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Beekeeping in the TropicsBeekeeping in the TropicsDr. Peter RosenkranzUniversity of HohenheimApicultural State Institutepeter.rosenkranz@uni-hohenheim.dewww.uni-hohenheim.de/bienenkundeSS 2010

Content

1. What are Bees?2. Social Evolution in “Bees”: From Solitary to Eusociality3. Economic value of bees 4. Honey bee species of economic importance 5. General aspects of Pollination6. Honey hunting7. Specific traits of tropical honey bees8. Requirements for advanced Beekeeping Techniques9. Case study in North Eastern Brazil10. Specific problems:

• Plant protection• Honey bee diseases

11. Summary

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Systematic of Bees

Class InsectaOrder Hymenoptera AculeataFamily Apidae

Stingless bees (Melipona spec.)Bumble bees (Bombus spec.)Honey bees (Apis spec.)

Worldwide about 25.000 Bee speciesIn Germany about 600 Bee species (most of them solitary)In Brazil about 3.000 Bee species

Tropics: higher biodiversity

“What are bees”?Pecularities of Bees

• Use of Pollen and nectar for nutrition• Visiting plants during foraging• Social communities

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Darwin’s enigma

“... I will confine myself to one special difficultywhich at first appeared to me insuperable, and actually fatal to the whole theory (of evolution). I allude to the neuters or sterile females in insectcommunities”

C. Darwin, 1859

How can sterile females be explainedwithin the framework of an evolutionarytheory based on survival of the fittest?

In other words:

Social Community and Evolution

Darwin’s enigma

C. Darwin, 1859

“This difficulty (of sterile workers), thoughappearing insuperable, is lessened, or, as I believe, disappears, when it is remembered that selectionmay be applied to the family, as well as to theindividual, and may thus gain the desired end”

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„Social Evolution“

SolitaryEusocial

CommunalSemisocial

Eusocial Bees

• Overlap of generations• Division of labor• Occurrence of castes (reproductive and worker castes)

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Scaptotrigona spec. in Brazil

Eusocial Bees

Stingless bees in Africa, South America and Australia

Honey bees in Africa and Asia

Apis mellifera in Ethiopia

Apis dorsata in Asia (Giant Hone Bee) Apis florea in Asia

Dwarf Honey Bee

Original and today's distribution of Honey Bees (Apis) and Stingless Bees

Honey bees

Honey bees& Stingless bees

Stingless bees

Stingless bees

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Honey bee species of the world(Honey bee = Apis)

Apis mellifera *(Europe, Africa, Asia Minor)Apis cerana * (Asia)Apis koschevnikovi (Asia)Apis nicrocincta (Asia)Apis dorsata *(Asia)Apis laboriosa * (Asia)Apis florea (Asia)Apis andreniformis (Asia)* economic importance

hive bees

free buildingsingle combs

Social organization of a Honeybee colony

Males: “Drones” deriving from unfertilized eggs. The only “task” is mating with the queen.

Female castes: • Queen: reproduction• Workers: all working tasks within in the colonyBoth derived from fertilized eggs, no genetic

difference between workers and queens

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Economic value of bees

Products provided by Bees• Honey• Wax• Pollen• Propolis• Royal Jelly• Bee venom• Pollination

Economic value of bees

Products provided by Bees• Honey• Wax• Pollen• Propolis• Royal Jelly• Bee venom• Pollination

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Economic value of bees

Products provided by Bees• Honey Honey bees, stingless bees• Wax Honey bees • Pollen Honey bees • Propolis Honey bees • Royal Jelly Honey bees • Bee venom Honey bees • Pollination Honey bees, stingless bees, solitary bees

General Importanceof Bees

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Pollination

• Wind, Water

Bats

Mammals

Birds

Pollination

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Pollination

InsectsAll Bees use pollen as the exclusive source of protein

All Bees are Pollinators!

Pollination by Bees

• 1/3 of the agricultural production worldwide depends on pollination

• Economic value (estimated):

- Worldwide: ~ 70 Billion € (honeybees)

- USA: ~ 40 Billion € (bees in general, Morse 2001)

• Bees are the most effective pollinators among the insects. They perform about 50% of insect pollination.

Agricultural BiodiversityInternational Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/areas/agro/pollinators.asp

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Pollination

Pollination Project at Jordan (Strawberry)

Pollination: Global Ecology

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/LandCover/land_cover_3.html

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Global EcologyCycle of Biomass

CO2Photosynthesis

Global EcologyPrimary Production (Biomass)

~ 100.000.000.000 t/ yeartropical rainforest ~ 60.000.000.000 t/yearCultivated area ~ 10.000.000.000 t/year

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Global Ecology

CO2Photosynthesis

Pollination!

Beekeeping with stingless bees

Genus Melipona and Trigona

Advantages• Harmonious relationship between man and indigenous bees• Including in Indian culture, for instance the Maya at Yucatan or the

Yanomani at Amazonia • Provision of pollen and honey for private use• High prices• Medical use?Disadvantages• Relatively low honey yields (1 – max. 10 kg/colony/year)• Handling difficult, difficult for professional use• Lack of knowledge on domestication and techniques of “Meliponiculture“

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Honey Bee beekeeping(Apis spec.)

Production of Honey and Bees Wax

Honey hunting

Honey hunting

Apis dorsata (giant honey bee) in India

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Natural nesting site of a honeybee colony(Togo, West Africa)

Honey hunting

Honey hunting

Uganda: log hives

Honey hunting

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Traditional hivesEthiopia: Baskets as a bee hive and a “Honey bee tree”

Honey hunting

Asia: Apis dorsata, Apis cerana, Apis melliferaAfrica: Apis mellifera: „African bee“, the „Cape honey bee“South America: Apis mellifera: „Africanized Honeybees (AHB)“

Tropical beekeeping

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The eastern honey bee Apis cerana

Apis cerana, the eastern Honey BeeSmall colonies, “nervous” bees

Typical defense behaviour against giant hornets(Vespa manduca): balling and killing the hornet by heat

Small scale Honey production with theeastern honey bee Apis cerana

Apis cerana in India and extraction of a small honey harvest

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Advanced Beekeepingwith the Western Honeybee

Apis melliferain Europe

Case study of a German Professional Beekeeper

Organization, Management Technique!Example: Use of Rape

Photos: Wolfgang Stöckmann

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Tropical Beekeeping(Apis mellifera)Specific traits of

tropical honey bees

1. High reproductive rates 2. Swarming and absconding3. Defensive behavior4. No winter cluster (population dynamic)

Specific traits of tropical honey bees

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High reproductive rate:Example of Africanized Honeybees (= tropical Honeybee)

Spread of Africanized honeybees in South America

Africanized honeybees in Brazil: By the use of swarm boxes the beekeeper can reach an equilibrium of loss and gain of swarms. Swarm boxes are also used to prevent establishing of swarms within cities.

Swarming and absconding

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Africanized honeybees in Brazil: Extreme swarming and absconding tendency

Swarming and absconding

Defensive behavior

Beekeeping at Apicultural Institute of Hohenheim …..

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Defensive behavior

African bees and Africanized honeybees (Brazil):• Lower threshold for defense behavior (a result of honey hunting in the

tropics by man?)• Long-lasting attacks (even several hours after disturbing the colony!)• Attacks over a range of several hundreds meters around the hive• Disturbed bees follow the beekeeper up to 2 km

Intensive use of smoke, long-lasting defensive behavior of the bees of a disturbed colony (example of a professional beekeeper in Brazil)

Defensive behavior

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Keep colonies isolated and as single unit: Prevention of mutual disturbance and the use of “poor” food sources

Defensive behavior

Specific foraging strategy of African bees

Foraging at night (Apis melliera adansoni in Togo)

Use of “poor” food sources (Africanized Honey Bees in Brazil)

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Population dynamic

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No. of bees/ broodcells

BeesBrood cells

Schwäbische Alb 2001

Seasonal course of colony development in temperate climates

Worker bees

Brood cells

Seasonal course of colony development in tropical climates (Uruguay)

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Population dynamic

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Winter cluster

Requirements for a more advanced Tropical Beekeeping

1. Suitable Bee hives2. Protected area for the apiary 3. Protection clothes: Gloves, Boots, masks, Smoker4. Devices for honey extraction and processing5. Possibilities for honey storage6. Knowledge

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South Africa: Top bar hive

Types of bee hives

Uganda: Top bar hive (moveable frames)

Types of bee hives

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Traditional hives: Hanging or installing on a stand?

Advantages of installing on a stand1. It is easier to place the hive on the stand and remove it.2. It is easy to move both hive and stand to another spot.3. The beehive does not swing about even if the beekeeper is

working.4. Honey collection and brood-nest control can easily be carried out.

Disadvantages of installing on a stand1. Grazing animals can knock the hive over.2. The legs of the stand can easily be used by lizards to reach the hive

unless they are protected by lizard guards.3. It is more expensive and tedious to make a reliable stand than to

buy a metallic wire for hanging a hive.4. Easy movement facilitates easy stealing.

Moveable and stable frames

Modern Hives

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Research project in Ethiopia: The use of modern Polyurethane Standard hives.

Modern Hives

Research project in Ethiopia: In the field a protection against ants and lizards are required.

Modern Hives

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Case study:Beekeeping in theNorth East of BrazilProf. Lionel S. Gonçalves, Katia Gramacho

Beekeeping in the tropics: Example from North East Brazil

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Extreme Swarming tendency

Apiary during the dry season

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Availability of water

Beekeeping “practice”

É FUNDAMENTAL A CONSERVAÇÃO DO

MATERIAL APÍCOLA

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Lack of material for beekeeping

Expensive equipment for protection

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No sophisticated management

Problem of defensive behavior

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Problem of defensive behavior

Need of working together

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Colonies established as single units

Colonies established as single units

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Shadow very important

Hard research work in the tropics

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Hard research work in the tropics

Prof. Lionel S. Gonçalves (Ribeirão Preto) and Katia Gramacho (Salvador) working in Mossoró

Advantages of Africanized Honey Bees

• AFB collect more pollen than European Bees (Pollination)• Resistance to most bee diseases ( production of organic honey)• Up to 100 kg per year and colony possible• Problem: Honey quality, marketing• Certification of Honey quality in US and EU!

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Problems for Beekeeping

Honeybee diseases

Varroosis (Varroa destructor):• Parasitic mite, sucks hemolymph from adult bees and brood

stages• Vector for secondary infections (Bee viruses)• In temperate climate, infested coloneis die within 2-3 years

without treatment• Most important threat to beekeeping worldwide• Most tropical bees are tolerant toward Varroosis!

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Honeybee diseases

American Foulbrood (Paenibacillus larvae larvae):• Bacteria, destroys brood cells shortly after cell capping• in Europe considered as epidemic (Pest status!)• Not present in Central Africa and Brazil• Distributed via spores from dead larvae and honey (spores are very

resistant, can survive cooking!)

Honeybee diseases

Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) in South Africa• Native to Southern Africa• In Africa a minor problem• Meanwhile also in USA and Australia destroys weak colonies

and storage combs

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Plant protection

Risk of residues and poisoning of foraging bees

SummaryTropical Beekeeping and rural development

Chances• Beekeeper and Bee products are highly respected • Honey is a high price product in all countries• Alternative bee products Medical use• Enormous resources in tropical countries are available• Honey can be stored over long periods• Beekeeping does not require own land• Beekeeping offers additional income (Rural development,

gender aspects)Problems• Knowledge and tradition of stakeholder• Start investment (bee hives, protection clothes, honey harvest)• An extension within the country is needed• Quality control of Honey Bee Products within the country• Access to (international) markets

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