Transcript Intensive Wildlife Management: NRM 307

Intensive Wildlife Management:
NRM 307
Notes prepared
By
Mrs M.M Ngwenya
Intensive Apiculture (Beekeeping)
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CLASSIFICATION OF HONEYBEES
Honeybees have been classified as follows:
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Hymenoptera
Family Apiidae
Genus Apis
Species Apis mellifera
Probably originated in Tropical Africa and spread from South Africa to Northern Europe and East into India and China
First bees appeared in the fossil record in deposits dating about 40 million years ago in the Eocene.
At about 30 million years before present they developed social behavior.
Distribution
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There are 4 species of the genus Apis worldwide.
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Asia has 3 main native tropical species A.cerana, A.dorsata and A. florea. A. cerana is the only species that can be
managed in hives and a single combs of the other 2 are collected by honey-hunters.
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All honeybees are “wild” .
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Have only induced A mellifera and A cerena to build their nests by providing beehives.
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Other 2 build single combs in open air whilst grown ones prefer tree cavities and similar places.
Beekeeping
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Honey has a long and distinguished history in human diet and substantial amounts are obtained from
bee colonies belonging to the single genus Apis commonly known as honeybees.
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Mostly used is the European honeybee, Apis mellifera. Tropical Africa has a native A. mellifera,
which is smaller than the European one and is more likely to abandon hives if disturbed and colonies
may migrate seasonally in some areas.
Types of beekeepers
Beekeepers generally categorize themselves as:
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Commercial beekeeper — Beekeeping is the primary source of income.
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Sideliner — Beekeeping is a secondary source of income.
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Hobbyist — Beekeeping is not a significant source of income.
A beekeeper (or apiarist) may keep bees in order to collect honey and beeswax, or for the purpose of pollination of
crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers.
A location where bees are kept is called an apiary.
Biology of the Honeybee
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Characterised by a high degree of social development and differentiation resulting in 3 kinds of bees in every colony.
A queen, the drones and the workers
The queen and workers are female and drones are the males.
Queen lays several eggs per day, about 1500/day during the breeding season, and this more that her own body weight
in eggs every 24hours. Queen’s only job is lay eggs. She has lost most structures found in worker bees and becomes
an efficient egg-laying machine. Has no long tongue for nectar collection, pollen baskets, wax and brood-food
producing glands. Unable to collect food for herself or her offspring or to build a nest.
Larva develops into drones, workers or new queen depending on the treatment of the larva.
Drones’ main function is to mate with a virgin queen outside the hive. Die after mating.
Males have no sting, do not carry pollen, are unable to produce wax and with resource scarcity they can be driven out
of the hive to die.
Worker bees make up about 98% of colony.
Do almost all the work. Bring water, pollen, nectar and propolis (bee glue) back to hive, others guard the hive, clean
it, build wax comb, nurse the young and control the temperature of the hive. Eat honey to produce heat in cold
weather and fan their wings to keep hive cool in hot weather.
Legs have pollen baskets and glands that produce wax on their abdomens. Have a sting and die after stinging.
The two females show division of labour.
Who's Who in the Hive
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A typical small hive contains perhaps 20,000 bees and these are divided into three types: Queen, Drone, and Worker
Queen
Relative size: large
#/hive : 1
Lifespan: 2 years depending on # of sperm
Sex:
female/bisexual
Functions:
• -kill sisters and mother
-mate with males
-lay 1500 eggs/day
= 200K eggs/year
-secrete pheromone =
9-hydroxydecenoic acid
HOOC=C-C-C-C-C-C-COH-C
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Who is who in the hive
Worker
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Relative size:
# in hive:
Lifespan:
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Sex:
Functions:
small
20K-200K
20-40 days summer (worked to death)
140 days winter
sterile female
-make comb
-tend larvae
-tend young drone
-tend queen
-clean hive
-gather nectar
-gather pollen
-gather propolis
-evaporate nectar
-cap cells
-defend hive
-starve drones
-lay drone eggs
-move larvae for making new queen
Who is Who in the Hive
Drone
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Relative size:
# in hive:
Lifespan:
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Sex:
Functions:
medium
~200 or 0
21-32 days spring 90 days summer or until mating
0 winter
male
-mate with young queen
Reproduction
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A queen honeybee mates with a drone outside the hive.
Lays 2 kinds of eggs: an unfertilized and fertilized eggs
Unfertilised produce males and fertilised eggs become workers or queen.
In the colony 2 cells develop: worker brood cells and drone brood cells with different shapes. Sometimes a 3rd cell is
built by the worker bees for the queen cell..
One larva is reared at a time and the drone and worker cells are used over and over again to rear future generations.
Queen cell is used only once and destroyed by worker bees.
Fertilised and unfertilised eggs are laid based an elaborate mechanism.
When queen mates she receives a supply of spermatozoa which is stored in the sperm reservoir/spermatheca.
Egg destined to be female causes muscular sphincter of spermathecal duct to relax and allow sperm into oviduct.
When queen lays in worker cells, the narrowness of the cell relaxes the sphincter and sperm is released in oviduct but
the bigger drone cells do not apply pressure on the queen’s abdomen and the sphincter remains closed.
Worker and queen eggs are genetically identical as larva from worker cell can grow into queen if transferred to an
artificial queen cell. Method used to rear queens by breeders. This should be done when larva is about 3 days old.
Reproduction (Contd)
QN: HOW DO BEES PRODUCE QUEENS AND WORKERS FROM THE SAME KIND OF EGGS?
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Answer is on nutrition of larval honeybees.
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Larva destined to be a worker, queen or drone is fed the same kind of food (royal jelly) in the first 3 days. On the 4th
day, food given to larva to become worker is changed and pollen and nectar or dilute honey is added to it. Queen larva
continues feeding on the royal jelly – had abundant nutrients.
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Colonies that lose their queen (accident, disease, age) can use female larva that is less than 3days old to rear a new
queen.
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Without a queen, colony dies off as members die of old age and no replacements are done.
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Queen is essential for colony perpetuation, provides cohesive force which keeps workers as a social unit by supplying
other bees with the “queen substance” – inhibitory for egg laying and serves for cohesion for colony morale.
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Incubation period is divided into the stages of the life cycle. On the 3rd/4th day the egg hatches and all 3 types of cells
are closed on about the 9th day.
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Queens and workers spend 5 days as larvae and then pass into pupal stage.
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Queen becomes adult on the 15th day and emerges on the 16th day. Worker emerges on 21st day and drone on the 24th
day after the eggs were laid.
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Temperature affects rate of development
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Queen lives and heads colony for 2-3years and lays about 600 000 eggs. Some can live for 4-5yrs.
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Queen will be replaced by her royal daughter specifically reared for this.
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Individuals succeed one another but the life of a colony is indefinite.
Development
Differing Stages of Development
Stage of Development
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Egg
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Larva
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Pupa
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Total
Queen
3 days
8 days
4 days
15 days
Worker
3 days
10 days
8 days
21 days
Drone
3 days
13 days
8 days
24 days
Division of Labour amongst Worker
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Brought about automatically and not by supervision of a superior bee.
1st 3 weeks of a young worker bee is within the hive and 2nd phase (2-3 weeks) is spent in field foraging (water, nectar,
pollen and propolis).
Life expectancy varies with energy spent. During summer when bees spent energy in the fields, length of adult life of
a worker bee is 4-5 weeks and for a bee raised during the cold months its about 6 months.
1st 3 days of adult life are spent cleaning hive and bees depend on regurgitated food from other bees which also
contains the queen substance. Thereafter she starts feeding on pollen and begins to feed older larvae. From 12 days,
she begins comb building and repairing, relieving incoming foragers of nectar and converting it to honey and storing
it away. At 3 weeks, she forages until she dies one or two weeks later.
During its life a worker bee performs different work functions in the hive which are largely dictated by the age of the
bee.
PERIOD
Days 1-3
Day 3-6
Day 6 – 10
Day 8 –16
Day 12 – 18
Day 14 onwards
WORK ACTIVITY
Cleaning Cells and incubation
Feeding older larvae
Feeding younger larvae
Receiving honey and pollen from field bees
Wax making and Cell Building
Entrance guards;nectar and pollen foraging
Honey bee Nest
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Consists of a series of parallel beeswax combs, with each comb containing rows of wax with hexagonal compartments
containing honey stores, pollen or developing bee larvae.
Combs are evenly spaced and attached to the ceiling of the nest. Bee space found between combs and measuring 69mm is critical in maintaining optimal conditions within the nest, with enough space for bees to walk and work on the
surface of the combs while maintaining optimum nest temperature.
Bee space is a crucial factor in the use of bee equipment.
Bees need a supply of food and water during dry periods, the beekeeper has to supplement natural resources.
EQUIPMENT
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Small scale equipment can be made at village level and specialized equipment needs to be bought for large scale
production.
Smoker
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Produces cool smoke to calm the bees. It initiates a feeding response in anticipation of possible hive abandonment due
to fire. Smoke also masks alarm pheromones released by guard bees or when bees are squashed in an inspection. The
ensuing confusion creates an opportunity for the beekeeper to open the hive and work without triggering a defensive
reaction.
Smoker consists of a fuel box containing smouldering fuel e.g. dried cow dung, cardboard) with bellows attached it.
Smoke is 1st puffed near the entrance of the hive before it is opened and gently smokes the bees to move them from
one part of hive to another.
Protective Clothing
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Always wear white or light coloured clothing as bees are more likely to sting dark coloured clothing.
Most important to protect the face, eyes and mouth.
Clothing items must be impermeable to stings and every joint should be bee-tight.
Some protect hands by putting a plastic bag over each hand, secured at the wrist with a rubber band.
Equipment
Hive Tools
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Metal piece used to separate boxes, scrape off beeswax, separate frame-ends from their supports etc.
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Can be made from pieces of flat steel, screw drivers are often used.
Beehives
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Any container provided for honey bees to nest in. should encourage bees to build their nest in. hive should encourage
bees to build their nests in such a way that it is easy for the beekeeper to manage and exploit them.
Traditional hives are made from hollowed-out logs, bark formed into a cylinder, clay pots, woven grass or cane.
Bees build nest as they would in a naturally occurring cavity. The nest is eventually destroyed to obtain crops of
honey and beeswax.
When colony is destroyed, empty hive is colonized by a new swarm which will start building new nest.
In Industrialized countries, movable frame hives are used.
It harvests maximum honey crop without disturbing the colony as frames are emptied and returned to hive. They
allow easy inspection and manipulation of colonies. Frames are contained within boxes placed on top of each other.
Top bar hives combine the advantages of frame hives with low cost. Provide the same spacing of combs within hives
as in natural nest.
Natural comb spacing is the distance between the centers adjoining combs and it depends on species and race: A
mellifera of European origin need top bar hives 35mm wide, A mellifera in Africa needs 32mm and A. cerana in Asia
needs 30mm.
Hive types
Movable Frame Hive
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Langstroth was the first person to make use of the discovery that there was a specific spatial measurement between
the wax combs, 'the bee space', which bees would not block with wax, but kept as a free passage.
Having determined 'bee space' (between 5 -8 mm), he designed a series of wooden frames within a rectangular hive
box, maintaining the correct bee space between successive frames, and found that bees would build parallel
honeycombs in the box without bonding them to each other or to the hive walls.
This enables the beekeeper to slide any frame out of the hive for inspection, without harming the bees or the comb,
protecting the eggs, larvae and pupae contained within the cells. Combs containing honey could be gently removed
and the honey extracted without destroying the comb. The emptied honey combs could then be returned to the bees
intact for refilling.
Top Bar Hives
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A few hobby beekeepers are adopting various top bar hives of the type commonly found in Africa. These have no
frames and the honey filled comb is not returned to the hive after extraction, as it is in the Langstroth/movable hive.
Because of this, the production of honey in a top bar hive is only about 20% that of a Langstroth hive, but the initial
costs and equipment requirements are far lower. Top-bar hives also offer some advantages in interacting with the bees
and the amount of weight that must be lifted is greatly reduced. Top Bar Hives are being widely used in developing
countries in Africa and Asia.
NB. Beekeeping starts with baiting an empty hive by rubbing beeswax or lavender, attractive food
for bees such as granulated sugar, cassava powder, honey on top bars etc.
Harvesting Honey and Extraction
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Done at the end of the flowering season. Beekeeper selects combs with ripe honey covered with a fine layer of
beeswax.
Prevent water from entering during harvesting as honey deteriorates rapidly and ferment.
Harvesting should be done in the evening or early morning.
Honeycomb can be cut into pieces and sold as fresh, cut comb or its separated into honey and beeswax.
Traditionally honey is extracted by squeezing or burning the combs but latter method is wasteful and lowers quality of
wax and honey. Squeezing is better for small quantities and for limited financial resources, but honey should be
strained through fine mesh and muslin cloth to remove wax or dirt.
Radial honey extractors are also used.
Honey must be stored in air-tight, non-staining containers to prevent water absorption and fermentation.
Containers are labeled with country and district details, weight or amount of honey, the producer’s name and address.
Beeswax Extraction
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Combs are made of beeswax.
After honey extraction, beeswax is melted gently over moderately warm water (boiling ruins wax), and molded into a
block.
A solar wax melter can be used.
Many keepers discard beeswax unaware of its value. It has many uses in traditional societies.
Used as waterproofing agent for strengthening leather and and cotton strings in batik, manufacturing of candles and in
various hair and skin ointments.
Also on demand on the world market and export quality should be clean (reheated as little as possible)
Diseases and Pests
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Increase in spread of bee diseases worldwide because of the movement of honeybee colonizes and used beekeeping
equipment by people – introduced honeybee diseases.
Honeybee colonies or even single queen bees must never be moved from one area to another without expert
consideration of consequences.
Numerous pests disrupt a beehive and prey on bees e.g wax moths, ants and honey badgers which are a serious
nuisance in Africa.
Problems in Beekeeping
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The problems in beekeeping center around the basics of strong populations, young and vigorous queens and proper
nutrition. Common problems are:
1. There are too many colonies for the available vegetation to support. A recommendation made by most
familiar with beekeeping is to reduce the number of colonies in apiaries to no more than 50 colonies.
Sugar may be a limited resource.
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Concurrent with increase in colony numbers has been a reduction in nectar plants (weeds like vetch
and wild mustard) on marginal lands. Many think the general erosion of environmental quality (land
and water pollution are great stresses on the system) also contributes to a reduction in nectar
secreting potential by all plants.
2. Beekeepers are preoccupied with managing numbers of colonies. Many hives are weak in population. It
is usually recommended that beekeepers begin managing fewer stronger colonies which are more
efficient in honey yield per bee.
3. Requeening methods need to be reexamined. Beekeepers do not systematically requeen. Almost all
queens are reared under the "emergency" impulse; colonies are simply given a frame of brood to rear
replacement queens. Adhering to this practice rather than purchasing queens from qualified
producers, who rear them under the "swarming impulse," usually results substandard queens.
Beekeeping Problems
4. Beekeepers should orient towards managing colonies by adding supers to provide stimulus for colonies to increase both
brood and honey production. The current beekeeping practice is to manage colonies comb by comb. This involves
removing honey-filled combs from the brood nest and replacing them with empties. It is known that frequent
disruption of brood nest activities causes stress and reduces overall honey yields.
5. Combs are often in marginal condition. Beekeeping suffers from the presence of excessive drone comb and broken or
damaged frames.
6. Feeders are too small to deliver sufficient volume of syrup. Most feeders are of the half-frame Boardman type. They
should be replaced by larger containers which will increase labor efficiency and decrease disturbance of colonies.
7. Most problematic is pesticide use, especially in cotton, which is also a major nectar plant. It is difficult for beekeepers to
protect colonies from widespread application. This must be a regional effort characterized by close communication
between beekeeper and applicator.
8. There is need for more technical support for beekeepers through trained extension apiculturists.
9. Another problem with the Extension Service is that it is not formally linked to researchers at universities e.g. universities
have good information on toxicology, entomology and other disciplines, but the extension service is not presently an
integral part of this network. There is a breakdown in communication between those developing knowledge and those
responsible for distributing it.
10. Beekeeping is in need of a great deal of research. Of particular importance is the possibility of planting nectar
producing crops in marginal lands or breeding vegetables and/or fruits that will secrete more nectar and genetic
research into mite resistance;
World Apiculture
Europe and Russian Federation
Country
Honey production in 2005 (1000 tones)
Honey consumption in 2005 (1000 tones)
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Ukraine
71.46
52
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Russian Federation
52.13
54
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Spain
37.00
40
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Germany
21.23
89
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Hungary
19.71
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Romania
19.20
10
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Greece
16.27
16
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France
15.45
30
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Bulgaria
11.22
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Source: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO), August 2007
World Apiculture
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North America
Country
USA
Canada
Honey production in 2005 (1000 tones)
79.22
36.11
Honey consumption in 2005 (1000 tones)
163
29
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Latin America
Country
Argentina
Mexico
Brazil
Uruguay
Honey production in 2005 (1000 tones)
93.42
50.63
33.75
11.87
Honey consumption in 2005 (1000 tones)
3
31
2
1
Source: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO) August 2007
World Apiculture
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Oceania
Country
Australia
New Zealand
Honey production in 2005 (1000 tones)
18.46
9.69
Honey consumption in 2005 (1000 tones)
16
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Asia
Country
China
Turkey
India
South Korea
Vietnam
Turkmenistan
Honey production in 2005 (1000 tones)
299.33
82.34
52.23
23.82
13.59
10.46
Honey consumption in 2005 (1000 tones)
238
66
45
27
0
10
Source: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO), August 2007.
World Apiculture
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Africa
Country
Honey production in 2005 (1000 tones)
Ethiopia
41.23
Tanzania
28.68
Angola
23.77
Kenya
22.00
Central African Republic14.23
Honey consumption in 2005 (1000 tones)
40
28
23
21
14
Source: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO), August 2007