beekeeping in the tropics - uni hohenheim · pdf file1 beekeeping in the tropics dr. peter...
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Beekeeping in the TropicsBeekeeping in the TropicsDr. Peter RosenkranzUniversity of HohenheimApicultural State [email protected]/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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Darwins 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
Darwins 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 beeSouth 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 Stckmann
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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
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
10. M
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2. A
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26. A
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17. M
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5. Ju
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26. J
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No. of bees/ broodcells
BeesBrood cells
Schwbische Alb 2001
Seasonal course of colony development in temperate climates
Worker bees
Brood cells
Seasonal course of colony development in tropical climates (Uruguay)
05000
10000150002000025000300003500040000
29.10
.1997
21.11
.1997
11.12
.1997
30.12
.1997
21.01
.1998
19.02
.1998
15.03
.1998
17.04
.1998
11.05
.1998
05.06
.1998
05.07
.1998
11.08
.1998
11.09
.1998
num
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es/ b
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ce worker brood
drone brood
bees
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