Bees for Development
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People's relationship with honey bees goes back into the mists of time with the plundering of nests for their sweet honey treat. This is vividly shown in Mesolithic rock paintings and is underlined by historic accounts of honey hunting techniques in Asia and Africa. The inclusion of bees in sacred texts or as part of creation myths in so many cultures and religions is an indicator of just how long bees have been important to people.
By the Middle Ages people were regularly harvesting honey crops from specially marked tree cavities in the extensive forests of Northern Europe. True beekeeping began when people discovered how to transport nests of honey bees, perhaps contained in logs, clay pots or woven containers, to places of the beekeeper's choosing. In these hives bees built their combs as if this was a wild nest, with combs fixed to the edges of the hive body. This meant that combs could not be removed without breaking them which often destroyed the whole nest. Nonetheless, many thousands of beekeepers still use these methods both successfully and sustainably. In 17C Greece people used a type of top bar hive that gave them greater control of the bees, but it was not until 1851 that the Rev. Lorenzo Langstroth came to understand the secret of the bee space. He invented a hive where the combs could be removed and replaced at will: this became the foundation of moveable-comb beekeeping which allowed different techniques of colony management.
Worldwide, people have historically exploited several species of bees for the honey they produce. Stingless bees and several of the Asian bee species remain important resources in many countries. The differing biology and behaviour of these species has meant people have developed sophisticated methods of honey hunting or ingenious techniques such as rafter beekeeping.
From the earliest times people have understood that bees provide a cornucopia of delicious, useful and medicinal products. The best known are honey and beeswax. However, minor hive products are also sought after, while value added items are as important today as ever. Apiculture gives some of the world's poorest people the opportunity to enhance their income from the practical and frequently indigenous skill of beekeeping. However, people need to be sure that the beekeeping techniques they use are sustainable so that these precious pollinators and valuable producers survive to serve and enrich future generations as well as they have served us in the past.
List of Articles available on this topic (117):
Title | Author |
600 package bees to Korea | - |
A cross sectoral approach to beekeeping support | Hausser, Y. & Savary, J. |
A letter from our old friend A. Bunker | Bunker, A. |
A Lifetime\'s Recollections of Kenya Tribal Beekeeping | Crane, E. & Nightingale, J. |
A plain language guide to the National Beekeeping Programme of Tanzania | Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism |
Adventures in Beekeeping - Ratanakiri, Cambodia | Peterson, S. |
An experience with Slovenian Beekeeping | Kingham, G. |
An introduction to keeping bees | Second Sight Productions |
Apiculture and poverty alleviation in Cameroon part 1 | Nuesiri, E.O. & Fombad, E.E. |
Apitherapy is all the buzz | O\'Connell, N. |
Art of Bee-Keeping, The | Hamilton, W |
Asian honey bees: biology, conservation and human interactions | Oldroyd Benjamin P., Wongsiri Siriwat |
August 2009 Newsletter from Trevor Huddleston Association Rodrigues | Trevor Huddleston Association |
Balken-Imkerei in Kambodscha | Waring, C. Jump, D. |
Bee diversity across a tropical tract - Honeybees & people in India | Roy, P. |
Bee product diversification and value addition | Bees for Development |
Bee research digest: Importance of bees | Southwick, E.E. |
Beekeeper\'s library | - |
Beekeeping and Honey Production in the North West Province | Godlove, S.N. |
Beekeeping and Plantation Agriculture: Alternative livlihoods for farmers | Abila, N. |
Beekeeping and sustainable livelihoods: FAO diversification booklet 1 | Bradbear, N. |
Beekeeping for income generation and coastal forest conservation in Tanzania | Lalika, M.C.S. & Machangu, J.S. |
Beekeeping for income generation and costal forest conservation | Lalika, M.C.S. & Machangu, J.S. |
Beekeeping for people living in countries under stress: Afghanistan | Dr Nicola Bradbear |
Beekeeping Handbook | Clauss, B. |
Beekeeping Handbook | Clauss, B. |
Beekeeping Handbook | Clauss, B. |
Beekeeping in a Nutshell: Starting Out | Allan, M. |
Beekeeping in Ethiopia | Berthold, R. |
Beekeeping in Greenland | Hertz, O. |
Beekeeping in Tanzania | Kihwele, D.V.N, Massawe, A.J., Lwoga, P.D. and Burton, S. |
Beekeeping in Trindad and Tobago 1901-2010 | Gladstone Solomon |
Beekeeping Round the World Hong Kong | Dziadyk, A. |
Beekeeping Technology | Tew, J. |
Beekeeping: a livelihood strategy in pastoral and agro-pastoral dry land areas of Southern Oromia and Somali regional states, Ethiopia | Debissa, Lemessa |
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 helping people - A humanitarian beekeeping project in Slovenia | Franc Sivic |
Bugs and the vistorians | Clark, J.F.M. |
Building a community one hive at a time: Women\'s beekeeping collective revitalizes border community | Buege, D.J. |
CABESI - a multi-faceted, self-help project | Gloor, R. & Thomas, H. |
Caribbean Update | Bees for Development |
Constraints and prospects for apiculture research and development in Amhara region, Ethiopa | Ejigu, K. Gebey, T. and Preston, T.R. |
Directory of the World\'s Beekeeping Museums | Crane, E. |
Diseases of Honeybees: sub regional training seminar | World Organisation for Animal Health OiE |
Elephants vs Farmers: Bee off with you | Bee Culture |
ERuDef March 2009 Newsletter | Environmental and rural development foundation |
Evidence on Welsh Beekeeping in the Past | Crane. E. & Walker. P. |
FAO diversification booklets | FAO |
Farmers, their Animals and the Environment | FAO |
Fireflies, honey and silk | Waldbauer,G |
From Where I sit - Essays on Bees, Beekeeping, and Science | Winston, M.L. |
Great Masters of Beekeeping | Brown, R. |
Grenada\'s beekeepers and their golden honey | Diana Yohannan |
Guide to Bees and Honey | Hooper, T. |
Guide to Keeping Bees in Somalia | Marketing Assistance & Product Promotion (MAPP) |
Hioney hunters of the Nilgiris: the road to sustainability | Roy, P. John, M. and Nath, S |
Historical development of Chinese apiculture - part 1 | Jlanke, L., Xianmin, L. and Aiping, W. |
Historical development of Chinese apiculture - part 2 | Jlanke, L., Xianmin, L. and Aiping, W. |
Home and Away: Adventures in Beekeeping in the UK and Africa | Home, John |
Honey - a product of value in Southern Sadan | Lowore, J. and Bradbear, N. |
Honey badgers vs Beekeepers in South Africa | Begg, C. and Begg, G. |
Honey bee biology - back to India (part 3): beekeeping helping people | Mangum, W.A. |
Honey bees unite Kosovar serbs and Kosovar Albanians | Smtih, P. |
Honey Hunters and Beekeepers: A Study of Traditional Beekeeping in Babati District, Tanzania | Ntenga, G.M. & Mugongo, B.T. |
Honey-Making Bee Colony Abundance and Predation by Apes and Humans in a Uganda Forest Reserve | R Kajobe, D W Roubik |
Honeyhunting in Bangladesh | Svensson, B. |
Hottentot (Khoekhoen) Place Names with Honeybees in Southern Africa | Tribe G D |
Hungarian beekeepers demonstrate against EU honey directive | Munn, P. |
Improved pollination of insect pollinated crops in Bhutan | |
Instructions on bee-keeping | Ghosh, C.C. |
Integrated Value Chain Development as a Tool for Poverty Alleviation in Rural Mountain Areas | Hoermann, B; Choudhary, D & D, Kollmair, M. |
Keeping Bees in Towns and Cities | Dixon, L. |
Living with Bees | Sivic, F. |
Management of Philippine Bees | Cervancia C.R: Fajardo A.C; Manila-Fajardo A.C; Lucero R.M. |
Man\'s Relationship with Honey-Storing Bees | Crane, E. |
Marikodu - a typical village | Priya, T.A. |
Modern hives or modern ideas? | Lowore, J. and Bradbear, N. |
Monks, doctors and little old ladies - the beekeepers of Hungary | Miksha, R. |
Moroccan Beekeeping Project | Dr Paul Schweitzer and others |
Nature conservation is a thread woven well through forest beekeeping | Leo, R. |
Nature Wars. People vs Pests | Winston, M.L. |
Nightmares of Nature, Killer Bees in the US and Honey Gatherers in Tanzania | Anonymous |
Notes on Apis dorsata and Tropilarlaps clarae in Burma | Maung Maung Nyein |
Organic Beekeeping, the experience of Cooperativas Sin Fronteras | Valdes, H. |
Oshanas: Sustaining People Environment and Development in Central Owambo, Namibia | Marsh, A. & Seely, M. |
Overseas Aid: Afghanistan | |
People and Planet Compilation | TVE |
Population Growth: is it a problem that should Concern Us? | Chalker, L. |
Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us? | Siegel, T. & Betz, J. |
Selling honeybee colonies as a source of income for subsistence beekeepers | Adgaba, N. |
Starting with Bees | Gordon, P. |
Starting with Bees: An Introduction to African Beekeeping | Nazzi, F., Annoscia, D., Del Fabbro, S., Del Piccolo, F. |
Student educates himself through income from beekeeping | Agbeti, P |
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. |
Sweet profits from Guatemala | Hamilton, R. |
Sweetening Livlihoods | Underdown, D. |
Taking stock & projecting apiculture value chains into the future in West and Central Africa: Win wins for livelihoods & conservation? | Verina Ingram |
The bee man of Kilimanjaro | Dunhill, K. |
The culture of beekeeping in Russia - Part I | Wenning, C.J. |
The culture of beekeeping in Russia - Part II | Wenning, C. J. |
The role of women, and indigenous knowledge in Ethiopian beekeeping | Ejigu, K.; Adgaba, N. & Bekele, W. |
The Shamanic Way of the Bee: Ancient Wisdom and Healing Practices of the Bee Masters | Buxton, S. |
The social sustainability of beekeeping | Fisher, E |
The Trevor Huddleston Association for the Disabled - Rodrigues | Draper, P |
Tingku - a traditional management technique for Apis dorsata in Indonesia | Hadisoesilo, S |
Training in Malta | Ball, R |
Tropical Beekeeping in Cambodia | Yoshikawa, K. and Ohgushi, R. |
Understanding Conflicts Between Farmers and Researchers | Nounamo L, Foaguegue A |
Union of Beekeepers Associations of Republic of Srpska | |
VIII Concurso Internacional de Fotografia Apicola: International Apiculture Photography Contest | Martinez, A.A. |
Why bother beekeeping? | Wendorf, H. |
Why I worry about the Warré | Davies, G. |
Women beekeepers in Calakmul Mexico | Aguiree, R.D. & Pasteur, K. |