The important issue of mite dispersal among A. cerana colonies has not
yet been studied. Furthermore, the influence of the absconding and
migrating habits of A. cerana colonies on the V. jacobsoni population
is uncertain. In some areas, such as northern Thailand, A. cerana bees
migrate regularly during the dry and hot season.  -- Co-adaptation of
Apis cerana Fabr. and Varroa jacobsoni Oud. Werner Rath. 1999.
Apidologie 30:97-110


* * *

Harassed by shortage of feed, wax-moth larvae, stealing of bees,
worsening environment and other enemies, Chinese bees usually migrate
to other places by colony -- Apiculture in China. Chen Yaochun. 1993.
Agricultural Publishing House

* * *

Constraints Of Beekeeping With Apis Cerana -- Desertion of bees

Apis cerana and more generally the tropical species of honey bees
[Apis mellifera scutellata in the East of the African continent and
Apis mellifera adansonii in the West of Africa] developed a capacity
to flee their habitat in the case of a too important pressure of the
parasites, the predators or the climatic or hygienic constraints
unfavourable with the homeostasis of the swarm. The process of
desertion engendered by these environmental constraints is widely
amplified by the type of hive and the techniques of harvest. As
previously announced, a harvest of the completeness of combs is a
stress causing systematically the desertion.

Development of beekeeping in LAOS: Various strategic choices.
Bounpheng SENGNGAM.
www.beesfordevelopment.org/info/bm~doc/development-of-beekeeping.pdf

* * *

Absconding is the colony's natural response to such unfavourable hive
environments as lack of food or attacks by the bees' enemies.
Correcting these situations can to some extent deter the colony from
absconding. In marginal foraging areas, where food is not abundant all
year round, supplementary feeding during the dearth period is
necessary, especially, as already noted, when all or most of the
stored honey has been harvested.

Colonies of A. cerana are highly responsive to threats by the bees'
natural enemies, and it is of the utmost importance for the beekeeper
to make every effort to protect his colonies against attacks by bee
pests. Heavy predation by hornets, ant attacks, wax-moth infestation
and parasitism by bee mites are among the major problems to be dealt
with.

It has often been suggested that a mass programme to select A. cerana
races for reduced absconding behaviour constitutes a priority sector
in an apicultural development programme. From the practical
standpoint, however, genetic manipulations of honeybees are usually
difficult. The queens' multiple mating with drones in mid-air forms an
obstacle to maintaining any particular breed or gene pool. Drones from
feral nests are a major hindrance to selective breeding: unless the
breeding site can be isolated, it is impossible to ensure that queens
of the selected stocks mate with drones of the breeder's choice, so
that the genetic quality of the offspring cannot be guaranteed.

Beekeeping in Asia. Pongthep Akratanakul. FAO Agricultural Services
Bulletin 68/4
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Rome, 1990

* * *

Inside the hives, one of the first things that struck my eye were the
inhabitants other than the bees. The odd silverfish or two, which we
observed scurrying out of the light when lifting off the hive lids
probably subsisted on scraps of pollen, honey and hive debris. Several
small beetles, although in the same size range as the dreaded African
hive beetle, were confined to the daub used as sealing material and
were probably feeding on organic debris therein. Most interesting
however, were a couple of small creatures which appeared to be a cross
between a spider and a scorpion-- which, as arachnids, they are indeed
related. I explained to my companions that the arachnids were called
pseudoscorpions. The animals are too small to prey on the bees
themselves and too large to act as ectoparasites so they are probably
no threat to the principal apine inhabitants of the hives-- although
there has been speculation that they may feed on the body fluids of
larvae. It is more likely that they feed on small insects and other
arthropods that invade the hive. Liz noted that the local beekeepers
referred to the creatures as "the beekeepers' friends" but she was not
sure why, nor were the several beekeepers to whom we subsequently
spoke. The tantalizing possibility exists, also raised by those few
researchers who have published information on the subject, that,
through grooming of the bees whose living space they share, these
arachnids assist in keeping down the population of varroa mites, which
I observed to be present in very low numbers. (Of course, there are
aspects of the biology of Apis cerana-- such as relatively shorter
larval stages, the bees own grooming behaviour, tendency to abscond,
etc.-- which imbues them with a relative resistance to varroa mites
compared to Apis mellifera.)

Himalayan ceranaid: development assistance to preserve and promote
Apis cerana beekeeping in Nepal. Conrad Bérubé. American Bee Journal,
(September, 1999)

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