Apiculture

UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF DEARTH PERIOD COLONY FEEDING WITH BEE COLLECTED POLLEN ON BROOD DEVELOPMENT AND HONEY YIELD OF LOCAL HONEYBEES AT SELECTED ICIPE PROJECT SITES: THE CASE OF DANGILA DISTRICT, AWI ZONE, AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Sat, 22 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT

UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECT OF DEARTH PERIOD COLONY FEEDING WITH BEE COLLECTED POLLEN ON BROOD DEVELOPMENT AND HONEY YIELD OF LOCAL HONEYBEES AT SELECTED ICIPE PROJECT SITES: THE CASE OF DANGILA DISTRICT, AWI ZONE, AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA Lingerih Belete This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dearth period feeding of honeybee colonies with bee collected pollen on brood development and yield of local honeybees at selected icipe project sites: The case of Dangla district, Awi Zone, Ethiopia. Bee pollen was collected from strong colonies in Ziguda Kebele youth beekeepers apiary site and a total of 8kg of bee collected pollen was collected and stored for feeding. Major pollen plants were identified based on pollen analysis and cross checked with pollen atlas. This result shows honeybees collected pollen from 22 plant family; those Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Rosaceae were the frequently visited plants; Asteraceae being dominant contributing 54% of the bee pollen collected. Fifteen honeybee colonies with single chamber frame hives were selected and assigned in to three groups (pollen cake supplemented, sugar syrup supplemented and control colonies) each with 5 colonies for feeding experiment during the dearth. Supplemental feeding was done from 1st April to 15th May 2020. The pollen supplemented colonies were given 175gm of bee collected pollen in the form of soft cake and sugar supplemented colonies were supplemented with 0.5L of concentrated sugar syrup. Bee pollen was totally consumed during the first three weeks where its consumption was lowered to 50% during the last week of the experimental period. Performance data were recorded in 21days interval. Data for adult population, sealed and unsealed brood development, drone brood development, dearth period pollen and nectar stored and honey production were collected and analyzed. Accordingly, colonies supplemented with bee collected pollen had a better performance over those assigned to the sugar syrup and control treatments. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) in all analyzed performance data except pollen store. Specifically, number of frames covered with adult bee population was 5.7 ± 0.44 frames for pollen fed colonies while those fed with sugar syrup and control colonies demonstrated only 3.3 ± 0.44 and 2.37 ± 1.1 frames with bees, respectively. Similarly, bee pollen supplemented colonies produced higher open brood 323.2 ± 62cm2 over sugar syrup supplemented (76 ± 28 cm2) and control colonies (72±16 cm2). Moreover, the number of empty combs, at the end of the experiment, from colonies fed with pollen supplement showed none when compared with those fed with sugar syrup (1.2 ±1) and the control group (1.5 ±0.57). Colonies supplemented with bee collected pollen produced significantly higher volume of honey (16.6± 3.6 kg) than those supplemented with sugar syrup and control colonies which produced 10.9 ± 3.5 and 7.8 ± 2.9 kg of honey, respectively. Our result has indicated that honeybee colony supplemental feeding with bee collected pollen during the dearth period helps to get more profit (93.5% net income increase) during the main honey flow season than those colonies fed with sugar syrup (36.9% increase) when compared with the control colonies (unfed colonies). Thus, the results of the experiment have demonstrated that dry period supplementation of the honey bee colonies with own collected surplus pollen during the main blooming period benefits both the colonies and the beekeepers.

BEEKEEPING PRACTICE AND OPTIMUM HONEYBEE COLONY’S CARRYING CAPACITY DETERMINATION IN NORTHEAST DRYLAND AREAS OF AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT

BEEKEEPING PRACTICE AND OPTIMUM HONEYBEE COLONY’S CARRYING CAPACITY DETERMINATION IN NORTHEAST DRYLAND AREAS OF AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA AgazheTsegaye The study was conducted in north eastern dryland areas of the Amhara region from August 2020 up to June 2021 to assess the distribution of selected bee forage plants and the density of honeybee colonies along with potential areas; to investigate the nectar secretion dynamics of major bee plant species of the target area; to determine optimum colony carrying capacity based on nectar secreationpotential and distribution of bee forage plants. A questionnaire survey, quadrant method, and nectar measurements were used for the study. In the questionnaire survey, 152 beekeepers (140 male and 12 female) were interviewed, 85 quadrants were laid in plant count. Based on their abundancy, five bee flora species (Acaciaetbaica, Acacia tortolis, Acaciaasak, Beciumgrandiflorum, and Cordiaafricana) were considered in nectar estimation and henebee colony’s carrying capacity determination. Regarding the beekeeping situation, it is characterized as a traditional beekeeping (87.4%).On average beekeepers kept 7.0±0.8 traditional, 0.2±0.6 transitional and, 1.0±0.2 movable frame hives. Coming on the bee flora part, 47%, 42%, and 11% of the existed bee floras were shrubs, trees, and herbs respectively. A. etbaica, A. tortolis, A. asak, B. grandiflorum, and C. africana were found the dominant bee flora species with their nectar sugar production potential of 2.6±1.4gm, 5.3±4.6gm, 10.2±6.4gm, 3.7±2.1gm, and 5.7±3.2gm/ flower.About 1457.6 traditional hives, 1020.3 transitional hives, and 680.2 modern hives in the highland and about 1310.4 traditional hives, 873.6 transitional hives, and 728.0 modern hives in the midland. In the low land, 1760.6 traditional hives,1408.4 transitional hives, and 845.1 modern hives were estimated to be introduced in 400 hectare of land for optimum honey production during the main honey harvesting season of the area Key word: Beeflora; carrying capacity; honey yield; honeybee colonies; nectar sugar;nectar volume

DETECTION AND EVALUATION OF VARROA MITE INFESTATION IN LALIBELA NATIONAL APICULTURE MUSEUM APIARY SITE AND SURROUNDING KEBELES OF LASTA DISTRICT, ETHIOPIA

Wed, 07 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMT

DETECTION AND EVALUATION OF VARROA MITE INFESTATION IN LALIBELA NATIONAL APICULTURE MUSEUM APIARY SITE AND SURROUNDING KEBELES OF LASTA DISTRICT, ETHIOPIA Mehari Genet This experimental and cross-sectional study was conducted in Lalibela National Apiculture Museum apiary site and surrounding kebeles in Lasta district, Ethiopia with overall objective of determining existence and prevalence of honeybee pest, particularly Varroa mite and its level of infestation during the year 2020. For the cross-sectional survey out of the five bordering kebeles, three kebeles and 100 beekeeper farmers were randomly selected and interviewed using prepared questioners. A total of 100 colonies were randomly selected from the beekeeper farmer’s apiaries (38 traditional, 32 transitional and 30 frame hives) and all 57 colonies of the museum that are hived in different hives (3 traditional, 12 transitional and 42 frame hives) were diagnosed for varroa and other pests. This study included two main components: The cross-sectional study and seasonal monitoring of varroa mite. Laboratory diagnosis was conducted according to the OIE and BEEBOOK standard protocols. The cross-sectional study results have indicated that the major pests and predators were wax moths, ants, spiders, bee eating birds, honey badger, varroa mites, lizards, beetles and bee lice were the most prominent once in order of their importance. Regarding the experimental diagnosis, 157 colonies (57colonies of the museum and 100 colonies of the beekeeper farmers were examined for the presence of varroa mite within the two main seasons (during active and dry dearth season 157 same colonies observation were taken repeatedly).The laboratory diagnosis result confirmed that 137(87.26%) were found positive for varroa mite. The infestation rate of varroa mite was; 9.461±0.639 and 10.628±0.649 in the museum apiary and in case of beekeeper farmer’s backyard colony 7.639±0.292 and 6.808±0.296 mites per hundred bees in phoretic and reproductive phases were observed, respectively. Furthermore, out of the 137 colonies positive for varroa mite 60 (75%)of the colonies from the beekeepers backyard and 49 (86%)from the museum apiary were infested >5% infestation level which has corresponded to an economic thresholds level of western honeybees. The explanatory variables that fit the general linear model: types of management, hive types and season were associated risk factors for the prevalence of varroa mites as hypothesized. Seasonal monitoring of varroa positive colonies indicated that phoretic stage varroa infestation level reached its peak starting from January to May and its reproductive stage from August to November. Finally, it could be concluded that the occurrence of varroa mite pests were a potential threats to the Lalibela National Apiculture Museum apiary and the surrounding local honeybees which needs an urge to devise and implement an appropriate control and prevention measures.

Characterization of Beekeeping Production System and Performance Evaluation of Different Hive Types in different Agro-ecologies of Dawunt district, North Wollo zone, Amhara, Ethiopia

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMT

Characterization of Beekeeping Production System and Performance Evaluation of Different Hive Types in different Agro-ecologies of Dawunt district, North Wollo zone, Amhara, Ethiopia Temesgen Adane Beekeeping is one of the agricultural activities in the rural communities and appears as ancient history of Ethiopia. The study was designed to characterize beekeeping production system and performance evaluation of different hive types in different agro-ecologies of Dawunt district, North Wollo zone, Amhara. For this study six kebeles namely, Sholla, Yabtie, Ayda, Sheglla, Dacha and Yesay-Yedba were selected from three agro-ecologies (lowland, midland and highland). A total of 126 beekeepers with different proportion from each kebele were selected randomly. Beekeepers were interviewed using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire and the data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The results of the household survey indicated that the majority of the hives owned by the beekeepers were traditional (54.5%), followed by movable frame (39.4%) and transitional (6.1%) beehives. The sampled beekeepers harvest an average of honey yield 7.56±0.981, 9.06±1.571 and 16.99±2.949kg/hive/year in traditional, transitional and movable frame hives, respectively. Through measuring, the sample beekeepers harvest an average of honey from traditional 10.10±2.183, 13.70±2.869 and 9.20±3.259 kg/hive/year in the lowland, midland and highland respectively, from transitional 14.40±3.718, 18.70±2.751 and 13.00±3.197 kg/hive/year in the lowland, midland and highland respectively and from movable frame hive 17.20±3.360, 21.20±3.084 and 15.70±2.359 kg/hive/year in the lowland, midland and highland respectively with the overall mean of honey yield 11.00±3.353, 15.37±3.987 and 18.03±3.709 kg/hive/year in traditional, transitional and movable frame respectively. It is concluded that, the measured honey yield was greater than that of the honey yield of the survey result and