Original Article

A review of beekeeping in ArabcountriesMOUSTAFA H HUSSEIN

Recent status of beekeeping, races of honey bees, bee forageplants, honey production, pests and diseases of honey bee coloniesin: Algeria, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon,Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria,Tunisia and Yemen are described in this article. The history ofbeekeeping and research activities in: Algeria, Egypt, United ArabEmirates, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia,Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia are also included.

—•Si.

ResearchIn the Bibliography of tropical apiculture, EvaCrane21 reported that the area of NorthAfrica and the Middle East contained thecradle of the craft of beekeeping. Pictorialrecords of beekeeping activities in Egyptexist from 2400 BC onwards. Bees havebeen studied in Egyptian Universities to amuch greater extent than elsewhere in theregion. Details of results of this work aresummarized in table 1. Research work car-ried out in African-Arab (AfA) countrieswas 15 times more than in Asian-Arab(AsA) countries.

BeekeepingInformation about beekeeping in AfA coun-tries and AsA countries is summarized intables 2 and 3, respectively. The area of AfAcountries is 2.3 times greater than AsAcountries. In AfA countries, the maximumnumber of colonies per km is found inEgypt and Tunisia. The greatest number ofbeekeepers and maximum honey produc-tion are found in Egypt.

The total number of honey bee colonies inArab countries is approximately 42 million,the total number of beekeepers is 321 700,and total honey production 25 738 tonnes,with an average of 6.1 kg honey/colony.

Distribution of parasites, predators and dis-eases in Arab countries is summarized intable 4.

Quantity and value of exports of naturalhoney from Arab countries are summarizedin table 5.

Beekeeping in AlgeriaBeekeeping in Algeria is practised mainly inthe north of the country, where the floraldiversity is ensured almost all the year".Southern Algeria is the homeland of thedate palm, with over one million productivetrees. The honey bees need to be adaptedto the desert climate and to be resistant tounfavourable environmental conditions suchas high temperatures and strong prevailingwinds.

Hives which are best suited or adapted tothe desert conditions must be used. Tradi-tional hives made from rocks and mud are

57

TABLE 1. Beekeeping research in Arab Countries.

Country* Number First Pioneers in the field ofof beekeeping beekeepingpublished publicationentries

African Countries:

Algeria 1 7

Egypt 143

Libya 6

Morocco 27

Somalia 1

Sudan 9

Tunisia 1 7

Total 220

Asian Countries:

United Arab 1Emirates (UAE)Iraq 9

Lebanon 3

Oman 1

Saudi Arabia 1

Total 15

General total 235

Doumas(1903)

Abushady(1949)

Brittan(1955/56)Haccour(1939)

Leuthold(1973)King(1920)Chenevard(1929)

Kwei & Esmonde(1978)Jasim(1952)Yazbeck(1953)Dutton & Free(1979)Standardizationof honey (1978)

Doumas, Alber, Andreu, Griessinger,Idir, Jenn, Perrot, Persohn, Trieu,Skender.Abushady, Armbruster, Mellor, Wafa,Rhashad, Hassanein, Ibrahim,EI-Banby, Mazeed, Abou EI-Naga,Abdellatif, El-Berry, Selim, Hussein.Brittan, EI-Banby, Mazeed.

Haccour, Aloyol, Barbier, Crane,Chapot, Faress, Garnet, Mathis,Meyers, Ruttner, Stocken,Vulgarisateur. . . etc.Leuthold.

King, Marshall, Paterson, Kambel,Titherington, Rashad, El-Sarrag.Chenevard, Mathis, Osman,Schneider, Phinney, Petersen, Popa,Bornex, Leuba, Bouderballa,Bretscko.

EI-Badawy, Kwei & Esmonde

Jasim, Abdellatif, Morgenthaler,EI-Mosa, EI-Rabae, Nemee, Jiracek.Yazbeck, Ledent.

Dutton, Ibrahim, Free, Hussein,Whitcombe, Manley.AI-Ghamdi, Abou EI-Naga, EI-Hefny,El-Sarrag.

•No information ibout beekeeping from Bahrain. Jordan, Kuwait. Mauritania, Qatar and. Yemen (Crane 1 978).

( • • ' . •' . . • •• . /.. • . . ; : « > • • . • • • - • • • • • ; . \8

Area (1000 km'

Bees*

Number of modern hives (1000s)(date)\^* /

Number of traditional hives (1000s)

(date)

Number of colonies per km2

Date of introduction of modern beekeeping»„

Number of beekeepers (1 OOOs)(date)

Number of colonies per beekeeper

Average annual honey yield (kg) per hive

Total honey production (tonnes)(date)

Honey (g)/person/year

Population (1000s)(date)

Algeria

2382

Ami

5008<

(1997)

100"(1997)

0.25

1955"

7031

(1996)

8.57,

1.332

8003'(1994)

37

21172(1994)"

\

* Ami, Apis meffifero intermissio; Amla, A m. tomorckii; Amc, A .m. canica; Amsa, A

known from ancient times in Algerian

TABLE2.

Egypt

1001

AmlaAmc

11192

(1994)

1242

(1994)

1.24

1880'

no2(1994)

11.3

7.33

91122

(1994)

158

57556(1994)"

m. sahariensis; Ami, A m. Kgustica

Beekeeping in

Libya

1760

AmlArcvc

50"(1996)

-

0.03

1955"

332

(1996)

16.7

102

50032

(1996)

103

4853(1994)"

Amsu, A m. sudonensis;

Citrus, sunflower and many wild plants pro-

59

African Arab Countries.

Morocco

447

Ami Amsa

302

(1994)

3702

(1994)

0.89

1960"

272

(1994)

14.8

11

44002

(1994)

169

26074(1994)"

Somalia

638

AmlaAmc

few"(1986)

10022

(1986)

0.16

1970"

3"(1995)

33.3

3.5

350"(1995)

59

5923(1994)"

Sudan

2506

AmcAmsuAf

SO2

(1994)

2502

(1994)

0.12

1978"

SO2

(1994)

6

62

18002

(1994)

73

24500(1994)"

Tunisia

164

AmcAmi

47"(1996)

138"(1996)

1.13

1957"

10"(1995)

18.5

7.833

144533

(1996)

192

7542(1994)"

Total( »mean)

8898

1796

1082

(0.32)

273

(10.54)

(6.40)

18407

(124)

148220

Amsy, A m. syrioco; Amy, A m. yemenitica; Af, A florta; Ac, A cerana indica

practised"r%i_ . . _ i _ _

also. Honey was the food of the while 40% of theC____«.

honey comes from Upper

deserts". The history of beekeeping fromancient times in Algeria, and the develop-ment of the horizontal hives in general usehave been described. A sectional hive suit-able for Algeria and experience with thistype of hive from 1947-1950 have beendescribed3'. Native bees and hives in Alge-ria, have also been described .

Modern Algerian hives are of the Langstrothtype with some modifications for the hotweather, and a good honey yield is obtainedfrom these hives. Co-operatives are work-ing hard in beekeeping. Research activitiesare conducted at the Institute of Small Ani-

mals".

vide nectar for bees. The main honey flowis during spring (February to May), howev-er, it is possible to obtain honey all yearround. Honey is priced at 300 AlgerianDinar/kg, and there is a good demand forhoney. A beekeeper with 200 colonies canmake a good living from the bees. Isolatedoases in the Algerian deserts are used forrearing of pure strains of bees.

Beekeeping in EgyptAncient Egyptians first kept bees in mudhives (fixed-combs) more than 5000 yearsago with the Egyptian honey bee, Apis mel-Kfera corn/co. Migratory beekeeping was

Pharaohs and nobles. Honey is mentionedmany times in the known Pharaonic papyriin prescriptions used for treating human dis-eases, such as eye diseases, treating woundsand ulcers, and diseases of the limbs".

Egypt is one of the countries with legislationand a honey quality standard or codex forhoney to be sold2'.

Egyptian mud hives are placed in piles num-bering hundreds, and are plastered togeth-er by pouring mortar between. 70% ofmodern hives and 40% of traditional hivesare found in the Delta region, from whichabout 60% of the total honey is produced,

Egypt-The Coptic Organization for Social Serviceshas distributed thousands of hives to El-Minia and Assiut Governorates, in order to

' increase the income of village farmers livingat subsistence level".

Two main honey flows occur in Egypt dur-ing June (clover) and between August andSeptember (cotton), and a minor flow inApril (citrus). The main problems facingbeekeepers in Egypt are high densities ofcolonies in an area, the quality of queens,the number of pests and diseases, and casesof poisoning with pesticides Expansion ofbeekeeping into new reclaimed lands, iso-