Bees for Development
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For at least 7,000 years human societies have been harvesting honey from bee colonies. Many species of social bee are used in both honey hunting and apiculture. Intermediate forms of bee keeping have evolved in places where indigenous species do not lend themselves to hive beekeeping, such as the rafter methods used for Apis dorsata in Asia. The human relationship with bees is worldwide and, because of the length of that association, the methods and traditions surrounding bees are as varied as the people who carry them out. Today , countries where the land area and populations are very large, notably China, USA and the former countries of the USSR, have the most Apis mellifera colonies and produce most commercially traded honey. Europe has the greatest density of beehives although honey yields are relatively low, while Asia has the greatest diversity of honey bee species. Africa has long been a supplier of honey along ancient trade routes to the Middle East. Despite the importance of honey production in South and Central America, Apis mellifera is an introduced species, while honey hunting and management of stingless bees is traditional.
Image©Primo Masotti maso101@libero.it
The number of natural populations of bees in any area may be an indicator of the state of the natural resources within that environment. Indeed, the ease of hive colonisation is a useful measure of the health of the local environment. The productivity of an area, measured by the presence of natural colonies and the average honey harvest that can be collected reflects the natural resources available for exploitation by the bees and the fitness of the bees to live and thrive in a given area. For instance, tropical races of Apis mellifera do best in tropical areas while temperate races do best in temperate areas. The introduction of African bees into South America gave a graphic, natural laboratory, example of this, where the better adapted Africanised bees rapidly displaced other races.
The profitability of beekeeping depends on honey yield, labour and other costs, and value or the selling price of honey and other bee products. These factors may influence the intensity of honey hunting, how many colonies a beekeeper will keep, the species of bee that may be used and the methods practised. The long term health of the environment may be enhanced by sympathetic exploitation of bees. All kinds of environmental benefits flow from beekeeping when it is carried out sustainably. Conversely, poor understanding of the issues of sustainable beekeeping may lead people to pursue methods of bee management and use of bee species that are damaging for their local environment or inappropriate for the culture within which they are working. The short term benefit for an individual beekeeper may be bought at the expense of the long term health of the honey bee population, the survival of indigenous and locally adapted bee populations, their vital pollination functions, and the long term sustainability of beekeeping in that area. Bees are so essential for human wellbeing that it is vital for beekeepers both to understand and to consider the wider effects resulting from their own beekeeping practice. Threats to bees come not just from inappropriate use of bees and the consequent reduction in bee vigour and health, but also from habitat destruction, pollution, intensification of agriculture and urbanisation.
List of Articles available on this topic (131):
Title | Author |
1997 Year Book and Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 September 1996 | British Beekeepers Association |
Abstract Proceedings: 11th Asian Apicultural Association Conference, ApiExpo & Workshop | Asian Apicultural Assocaition |
Adventures in Beekeeping - Ratanakiri, Cambodia | Peterson, S. |
African honey trade workshop (no.81) | Bees for Development |
Africanised Honeybees in the Americas | Caron, D. M. |
Alternative Beekeeping: The Warre Hive | Jerome Alphonse |
An Holistic Way in Saving the \"Honeybee\" | Harding, J. |
An introduction to keeping bees | Second Sight Productions |
Apicultural Reference Books for Developing Countries | IBRA |
Apiculture and poverty alleviation in Cameroon part 1 | Nuesiri, E.O. & Fombad, E.E. |
Apiculture and poverty alleviation in Cameroon part 2 | Nuesiri, E.O. & Fombad, E.E. |
Art of Bee-Keeping, The | Hamilton, W |
Asian Bees and Beekeeping | Matsuka, M. et al (eds) |
Balken-Imkerei in Kambodscha | Waring, C. Jump, D. |
Basic beekeeping: Manual 1 | Gregory, P. |
Bee Death in the USA: is the honey bee in danger? | Ritter, W. |
Bee-keeping in Afghanistan leaflet by Afghanaid | Afghanaid |
Beekeeper\'s library | - |
Beekeeping and Plantation Agriculture: Alternative livlihoods for farmers | Abila, N. |
Beekeeping and sustainable livelihoods: FAO diversification booklet 1 | Bradbear, N. |
Beekeeping and the environment | Sanford, M. |
Beekeeping Handbook | Clauss, B. |
Beekeeping Handbook | Clauss, B. |
Beekeeping Handbook | Clauss, B. |
Beekeeping Handbook For The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau | Hertz, O. |
Beekeeping in a Nutshell: Fun with Bees | Allan, M. |
Beekeeping in a Nutshell: Listen to the Bees | Boys, R. |
Beekeeping in a Nutshell: Starting Out | Allan, M. |
Beekeeping in a Nutshell: The Beekeepers Toolbox: What you need and how to use it | Allan, M. |
Beekeeping in Africa | Adjare, S.O. |
Beekeeping in Botswana | Kepaletswe, K. |
Beekeeping in Botswana | Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana |
Beekeeping in Central Africa - a practical guide to producing honey and wax | Latham, P. |
Beekeeping In Integrated Mountain Development | Verma, L R |
Beekeeping in Kenya | Canadian Apiculture Team |
Beekeeping in South Africa | Johannsmeier, M.F. |
Beekeeping in Tanzania | Kihwele, D.V.N, Massawe, A.J., Lwoga, P.D. and Burton, S. |
Beekeeping in the Amhara Region | Kebede, A., Ejigu, K., Aynalem, T., Jenberie, A |
Beekeeping in the enclave of Cabinda, Angola | Emery, N. |
Beekeeping in the Gambia | Jones, R (IBRA) |
Beekeeping in Trindad and Tobago 1901-2010 | Gladstone Solomon |
Beekeeping in Uganda | Dgaba, M.? |
Beekeeping in Vietnam | Mulder, V. |
Beekeeping Round the World Hong Kong | Dziadyk, A. |
Beekeeping Sector Plan 1981-86 | Mtwara Regional Integrated Development |
Beekeeping Technology Adoption and its Effect on Resource Productivity in Southern Kenya Rangelands | Muriuki, J. M. |
Beekeeping, poverty alleviation and forest conservation in Imadiala, Madagascar | Russell, R.Y. |
Beekeeping: A practical guide for southern Africa | Marchand, D. & Marchand-Wayne, J. |
Bees & Honey: from flower to jar | Weiler, M. |
Bees and Mankind | Free, J.B. |
Bees and rural livelihoods | Bradbear, N. |
Bees and their role in forest livelihoods: a guide to the services provided by bees and the sustainable harvesting, processing and marketing of their products | Bradbear, N. |
Bees for Beginners: A Basic Introduction to Beekeeping | GRATIS |
Bees, Beekeeping & Ecological Agriculture | AME Programme, Bangalore |
Bees, Biodiversity & Forest livelihoods in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve | Bees for Development |
Better beekeeping in top-bar hives | Gregory, P. |
Better beekeeping in top-bar hives: Things that can go wrong... | Gregory, P. |
CABESI - a multi-faceted, self-help project | Gloor, R. & Thomas, H. |
Caribbean Beekeeping Congress 2002 | Bees for Development |
Caribbean Update : Guyana | Bees for Development |
Caucasian Honey Bee Workshop, 2006, Camili, Artvin, Turkey | Inci, A & Kandemir, I. |
Cement hives - an environmentally-friendly alternative to wooden hive boxes | Ravishankar, J. |
Correspondence and Home Study Courses in Apiculture | IBRA |
Current status of beekeeping in China | Zhang, F.X. and Chen, L.H. |
Eco-friendly harvesting of rock bees (sustainable Apis dorsata honey hunting) | Paliwal, G.N.; Paliwal, S. & Tembhare, D.B. |
Eighteenth Annual Report 2011 - 2012 | Keystone |
Eighty Years of Beekeeping | White. C. |
Ethiopian beekeeping | Selassia, A. |
Evidence on Welsh Beekeeping in the Past | Crane. E. & Walker. P. |
Fifth Caribbean Beekeeping Congress in Guyana | |
Fundamentals of Beekeeping | Shah, F.A. |
Gender and Development: Gender and technology | Oxfam |
Guide to Bees and Honey | Hooper, T. |
Haiti Beekeeping Mission | Geckler, S. |
Harmony or conflict? Apis mellifera and Apis cerana in Southern Vietnam | Tan, N.Q. & Binh, P. T. |
Home and Away: Adventures in Beekeeping in the UK and Africa | Home, John |
Honey flows upwards across China | Tang-Dong, J. |
ICIMOD\'s Indigenous Honeybee Programme Extends to Afghanistan | Ahmad, F. & Partap, U. |
IDENTIFICAÇÃO DAS ABELHAS MELÍFERAS DE CABO VERDE | Pederson, B.V. |
Improved pollination of insect pollinated crops in Bhutan | |
Instructions on bee-keeping | Ghosh, C.C. |
Interview with Bob Malichi , North West Bee Products, Zambia | Bees for Development |
Keeping Bees | Beckley, P. |
Keeping Bees | Free, J.B. |
Keeping bees for nature | Bees for Development |
Living with Bees | Sivic, F. |
London rooftop beekeepers | Benbow, S. and Mead, J. |
Malawi gold standard: Beekeeeper\'s handbook | USAID |
marikodu - a typical village | Priya, T.A. |
Marketing Honey and Beeswax from Apis dorsata in West Kalimantan | Mulder, V.; Heri, V.; Wickham, T. |
Migratory Bee Keeping in Pakistan | ICIMOD |
Mono Block Clay Hive for Apis cerana | Barnes, G. |
One hectare of land gives 1,000,000 Indian Rupees per annum | Jamwal, N. |
Participatory Learning & Action 54: Mapping for Change | IIED & CTA |
Practical Beekeeping | de Bruyn, C. |
Practical beekeeping - bark hives | Musachi, J.K. |
Practical Beekeeping - Body Cream using Beeswax | Ndichia, F. A. |
Practical Beekeeping - Failing queens and laying workers | Gregory, P. |
Practical Beekeeping - Top-bar hives in Eastern Senegal | Romet, A. |
Practical Beekeeping and Honey Production | Macfie, D T |
Raftering - A traditional technique for honey and wax production from Apis dorsata in Vietnam | Chinh,P.H. Minh, N.H. Thai, P.H. and Tan, N.Q. |
Re-starting beekeeping in Kosovo | Rose, G. |
Revival of Apis cerana populations in the Himalayas | Ahmad, F.; Joshi, S.R.; Gurung, M.B & Partap, U. |
Scientific and Technical Information on Beekeeping | Vietnam Bee Research Centre |
Small farms can be profitable | Jamwal, N. |
Starting with Bees | Gordon, P. |
Stingless Bees in Kenya | Macharia, J., Raina, S. & Muli, E. |
Stingless Bees: Importance, Management and Utilisation | Aidoo, K., Combey, R., Karikari, A. & Kwapong, P. |
Strengthening livelihoods: exploring the role of beekeeping in development | Bradbear, N. Fisher, E. and Jackson, H. (editors) |
Studies of the feasability of commercial beekeeping in western in Ghats forests for sustainable management | Sivaram, V., Anita, M. |
Study on Traditional method of keeping Indian honey bees in Burma and keeping with modern method | Maung Maung Nyein |
Survivor bees around the world; why I no longer keep bees | Sanford, M.T. |
Sustainable Beekeeping | SL and Wally Shaw |
Sweet profits from Guatemala | Hamilton, R. |
The africans in Mexico - a bee hunting adventure | Elliott, D. |
The barefoot beekeeper | Chandler, P. |
The Honey Industry in Malawi & Beekeeping in Mzuzu | Munthali, S.C. & Chunga, C. |
The National Bee Keeping Training and Extension Manual | Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry & Fisheries |
The plightof the honey bee | Taylor, P. |
The role of women, and indigenous knowledge in Ethiopian beekeeping | Ejigu, K.; Adgaba, N. & Bekele, W. |
Training in Malta | Ball, R. |
Tropical Beekeeping in Cambodia | Yoshikawa, K. and Ohgushi, R. |
Uganda Honey Trade Project | Bees for Development |
Urban Beekeeping in Bahir Dar | Luke Dixon |
Why I worry about the Warré | Davies, G. |
Why Warré | Heaf, D. |
Zambian Beekeeping Handbook | Clauss, B. & Clauss, R. |
Zoom in on Bermuda | Bees for Development |
Zoom in on Cote d\'Ivoire | Bees for Development |
Zoom in on Liberia | Aidoo, K. |
Zooming back to Jordan | Haddad, N. |