
incorporates modern beekeeping principles but adds the in-
novation of sloping sides. Beneath its lid are removable boards
(top bars) from which the bees hang the combs (because the
sides are sloping the bees do not attach the edges of the comb
to them). By lifting a top bar, the comb can be inspected and
handled and the honey han~ested with little disturbance to
the colony.
This simple hive can make beekeeping accessible to even
the poorest people. It is easy to build and use, and can be
locally constructed from scrap lumber. It is well suited for
raising most types of honey bees.
More elaborate and productive is the African long hive. In
addition to having top bars, this square-sided box has remov-
able frames within which the bees build their comb.
The most elaborate is the Langstroth hive the type most
common in temperate zones.* These yield the most honey.
They car, be made only where there are facilities for precise
carpentry, where durable, nonwarping parts are available, and
where there are good extension services to aid and assist
beekeepers. Although traditional Langstroth hives are de-
manding to build and maintain, simplified designs have been
created for use in developing countries.
* A Reverend Langstroth of Pennsylvania, USA put together this hive in 1849. It
has changed little in the past 140 years.
Of them are considered medicinal). In addition, beekeeping encourages
people to remain in rural areas rather than move to the city in search
of an income.
Pollination increases the productivity of many crops, and therefore
a few hives can boost local food production. By rotating hives among
farmers' fields and orchards, a beekeeper performs a valuable service.
Beekeeping is also an important adjunct to reforestation and desert-
reclamation projects. It can provide income during the long wait for
the trees to reach marketable size. Many forests are potential reservoirs
of honey and other products. In some cases, the bees also enhance
the fruitfulness and standing value of forests. They also increase
pollination in tree-seed orchards and tree nurseries. And in newly
established forests, bees improve reseeding potential.
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368
MICROLIVESTOCK
STINGLESS BEES
By far the most common bees in the tropics, perhaps in the
world, are bees that cannot sting. Their stingers are so atro-
phied as to be essentially nonexistent (but some can deliver a
pretty fierce bite). They live in colonies and store their honey
in wax pots, some as large as egg cups.
Stingless bees can be abundant. In a two-block area in
downtown Panama City, 150 nests have been counted. Ilow-
ever, many species depend on trees and their populations are
plummeting as more and more tropical forests are felled.
Like honey bees, stingless bees have been "domesticated."
For thousands of years in the tropical Americas, Indians have
raised them in special hives made out of logs, gourds, clay
pots, and other simple containers. Cortes reported in 1519
that Indians on the island of Cozumel, the now popular tourist
spot off the east coast of Yucatan, practiced beekeeping. That
was almost 300 years before the European honeybee was
introduced. A popular Mayan drink was honey wine, and Mayan
beekeepers carved stone earplugs to keep these bees out of
their ears.
Iloney from stingless bees has less sugar than normal honey.
However, it is usually more tasty. It is used throughout the
tropics: the Americas, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia, for
instance. I`Iormally, the nests arejust robbed, which devastates
the bees because the queen cannot fly, and when she is
disturbed the colony dies. In some areas people open a little
hole in the nest. By putting in a plug they can then harvest
honey a couple of times a year without destroying the colony.
Today, a few scientists are reconsidering stingless beekeep-
ing. In the state of Maranhao in Brazil, an area of crushing
poverty, biologist Warwick Kerr is harnessing stingless bees.
He began after learning that peasants were spending a third
of their meager incomes buying sugar. As part of his experi-
ments, he keeps 60 hives stacked in his garage on the outskirts
of the city of San Luis. (A notable feature of these bees is that
there is no prohibition against keeping them in populated
areas. )
Kerr has found that stingless bees can be made to produce
well. After years of experimenting with different-sized boxes,
he can now obtain more than 4.5 liters of honey per hive per
year. Lie reports that the stingless bees are easy to maintain,
and can be raised by poor people without land or equipment.
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BEES
LIMITATIONS
369
Compared to raising four-footed livestock, beekeeping is inexpensive
and fairly trouble free, but it is not without problems. Many things
can go wrong, and include, for example:
· Losses. Bees are susceptible to various predators, pests, and
diseases. Although ways to avoid or control most afflictions are
available, once a colony becomes infested it may have to be destroyed.
· Theft. Hives or combs usually kept in secluded areas that are
full of honey are tempting targets and may be stolen.
· Swarming and absconding. Some or all of the bees may leave a
hive and start a new nest, taking even the honey with them.2
· Bad management. Beekeeping requires certain skills and knowl-
edge, and sometimes frequent attention (such as when the colony is
stressed, diseased, or swarming).
· Lack of equipment. Beekeepers need hives, smokers (to quiet and
repel the bees), hive tools, and- advisable but not absolutely neces-
sary gloves and a veil.
· Inadequate storage. Some areas lack the knowledge or the bottles
in which to store liquid honey.3
· Pesticides and herbicides. Nectar- and pollen-collecting bees are
vulnerable to insecticides, which farmers may apply (often inappro-
priately) at the time their crops are flowering. Herbicides can destroy
important sources of bee forage.
· Neighborhood concerns. Bees can sting people and livestock.
Although wild bees (and other insects) are the principal culprits, the
beekeeper is often blamed.
· Stressful conditions. When rainfall, aridity, heat, or cold are
excessive, bees often cannot produce surplus honey.
RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION NEEDS
Surprisingly, much remains to be learned about the natural science
of bees. Although some of the research requires sophisticated equip-
ment and facilities, much can (or must) be performed locally by
beekeepers because many factors such as colony behavior, foraging
2 Experienced beekeepers can usually anticipate and thwart this behavior.
3 A new innovation is marketing honey in combs wrapped in plastic film. This avoids
the expense of extractors and bottling, and if harvested properly-reduces problems
of adulteration and spoilage.
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370
MICROLIVESTOCK
habits, and microclimatic adaptation-depend on the local conditions.
This research may include the following:
· Adaptation. The provision of locally adapted bee varieties is an
important basis for developing advanced beekeeping. This can be done
by selecting an appropriate local queen. Further, local breeding of
queens and workers lessens the probability of importing exotic diseases
and pests. Recent developments promise to move the mass production
of queens and workers from the realm of high technology to common
practice .4
· Integration. Continued developments in beekeeping cannot suc-
ceed without research, promotion, education, training, and extension
services. These are essential for integrating beekeeping with agriculture
and reforestation efforts. Thus, descriptions of agronomic plants should
always include pollination requirements as well as nectar and pollen
potentials. Planting nectar- and pollen-producing firewood species
would increase the number of bees, which would in turn help ensure
forest survival.
· Bee plants. There is still much to be understood about the relative
qualities that different plants bring to beekeeping. Recently, many
valuable bee-forage plants have been identified.S These deserve special
consideration in any reforestation or beautification projects. Broad
introduction of these plants may also encourage beekeeping that could
produce high-value "specialty" honeys or ensure more continuous
production of honey. There may also be a place for "bee farms,"
where every plant is bee forage.
· New bee species. Nontraditional species of Apis as well as other
members of the bee family (such as Anthophora, Bombus, Megachilae,
Nomia, Osmia, Xylocopa, and especially Trigona and Melipona, which
are stingless) should be studied to determine their role in pollination
and-for some species their further exploitation for honey.
4 These breeding systems force a confined queen to lay her eggs in special plastic cups,
from which the eggs can then be transferred to queen cells.
5 See, for example, Crane, 1983 and Crane et al., 1984.
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Appendix A
Selected Readings
A small selection follows of books and articles that are not too
difficult to locate and that will help readers explore each topic further.
Obscure documents are accompanied by an address from which readers
can obtain a reprint or photocopy.
GENERAL
Grzimek, B. 1975. Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 1-13. Van Nostrand Reinhold
Company, New York.
Robbins, C.T. 1983. Wildlife Feeding and Nutrition. Academic Press, Inc., New York.
MICROBREEDS
Mason, I.L. 1988. A World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties.
Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire, UK.
MicrocaMIe
Barnard, J.P. and J.P. Venter. 1983. Indigenous and Exotic Beef Cattle in South West
Africa-A Progress Report. Available from Department of Agriculture and Nature
Conservation, PB 13184, Windhoek 9000, Namibia. (Sanga)
Cheng Peilieu. 1984. Livestock Breeds of China. FAO Animal Production and Health
Paper 46. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. 217 pp.
Cole, H.H. and W.N. Garrett, eds. 1974. Animal Agriculture. 2nd edition. W.H.
Freeman and Company, San Francisco, California, USA.
Epstein, H. and I.L. Mason. 1984. Cattle. Pages 6-27 in Evolution of Domesticated
Animals, I.L. Mason, ed. Longman, London.
Felius, M. 1985. Genus Bos: Cattle Breeds of the World. MSD-AGVET, Merck and
Co., Rahway, New Jersey. 234 pp.
Gryseels, G. 1980. Improving Livestock and Farm Production in the Ethiopian Highlands:
Initial Results. ILCA study. International Livestock Centre for Africa, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
ILCA. 1979. Trypanotolerant Livestock in West and Central Africa. Vol. 1, General
Study. International Livestock Centre for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Joshi, N.R. and R.W. Phillips. 1953. Zebu Cattle of India and Pakistan. FAO Agricultural
Study No. 19. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
297 pp.
Joshi, N.R., E.A. McLaughlin, and R.W. Phillips. 1957. Types and Breeds of African
Cattle. FAO Agricultural Study No. 37. Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, Rome. 297 pp.
371
Representative terms from entire chapter:
honey bees
