Small Scale Beekeeping. Appropriate Technologies

221 Pages·2008·2.13 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
CE 038 579
ED 241 775
AUTHOR
Gentry, Curtis
TITLE
Small Scale Beekeeping. Appropriate Technologies for
Development. Manual M:17.
INSTITUTION
Peace Corps, Washington, DC. Information Collection
and Exchange Div.
PUB DATE
Dec 82
CONTRACT
81-043-1028
NOTE
222p.
PUB TYPE
Guides - Classroom Use - Guides (For Teachers) (052)
MF01/PC09 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE.
DESCRIPTORS
*Agricultural,Education; *Agricultural Production;
Agricultural Skills; *Animal Husbandry; Annotated
Bibliographies; Developing Nations; Diseases;
Entomology; Equipment Utilization; *Extension
Education; Guidelines; Pesticides; Pests;
Postsecondary Education; Rural Areas; *Rural
Development; Rural Education; Volunteers; Volunteer
Training
*Beekeeping; Bees
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This manual is designed to assist Peace Corps
'Polunteers in the development and implementation of small-scale
`beekeeping programs as a tool for development.-Addressed in the
individual chapters are bees and humans; project planning; the types
and habits of bees; the essence of beekeeping; bee spase.and
beehives; intermediate technology beekeeping; high-tech beekeeping;
hive products; and diseases, pests, and, insecticides. Appendixes to
the manual include an annotated bibliography,, hive plans, equipment
plans, a list of uses for beeswax, directions-lbr making an
artificial swarm, and a transparency master detailing honeybee
anatoly.t(MN)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
,*
from the original document.
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nirmatramv
wicE
COLLECTION
&
Peace Cbrps' Information Cbllection & Exchange (ICE) was
established so that the strategies and technologies devel-
oped by Peace Corps Vblunteers, their co-workers, and their
counterparts could.temade available to the wide range of
development organizations and individual workers who might
find them useful.
Training guides, curricula, lesson plans,
project reports, manuals and other Peace Cbrps-generated
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Sore axe reprinted "as is"; others provide a source of field
based iitforma
for the production of manuals or for re-
search In
ar program areas.
Materials that you sub-
mit to the Information Gollection & Exchange thus become
part of the Peace Clorps' larprocotribution to development.
Information about ICE publications and services is available
through:
Peace Corps
Information Collection & Exchange
Office of Training and Program Support
806 Connecticut Avenue,,N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20526
ma-1
Send
Add your experience to the ICE Resource Center.
terials that you've prepared so that we can share them
Your tech-
with others working in the development field.
nical insights serve as the basis for the generation of
ICE manuals, reprints and resource packets, and also
ensure that ICE is providing the most updated, innovative
protaemrsolving techniquevand information available to
you and your fellow development workers.
Peace Corps
3
SrIALL ;CALE BEEKEEPIrG
c
by
Cu:tis Gentry
illustrated by
Stacey Leslie
Peace4Corps
Information Collection and Exchange
Manual M!--17
December 1982
September 1995
4
Beekeeping
D,2comDcr 1982
Prepared for the Peace Corps by
Curtis Gentry
under Contract No. 81 -043 -1028
Available through
Peace Corps Inform tiou Collection and Exchange
806 Connecticut Av nue. N.W.
Washington, D.C.
'1525
5
iii
Acknowledgements
The ideas of many people went into this
Tht: exact source of many of these ideas
manual.
is lost as they came from beekeepers in many
places with whom I've worked or whose writings
Thanks to all these friends and
I've read.
teachers.
The care and patience of many people also
For all their help in
went into the manual.
typing, editing, proofing, laying out, and
thank:
commenting,
I
Mark Coleman
Jean Cummings
Liz Davidson
Calvina Dupre
Valerie Flynn de Villa
Donna Frelick
Shannon Green
Mary Lou Haag
Sharon Hagen
Marie Kabelitz
'Rob Kingsolver
John Oliver
Fay Reilly
Jose Villa
Dr. Lucas Villa
6
O
v
Table of Contents
iii
About This Manual
iv
Acknowledgements
vii
Preface
Chapter
Bees and Humans
1
1
Beekilling, Bee-having, Beekeeping;
why Develop Beekeeping?
Project Planning
!11
7
Beekeeping as an Integrated Activity;
Beekeeping as an Educational Activity;
Beekeeping as a Cooperative Activity.
Bee Basics
19
3
Types of Bee:.; Climate and Beekeeping;
Life Cycle of the Honey Bee; The Castes;
Resource Needs of the Colony;
Swarming, Supersedure, and Absconding.
The Essence of Beekeeping
45
4
Management Schemes.
The Bee Space and Beehives
59
5
The Bee Space; Types of Hives.
Intermediate Technology Beekeeping
69
Why?; Some Considerations before Starting;
Getting Started - The Hives;
Getting Started - The Apiary;
Getting Started - Equipment;
Getting Started - Bees;
Management Practices.
High-tech Beekeeping
131
7
Inputs and Possibilities;
Problems in Small-scale Development.
Hive Products
147
8
Honey; Beeswax; Pollen; Bee Brood; Others.
Diseases, Pests, and insecticides
161
9
7
vi
Appendix
179
Bibliography
Resources and
A
189
Hive .Plans
B
197
Equipment Plans
c
207
Uses for Beeswax
D
211
Artificial Swarm
Making an
E
.
213
Anatomy
Honey Bee
F
8
vii
Preface
This is a Manual for getting started with small-
scale beekeeping development projects.
The intention
is to provide an overview of beekeeping and its
possibilities as a tool for development.
No attempt is made to duplicate technical
information given in other readily available resources
on beekeeping. The idea is to provide ail orientation
to the realities of small-scale development beekeeping.
Once oriented to these realities, you should be able
to adapt more technical material to the situation in
your community.
There are intermediate levels of beekeeping
technology which can be self-sustaining using only
Information on this scale of
local resources.
Much of it is presented
beekeeping is hard to find.
in a technical form in beekeeping journals.
This
manual offers a guide to these intermediate technology
beekeeping systems and methods.
The reality of most small-farmer situations makes
High-tech beekeeping
"high-tech" beekeeping unv.able.
dily-available sources.
is well covered in other r
of cover this scale of
Therefore, this guide does
High-tech beekeeping is covered
(beekeeping in detail.
'here to point out its possibilities as an ultimate
'development goal.-The problems that often arise when
trying to carry on high-tech beekeeping where inputs
For more
are difficult to obtain are also discussed.
details, an annotated list of sources is given in
Appendix A.
A bee-human relationship exists throughout the
world, except in the arctic and the extensive desert
In many regions, this relationship is carried
regions.
on at a low level of technology and understanding of
This guide provides the information necessary
bees.
to assess the local level of the bee-human relationship
and to determine an appropriate beekeeping technology
for your area.
9
Bees and Humans
Interest in bees started with the hunting and
robbing of wild colonies in hollow cavities in trees
Until the refining of sugar cane developed
or rocks.
in the 19th century, ,honey was the only sweetening
agent widely available.
It was prized not only as
food, but for its uses in folk medicine.
People have observed and studied bees with the
object of increasing the production of hive products
and making it easier to gather them. Bees have also
intrigued many people because of their Zlighly social
nature. Analogies have often been proposed between the
sociality of bees and humans.
The accumulated knowledge on bees allows the
The beekeeper can
modern beekeeper to manage them.
gather hive products with an ease and efficiency far
greater than the honey hunter or gatherer.
Although humans have learned much about bees and
how to keep them, the bee itself has-not changed.
Unlike most of the animals and plants used in
agriculture, the honey bee of today is the same as it
was thousands of years ago. In short, humans have not
4-
domesticated the honey bee.
The bee is still essentially a wild animal.
People can keep bees and manage them for greater
production, but control over bee genetics and behavior
has not been achieved to the same degree as with
domesticated animals and plants.
0
.1.
2
Bee-killing, Bee-having, Beekeeping:
The scope for development
7
There are three basic stages in the historical
development of the bee-human relationship.
These are
bee-killing, bee-having, and beekeeping.
Modern
The most basic
beekeeping is the most developed stage.
stage, or bee-killing, is still common in some parts
of the world.
sages iN The
Bee- i-kitqN
fzelATioNI*iP
bee-leRying-->beeleepin9
bee-KiiWn9
(bees Killed)
(bees frond)
(bees rylirtiineel)
Bee-killing
is the killing of the bees in a
colony so that the combs containing honey and brood
left without
(larval and pupal stages) can be taken.
honey stores or brood, any surviving bees are doomed.
Honey hunters usually regret having to kill the colony,
but they know of no other way to-obtain honey or wax.
Wild bee colonies are common in,many regions of
the world, and the gathering of honey from these
colonies is an occasional activity for many local
This often occurs when trees containing tee
farmers.
colonies are felled during the clearing of forest and
bush for planting crops. .Honey hunters or gatherers
They are thought
usually use fire to kill the bees.
to be responsible for many bush fires in some areas.
The honey obtained is used for household
It is often of very
consumption or marketed locally.
low quality as it is mixed with bits of old comb,
Even so, there is a ready local
brood, and ashes.
In some areas, honey
market for honey in most regions.
is fermented either alone or with palm wine to make an
Honey is also used blPsome groups as
alcoholic drink.
medicine.