This is my Nigerian friend, Bisi's, response to the BeeL post I
forwarded to her:
"The problem is not hive type but beekeeping practice.......
EcoType
An eco type is a population that has adapted to a specific set of
circumstances e.g climate and or forage. African bees retain a huge
variety
of original genetic resources because they have not been hybridised for
honey production to any thing like the extent of European bees. They are
smaller, sharper and hugely adaptable because they retain a vast range
of
genetic resources to draw on e.g their swift adaptation to the varroa
mite
or the 'cape bee' of south africa whose queenless workers
can lay fertilised eggs.
As they are smaller (than European types), they have to be quicker to
respond to external stimuli AND respond in numbers to be effective.
This is
often interpreted as 'aggressivness'.
The eco type I work with, A.m.adansonii, will abscond to internal (e.g
starvation, pest ) or external stimuli (you pesky beeks) at the drop of
a
hat and follow the floral flow....
Hive Type
The bees don't care about what type of hive , they have very simple
requirements for a hive (sufficient cubic capacity, ability to
thermoregulate - keep the space dry, maintain brood / honey storage
temprature etc). Which is why you will find wild swarms in pretty much
any
thing! Car bonnets, cement walls, wooden tree trunks etc. Hive type is a
beekeeper issue and choice. Please don't blame the bees!
A poor workman always blames his tools. You need to get two things right
with TB hives - 20 degree angle on end boards, 33cm wide TBs. Then keep
the
bars straight to prevent cross bracing of combs across TBs. You can set
up a
TBH much like a langstroth and have a play with entrances at the end(s)
-
recommended, TBH shaped QE board to separate brood from honey stores,
Super
chambers, yes you can use them on TBHs, dummy boards to expand or reduce
cubic capacity to fit the size of the colony etc etc.)
It is quite possible to produce excellent good clean honey products from
TBHs and traditional bark hives. It is not the hive type that
determines the
quality of output it is the quality of the beekeeper and beekeeper's
practice, surely!
See http://www.tropicalforest.com/Tropical_Forest/African_Honey.html
who
produce certified, organic honey from traditional log hives. You have to
work with the bees, use modern evidence-based practices and common sense
(i.e good protection and a gentle co operative approach).
It is not about poor Africans or poor African practice: you find very
poor
beekeeping practice in the UK and US as well. For example increasing
varroa
resistance from poor use of varroacides (high exposure, short duration
strips left in the hive for more than 9 weeks) . Or importing queens or
colonies from other climates (did I mention varroa or small hive
beetle...)
which have brought in practically all disease and pests known to
European
bees!
Hot air rises, so working on the horizontal is in tropical climates more
efficient than working vertically. Look at the way wild swarms build in
fallen logs or along branches for asian ecotypes.
Tropical Honey
There is mounting evidence that tropical honey naturally has more
moisture
in it. We need more research to understand why the bees do it that way,
but
the bee standard seems a lot 'wetter' i.e more than 15 - 17% moisture
than
standard European honey. As the bees have been producing honey for
thousands
of years, I guess they know what they are doing and it is humans who
need to
adjust our expectations to suit the circumstances.
Extraction
In tropical climates, I use the 8 day float method. Tight fitting lid,
gravity and time to separate honey from wax (honey sinks, wax floats)
with
simple filters. Unlike modern extractors, the method does not rip the
honey
molecules apart to airate the honey, it takes longer and requires a
different effort, but is not less effective and is cheap and portable.
Honey & Beeswax
KTBs have some advantages for beekeepers and bees as long as your focus
is
not simply honey production and as much of it as possible!
Beekeepers have to be more gentle when working the hive as unframed
combs
are liable to break. The bees benefit from this. Beeks have to know and
understand how the bees have arranged each hive, i.e location of the
brood
combs (front entrance or at the back - as the bees don't read the books
to
do it the same every time for our convenience, they make dynamic
decisions
based on their own circumstances.....). Beeswax: if you know how to
harvest
the correct combs, extract the honey, clean and add value to beeswax, it
extends income production beyond the honey season and provides a basis
for
value added and medicinal preparations (creams, candles, ointments,
etc).
Information and knowledge are the key, not hive type.
Unframed combs allows bees to demonstrate a wider range of their natural
behaviours (e.g natural comb building). Natural comb is a far more
complex
production number - multiple knobbly decisions and twists and turns, so
lovely and clearly just what is needed when and where it is needed.
Beeks
can then extract natural unframed comb regularly. Comb extraction is a
pest
and disease prevention practice as you will know if you ever have to
deal
with wax moth. No chemicals required!
I suggest rather than introducing a new hive type, information to enable
them to work with any hive type would be more valuable. See basic and
advanced manuals at http://beesabroad.org.uk/?page_id=126
Another good tropical beekeeping resource is
http://teca.fao.org/resource/beekeeping-tropics-agromisa
Regards
Bisi New"
Chris
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