> One thing to bear in mind is that African bees have a reputation for violence!  In my experience, running both types of hive, you're far more likely to be stung while manipulating a stack of boxes than you are working your way through a top bar hive.

I have read many times of the failure of modern in the developing world. The traditional systems which seem so primitive and wasteful to us, are better suited to the situation. 

¶

In parts of West, Middle and East Africa, the situation is similar to the one of the Africanised bees in America and the Apis cerana in Asia. There, the bees are kept in relatively small hives. As soon as the exterior conditions deteriorate, e.g. because of drought or food scarcity, the bees leave the hive and abscond to other regions. Exactly in time for the next nectar flow they come back. The beekeepers catch them in hives hung up in trees. The hives are shifted to a central place and kept there until harvest and the next escape. Also ill and weakened colonies quit the hives and leave infested brood behind. Those which return are healthy in general, because only healthy colonies form swarms. This natural selection is one of the strengths of native bees in parts of Africa. 

Apiaries run by European and American management methods often achieve larger honey yields per colony. But this way of beekeeping is more difficult and connected with higher expenditure. Mainly the medicaments needed for disease control but also the financial investment for the procurement of new hives and involved logistic costs for transport and maintenance cause additional expenses. As a whole, beekeeping by European and American management methods is less favourable, especially for small farmers. Moreover, the small credits needed to introduce these methods and the following indebtedness have to be taken into account.  

Future projects in Africa should consider these coherences. They must aim at saving traditional beekeeping with small hives, possibilities for absconding and multiplication by swarming. Hive systems with mobile combs are of advantage because they allow control of the colony’s condition. However, the level of top bar hives like those originally developed for Kenya or similar systems should not be exceeded. Neither in Africa nor in South and Central America are the management systems for beekeeping developed in North America and Europe used in small farming. More likely, they lead to problems and losses. Therefore, it is better for Africa to cut its own path and to aim at finding an African solution. Though this will not solve all problems of beekeeping it represents an important step towards a better, more bee compatible future.  

by Wolfgang Ritter and Ute Schneider Ritter, writing in
Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in Africa
Special Edition 2016: Honey Production, Bee Health and Pollination Services

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