Slaughtering colonies or harvesting honey?
Recently I visited a few traditional beekeepers in SE Burkina Faso. They
use horizontal bark cylinders covered with woven straw and place them on
thick tree branches at 3 m hight. They harvest the honey in April (main
flow) and September. After the bees are smoked out of the hive, the
beekeepers cut the main part of the combs containing sealed honey, but
always leave some food for the returning bees. They experience little or
no absconding, even after the harvest. In this area the honey flow is
rich mainly during the dry season (on average 25 kg per colony per
year).
In some other South African countries traditional beekeepers slaughter
the colonies completely knowing or assuming? that the colony will
abscond anyway. I am eager to know from traditional beekeepers working
with Apis mellifera in other South African and in South American
countries (1) how they proceed with harvesting, (2) which percentage of
the harvested colonies absconds and (3) what the flow conditions are
(how many kg on average do you obtain per year and per colony).
Si vous voulez, je peux poser cette question en francais. Si Usted
quiere, puedo repetir esta pregunta en espanol.
Joop Beetsma