The API News The API News is a quarterly sector newsletter published by the ETHIOPIAN APICULTURE BOARD

Volume 4 Number 1 February 2017

The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the EAB

APIMONDIA: APIQUALITY & APIMEDICA INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM,

NOVEMBER 2016, ROME

APIMONDIA, the International Fed-eration of Beekeepers’ Associa-tions, was founded in 1895 and it is the world organization representing the interests of apiculture. It aims to facilitate links between beekeepers, scientists and all involved with api-culture by organizing regular, and in turn, international symposia and congresses. APIMONDIA is run on a basis of co-operation between beekeepers and scientists from many countries as well as interna-tional organizations. The Ethiopian Apiculture Board is a member of APIMONDIA.

The Apiquality & Apimedica Interna-tional Symposium 2016 was orga-nized by the Apiculture Unit of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e Toscana (IZSLT) in col-laboration with APIMONDIA.

The “Apiquality” was the API-MONDIA event addressing issues related to the qualitative aspects of

bee products, including their pro-duction, transformation, storage processes and food safety with a view of their application in the medi-cal and food sector. The “Apimedica” was another API-MONDIA event addressing topics on apitherapy, a branch of alterna-tive medicine, that uses honey bees and honey bee products including honey, pollen, bee bread, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom to take care of human, animal and plant health. The team from Ethiopia, 3 EAB staff and one EAB executive committee member who is also serving as rep-resentative of Africa at APIMONDIA and the Board of Directors for APITRADE AFRICA, has participat-ed in this event with clear objec-tives: learning, sharing, promoting our country and our products. Read more on page 3

INSIDE

Message from the Editor 2

Sector News 2

APIMONDIA: Apiquality & Apimedi-

ca International Symposium, 2016 3

Apiculture Sector Organizations

Signed MOU 4

The 7th Regional MSP Concluded

with the Signing of MOU- Tigray 4

Develop PPP Supports Unions Export-

ing Honey to Europe 5

Ipomoea Carnea: Diagnosed for Sus-

pected Honeybee Poisoning 5

Seasonal Honeybee Management and

Honey Harvesting 6

Effect of Ants on Honeybees and its

Control Methods 7

Portraying Api - Sector Actors 8

Impressum

API NEWS - Apiculture Sector Newsletter Vol. 4 No. 1 (2017) Published quarterly by the Ethiopian Apiculture Board (EAB) Legehar, Churchill Avenue Teklu Desta Bldg, 2nd Floor P.O.Box 2307 Tel 0921 785839 ethioapic2012@gmail.com

Responsible: Negash Bekena, General Manager, EAB Tel: +251 911 879963 Email: ethioapic2012@gmail.com

Editorial Committee:

Dr. Juergen Greiling Senior Advisor, EAB Tel: +251 921 785839 Email: juergen.greiling@cimonline.de

Siraj Akmel, RMPD , EAB Tel; +251 910 075919 Email; sirajakmel@gmail.com

Dr. Desalegn Begna , Vice President, ESAS Tel; +251911353035; Email: desalegnbegna@yahoo.com, apis_1996@gmail.com Eliyas Zewdie, General Man-ager, EHBPEA Tel; +251911 606492 Email: Eliaszewdie1 @gmail.com

2

Dear Readers

The current issue – API NEWS 4,1 – is the first one which was jointly designed by the newly established Editorial Committee. Read more about it in the Sector News. We are grateful to our colleagues for their thoughts and their help. In this issue, we continue informing our

readers on “Sector Partners” – this time

YERKISHO Honey and Beeswax Trading

PLC– and on “Enemies of the Bees” – ants,

one of our biggest headaches – and how to

cope with them. The practical advice con-

tinues in the contribution on seasonal man-

agement, and we are discussing a poten-

tially poisonous plant.

The cover story is on the recent APIMOND-

IA Symposium in Rome, Italy which was

attended by participants from Ethiopia who

also delivered a paper entitled Quality Fo-

cused Apisector Development in Ethiopia in

one session of the event. The symposium

placed a lot of emphasis on api-therapy

(one session) and api-quality (the other

session). An important message was the

potential of bee products in medicine. You

are all welcome to comment and let us

have your observations.

Enjoy reading and let us have your contri-

butions for the next issue (4,2) which we

plan to publish in May, 2017.

With regards

Dr Juergen Greiling

For: Editorial Committee

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITORS

The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the EAB

Editorial Committee By DrJuergen Greiling (Juergen.greiling@cimonline.de)

We are pleased to inform our readers that we managed to establish an Editorial Committee whose members belong to the three api-sector organizations. Members are Juergen Greiling (PhD Animal Sci-ence; Senior Advisor Ethiopian Apiculture Board, EAB); Siraj Akmel (MA Sociology; Resource Mobilization & Partnership De-velopment Expert, Ethiopian Apiculture Board, EAB) Desalegn Begna (PhD, En-tomology; Process Owner, Apiculture Technology Generation, Holeta Bee Re-search Center & President, Ethiopian Society of Apiculture Science, ESAS) and

Elias Zewdie (BA, Management; General Manager, Ethiopian Honey and Beeswax Producers and Exporters Association, EHBPEA).

The committee agreed on a schedule of meetings and publication for the 2017 API NEWS, which is the 4th year of the newsletter’s publication. Compiling contri-butions, editing, keeping and updating the electronic and hard copy distribution lists, printing as well as electronic and hard copy distribution remains an assignment of the EAB and is done by Dr Juergen Greiling and Siraj Akmel

FROM THE SECTOR STRATE-GIZING MEETINGS By Dr Desalegn Begna, ESAS, (apis_1996@live.com )

The Sector Strategizing Meetings are quarterly event which are organized by SNV Ethiopia. The last meeting took place on September 30

th, 2016 in the

SNV office. It was attended by 12 participants from EAB, EBA / ESAS, EHBPEA, MoLF, ECAE, EMDIDI, ProFound & SNV. A ro-tation in the organization of meetings was agreed upon with ESAS organizing the next event in January 2017.

Continue Reading on Page 4

ውድ አንባቢዎች

የአሁኑ ቅፅ 4 ቁጥር 1 የንብ ዜና ዕትማችን ከዘርፉ ተዉጣጥቶ በቅርቡ

በተዋቀረዉ ኢዲቶሪያል ኮሚቴ የተዘጋጀ የመጀመሪያዉ ዕትም ነዉ፡፡

የኢዲቶሪል ኮሚቴ አባላት ዝርዝር ሁኔታ በተመለከተ የዘርፍ ዜናዎች

ላይ ላይ ይመልከቱ፡፡ የስራ ባልደረቦቻችን ላበረከቱት ሀሰብና ድጋፍ

ከልብ እናመሰግናለን፡፡

በዚህኛዉ እትማችንም ስለዘርፉ አጋሮቻችን የተመለከቱ ዘገባዎችን

ለአንባቢዎቻችን ማቅረባችንን ቀጥለናል፡፡ በዚህም የርኪሾ የማርና

ሰም ማቀነባበሪያ ሃላፊነቱ የተወሰነ የግል ድርጅት እንመለከታለን፡፡

በአሁን ወቅት ትልቅ የራስምታት ከሆኑብን "የንብ ጠላቶች" መካከል

አንዱ ስለሆነዉ ጉንዳን የተመለከተ ዘገባ ያለን ሲሆን እንዴት

መከላከል እንደሚቻልም ታስነብበናለች፡፡በተጨማሪም የንብ ወቅታዊ

ስራዎች ተግባር ተኮር ምክር እና ስለመርዛማዉ ተክልም የንብ ዜና

እትማችን የምትለዉ አለ (ዝርዝር ዘገባዉን በገፅ 5 ላይ ይመልከቱ)፡፡

የፊትለፊት ገፅ በቅርቡ በጣልያኑ ሮም ከተማ ስለተካሄደዉ

‹የአፒሞንዲያ› ሲምፖዝየም በተመለከተ ነዉ፡፡ በሲምፖዝየሙ

ኢትዮጵያን ወክሎ የተሳተፈዉ ቡድን "ጥራት ተኮር የንብ ዘርፍ

እድገት በኢትዮጵያ" በሚል ርዕስ ጥናታዊ ጽሁፍ አቅርቦዋል፡፡

የሲምፖዝየሙ አንደኛዉ ክፍለ ጊዜ ትኩረት የንብ ምርቶች

ጥራትና ጠቀሜታ ላይ አድርጎ የነበረ ሲሆን የሌላኛዉ

የሲምፖዝየሙ ክፍለ ጊዜ የትኩረት ነጥብ በንብ እና በንብ

ምርቶች የህክሚና ሚና ላይ ያደረገ ነበር፡፡ የሲምፖዝየሙ

ዋነኛዉ መልዕክት የንብ ዉጤቶች ጠቀሜታና ለሕክምናዉ

ዘርፍ ሊያበረክቱት ስለሚችሉት አስተዋፆ ላይ ያጠነጠነ ነበር፡፡

ጥያቄያችሁን፣ ሃሳባችሁን ወይም አስተያየታችሁን እንድታጋሩን

ተጋብዛችኋል፡፡

እርስዎም ለሚቀጥለዉ የግንቦት ወር ዕትማችን (4፣2) ሊሆኑ የሚችሉ ጥሩ ተመክሮዎችንና ፣ታሪኮችን እንዲያካፍሉን እንወዳለንን፡፡ መልካም ንባብ

ከሰላምታ ጋር ዶ/ር ጆርገን ግራይሊንግ ስለ ኢዲቶሪያል ኮሚቴው

የአዘጋጆቹ መልእክት

SECTOR NEWS

3 The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the EAB

APIMONDIA: Apiquality & Apimedica International Symposium 2016 By: Negash Bekena, EAB, (ethioapic2012@gmail.com)

The event - The APIMONDIA Apiquali-ty & Apimedica International Symposium 2016 – see cover page - was organized by the Apiculture Unit of the Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e Toscana (IZSLT) in collaboration with APIMONDIA. Objectives of the Symposium - This event aimed at creating direct connec-tions between the world of scientific re-search and practical beekeeping through the exchange of information and knowledge. Objectives of our Participation - The team from Ethiopia, 3 EAB staff and one EAB executive committee person who is also serving as representative of Africa at APIMONDIA and board of directors for APITRADE AFRICA, participated with clear objectives.

To learn from the scientific paper presentations and subsequent discussions

To develop insights in the area of api-therapy from the existing exer-cises of api-therapeutic activities in the world

To ensure the presence of Ethio-pia as a country of huge potential and member of APIMONDIA, and representative of Africa at API-MONDIA as well.

To present the potential of our country, our efforts to assure product quality and inform about the existing development efforts, to market our apiculture sector and attract development actors and buyers in the world in general and in Europe in particular.

To present our interest to API-MONDIA secretariat and hold possible negotiation to have an opportunity to organize the API-MONDIA Congress.

Structure and Activities - The event had four components: paper presenta-tions on Apiquality (14 plus 21 posters) and Apimedica (17 + 20 presentations) and subsequent discussions, and was followed by practical demonstrations on different beekeeping activities. The Ethi-opian paper, entitled “Quality Focused Api-Sector Development in Ethiopia”, was one of such papers selected for the oral presentation and was given by Ato Negash Bekena, GM of the EAB, on the first day of the programme event . Finally a Technical Tour was offered. During this tour, a typical Italian bee col-ony was visited as well as a model coop-erative in the town of Cepraton, which is located 100 km away from Rome. The cooperative is called “Melissa” meaning “bee” or “honey sweet” and it is engaged in input and hive produce production, hive products processing, and produc-

tion of different types of api-products for cosmetics and health related issues treatment. Lessons learnt - The congress con-firmed our experience: that the sector has a huge, under-exploited potential; that it is given world-wide attention; and that the struggle for quality is a cross-cutting issue. It underlined that address-ing the quality issue requires well orga-nized and competent structures along the whole value chain of which quality assurance at source – last not least by means of competent laboratories – is the key factor for success. In the api-therapy section it became very clear that this sector has a huge unex-ploited potential to solve health issues of human nature and animals. Bee products are increasingly discov-

ered as solutions to health problems because of anti-bacterial and antiviral drug resistance occurrence in treating disease causing agents of patients. This discovery opens new opportunities to produce and market required bee prod-ucts for the treatment of bacterial, viral and protozoan origin diseases – alone or in combination with “classical” drugs. We should work hard to let Ethiopian actors (and the country at large) benefit from these arising opportunities, possibly fo-cusing on propolis. Achievements - Our paper received full attention and positive feedback in the discussion. It underline our country’s and her api-actor’s competence and the positive development of the sector. It triggered discussions with researchers and practitioners from different countries for future collaboration in our effort to develop and utilize potential of our api-culture resources, which was in between followed up by research colleagues from Italy. We also received an invitation from the Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology A & B, USA, to publish our paper

there. Networking with the world’s leading api-actors was at its best.Two rounds of dis-cussion were held with the Secretary General of Apimondia regarding our in-terest to organize one of the APIMOND-IA Congresses to further learn from the activities of well performing countries,

market our huge potential, ensure more market linkages, raise awareness of ac-tors in the role and opportunities of the api-sector and to sensitize development actors for more and intense develop-ment interventions. This proposal was welcomed and “green light” was obtained from the Secretary General for the possibility to bid on 2019 APIMONDIA in Canada for the APIMONDIA Congress of 2023. He also proposed to conduct an APIMONDIA Symposium in Ethiopia before the bid year (for the 2023 congress) in order to show our capacity and convince the de-cision makers of our capacity to organ-ize the huge international APIMONDIA congress where 10-15 thousand actors are expected to take part.. Advice was received from and agree-ment reached with the Secretary Gen-eral to identify theme(s) for the symposia and develop proposals for the same to be presented to the secretariat to con-vince the APIMONDIA management. At this point in time, the EAB

is expected to think over it seri-ously and make a proposal as how the programme could be or-ganized,

has to discuss it with the major sector actors and development partners including the govern-ment, and

Should develops the proposal in line with the selected theme.

As the next step, the EAB being a mem-ber of APIMONDIA, needs to present its proposal and convince the APIMONDIA management to reach to an agreement and commence event organization activ-ities. These activities need to be carried out as soon as possible to use existing op-portunities which could help to obtain final positive responses and for promo-tion of the symposia on the upcoming 45

th Congress in Turkey, Istanbul, which

is planned for first week of October 2017.

*******************************************

Picture: In the MELISSA cooperative sales outlet

Partial view of participants

The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the EAB 4

An important topic agreed upon is the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the three sector organizations EAB, EHBPEA and ESAS.

______________________

Apiculture Sector Organi-zations Signed MOU By Dr Desalegn Begna, ESAS, (apis_1996@live.com )

The tripartite MoU was reviewed and signed between the three national insti-tutions of the Ethiopian Honey Sector. Aim and objectives of the MoU are: -To create clear understanding on man-dates of the three existing institutions in the honey sector, the Ethiopian Apicul-ture Board (EAB), the Ethiopian Honey and Beeswax Producers and Exporters Association (EHBPEA) and the Ethiopi-an Society of Apiculture Science (ESAS) - To identify objectives shared among the institutions and to see ways for co-operation in addressing the said objec-tives for the improvement of the sector - To strengthen mutual understanding, collaboration and actions for the rapid realization of the intended improve-ments in the sector - To provide a clear message for the national and international, public and private development partners, regarding the understanding and spirit of the exist-ing institutions, to enable them build confidence to determine what to do with whom. The three sector institutions, namely, ESAS, EAB and EHBPEA founded in 1996, 2009 and 2005, respectively, with the objective to raise the contribution of the sector to the national economy and smallholders’ livelihood. Although the institutions have an inde-pendent legal entity and different areas of mandate, in view of the fact that they might have some overlapping activities shared among each other that pose the risk of duplication of efforts and re-sources, the MOU which has been signed on 9th of January 2013 is re-quired to be reviewed. Accordingly, with the intent of ensuring greater and collec-tive impact, the institutions have agreed to realign and harmonize their role artic-ulating their respective detailed areas of work. Following the definition of major component engagement areas of the sector, the institutions that play the lead-ing and associate role for the specified activities were reviewed. To this effect, the major strategic engagement areas of the sector included and singed in the agreed tripartite MOU are: 1. Policy development and advoca-

cy 2. Increase production and produc-

tivity 3. Quality 4. Sector development, promotion &

integration 5. Research and development 6. Forum organization/ coordination

for the VC actors 7. Environment protection, afforesta-

tion and bee- keeping activity 8. Information and dissemination 9. Code of conduct development 10. Membership development 11. Institutional development More details on “who engages where” will be provided in one of the next API NEWS ********************************************

———————————————-

The 7th Tigray Region MSP Concluded With The Signing of MOU By Haileselassie Desta, EAB, (messihailebase@gmail.com )

The seventh Regional MSP Meeting of the honey sub-sector in Tigray was con-ducted on October 18/2016 in Wukro Town in the presence of Regional Bu-reau Heads, higher officials, develop-ment partners in the honey sector. The regional MSP was conducted with the objective of:

Discussing on the issues identi-fied and prioritized by the honey technical working group;

Enhancing harmony, collabora-tion and networking among the stakeholders to eliminate or at least minimize the major priori-tized challenges of the honey sub-sector of the region particularly to adulteration and illegal trade;

Setting strategic actions for timely solutions by a responsible body and sign a MoU to ensure high production with quality and safety as per international standards and legal trading of the branded honey of Tigray and bees wax to the local and international market.

Internalize the Apiculture Policy Frameworks – the Apiculture Re-source Development and Protec-tion proclamation 660/2009 and regulation of the Council of the Ministers number 372/2016.

The MSP was officially opened by His Excellency Ato Kiros Bitew, Head of Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Devel-opment, who praised producers for their efforts for boasting the quality of honey and simultaneously promote environ-mentally friendly beekeeping and Natu-ral Resource Management. He added that the apiculture potential of the region is tremendous but that a lot of serious problems exist; however they have been identified and are addressed.

He underlined that working to tackle these problems is an assignment to all of us in the meeting hall in order to solve them as early as possible.

Following the opening remarks, three papers particularly on beekeeping in Tigray region: development efforts, chal-lenges and opportunities by Ato Jemal, major problems and solutions proposed by the honey working group by Ato Tesfamariam and Apiculture Policy Frameworks – the Apiculture Resource Development and Protection proclama-tion 660/2009 and regulation of the Council of the Ministers number 372/2016 by Dr Amsalu were present-ed . A total of 66 participants representing different stakeholders participated in the MSP such as the governmental (the BoARD, the Regional Bureau of Plan and Finance, the Bureau of Trade and Industry, the Regional Bureau of Jus-tice, Mekelle Agriculture Research Cen-ter, TAMPA, MU, Aksum University) & non-governmental organizations (REST, SNV, GIZ, Helvetas Ethiopia, etc) and other private actors.

At the end of the MSP meeting, seven regional sector offices who have a stake in the honey sector signed a MOU with the intention to tackle the major priori-tized challenges of the honey sub-sector indicated above: adulteration and illegal trade. The signatories to the MOU are (1) Bureau of Agriculture and Natural Resources, (2) Bureau of Justice, (3) Regional Police Commission, (4) Bu-reau of Trade, (5) Regional Custom and Revenue Office, (6) Food, Health Medi-cine Quarantine Agency and (7) Ethiopi-an Apiculture Board Regional chapter. The 7

TH Regional MSP was organized

by EAB Tigray Chapter and by the Live-stock Development and Health Depart-ment of the Regional BoARD, with fi-nancial support of GRAD/REST and ASPIRE/SNV. ****************************

Sector News…(from page 2)

Ato Kiros Bitew, with the rank of Vice Presi-dent, the Head of Bureau of Agriculture and

Partial view of participants

The Ethiopian custom report of 2014 reveals that Ethiopia has a contribution on the international honey market which is less than 1% of the total honey pro-duction, even though the country is the leading producer in Africa. This under-utilization is mainly due to traditional practices, little experience in frame hive management and knowledge about ex-portable honey quality, international standards, and lacking know-how about use of and access to standard apiculture inputs (e.g. food grade equipment), shortage of finance by smallholder farm-ers to buy inputs and illegal honey trade. GIZ-DPP is taking the opportunity to ad-dress some of the problems by working directly with producers and their associa-tions (cooperatives and unions) in two Biosphere Reserves (Kafa and Sheka) in South-western Ethiopia. The focus of the project lies on providing training for mod-el farmers on honey quality manage-ment, pre-harvesting and post harvesting quality handling, standardized and food grade packaging and the establishment of a traceability system including well established quality controls. For the qual-ity control the model of traceable HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) was introduced at the cooperative and union levels. Consequently, GIZ-DPP continues as-sisting the unions in processing the ex-port procedures. The unions are learning how to fulfill the requirements and estab-lish a sustainable and long term market access by acquiring an organic certifi-cate and by controlling the honey transport system from hives to drums - and to the end market. After one year training, follow up and standard equip-ment supply, 42 MT (42,000 kg) of hon-ey of traceable high quality, loaded in two twenty feet containers are ready for export to Germany.and the plan is to increase the export quantity every year following the quality improvement and production increment . GIZ-DPP strongly contributes to the in-crease of exports, improving production, food security and livelihood opportuni-ties though increasing income and at the same time protecting the natural forests in the Biosphere Reserves. With the suc-cessful collaboration of all stakeholders, honey and other bee products have the potential become the major export com-modity for Ethiopia in the long run .

**********************************************

__________________________

Ipomoea carnea: Diag-nosed for suspected hon-eybee poisoning plant in Amhara region, Ethiopia By Dr Desalegn Begna, ESAS(apis_1996@live.com )

1. Introduction A range of studies has shown that polli-nation makes a very significant contribu-tion to the agricultural production of a broad range of crops, in particular fruits, vegetables, fiber crops and nuts. With varied economic values, the pollination service value in US agriculture alone is estimated at between US$ 6 and 14 bil-lion per year (Morse and Calderone, 2000). Honeybees are the most im-portant pollinators for agricultural purpos-es.

2. Honeybees poisoning Bees are suffering from serious effects emanating from various synthetic toxic chemicals (pesticides) and a variety of naturally occurring chemicals from plants from their environments. There are reports as to the bee intoxica-tion from exposure to ethanol of ferment-ed nectar, ripe fruits, and man-made and natural chemicals in the environment. Also there are research findings with regards to the evidences as some plants reportedly rely on using intoxicating chemicals to produce inebriated bees, and use this inebriation as part of their reproductive strategy. Bees that con-sume ethanol become too inebriated to find their way back to the hive, and will die as a result. Alcohol consumption by honeybees disrupts foraging and social behaviors with similar effects of poison-ing of insecticides. There are also cases when in natural processes microorgan-isms in honey can convert some of the sugars in honey to ethanol as it is inten-tionally harnessed to produce the alco-holic beverage called mead from fer-mented honey.

3. Ipomoea carnea: Diagnosed for suspected honeybee poisoning The Ipomoea carnea plant is a pink morning glory species, a dicotyledonous, persistent, perennial plant of 2 m in height of the Convolvulaceae family which spreads by rhizome and seed (Figure-1). The plant is found widely distributed in North Gondar and Awi zones of Amhara region. Farmers were seen planting it on the border ridge of farmlands (Figure-1) and at the erosion affected gulley areas

and its distribution is ever increasing over the last three years.

According to the local communities in Chara areas of Awi zone, its distribution is highly enhanced through seed and erosion. To this fact, the plant is seen densely grown at the lower areas of ero-sion basins. Recently, there is a growing concern around beekeepers that the plant is killing the bees by poisoning. This problem seems to be the object of growing concern as it has substantial economic consequences for the bee-keeping community. According to the information obtained from Chara area beekeepers, many beekeepers are com-monly blaming they have abandoned practicing beekeeping since the plant starts widely growing in their localities. In fact, there are reports on the natural intoxication of livestock related to the bioaccumulation in Ipomoea leaves, flowers and seeds when ingested and many herbivores avoid Ipomoea, as the high alkaloid content makes these plants unpalatable. Also reports are available with regards to the deterrence and toxici-ty of secondary compound in nectar of some plants to floral visitors. However, the effect of secondary compounds on bees varies depending on dose and sea-son. As various types of plant’s allelo-chemicals are known producing toxic effects on honeybees and some plants are known to have pollen which is toxic to kill adult honeybees, Ipomoea carnea is among those reported in promoting toxicosis in livestock. Therefore, the cur-rent report produced on the honeybee killing effects of Ipomoea carnea in Am-hara region might be also either due to its allelochemicals, pollen toxicity and/or toxicity of secondary compound in nec-tar, requiring further deep and integrated investigation through controlled experi-

ments. *********************************************

5 The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the EAB

Develop PPP supports Unions exporting honey to Europe By: Solomon Mengesha, GIZ-DPP, (Solomon.Mengesha@giz.de)

Figure 1: Ipomoea carnea plants on the way from Dangila to Chara, Amhara (photo:

6 The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the EAB

In beekeeping, by “management” we mean the adoption of a system of con-trol, which leads to the maximum possi-ble production whether it is for honey production, or of colonies of pollina-tors.The general purpose of seasonal colony management is to ensure that the maximum strength of the honeybee colo-nies can coincide with the maximum nec-tar flow in order to obtain a surplus hon-ey production.

There are phases of hive management, which are common to beekeeping opera-tion in any part of the world.

Ensuring that the foraging capacity of bees in the colony is built up at the right time for the collection of nectar and pollen

Providing space for the storage and ripening of the nectar into honey by the bees.

Removing honey from the hive and extracting it from the combs

Managing the colony to withstand the dearth period after the honey flow period during the excess drought or heavy rainy season.

The exploitation of honeybees by man is basically aimed at the harvest of honey.

Keeping of bees in "traditional" hives, made of any kind of suita-ble, locally available materials is the technological evolution of bee-keeping.

A further evolutionary step is rep-resented by the use of hives with moveable combs, but without frames or foundation sheets. Ex-amples are the topbar hives now used worldwide.

The more intensive beekeeping practices of the last century were based on the moveable frame hives and virtually all the honey on the international market comes from this type of beekeeping.

All common management practic-es are aimed at increasing honey yield.

Many harvesting methods are

available to separate bees from their honey. Ripened honey combs can be taken out one at a time and bees may be removed by shaking and brushing without con-taminating the harvested honey.

Excessive use of smoke during harvesting will flavor the honey quickly, no matter which smoker fuel has been selected. Heavy use of smoke can be reduced by se-lecting more favorable harvesting times (weather, time of day) and shorter and more frequent har-vests.

Cleanliness

Honey in combs, be it in supers of frame hive beekeeping or in the combs from top bar or traditional fixed comb beekeeping, already needs to be regarded as a food product

Honey has to be processed in-doors.

The extraction room or space needs to be exceedingly clean as well as the space where the honey supers or combs are stored prior to processing. The room has to be insect proof.

All surfaces, hands and containers coming into contact with the honey need to be particularly clean.

Containers and processing equip-ment need to be made of material compatible with this very acidic food.

No copper, iron, steel or zinc should be used as they dissolve into the honey and may affect col-or and flavor, and might reach tox-ic levels.

Stainless steel, glass and food grade plastic are recommended. Galvanized steel (zinc) may be used for surfaces which come into contact with honey only for short periods, such as in extractors.

Processing

Uncapping is the first real step of honey processing to remove the thin wax layer that seals the honey cells.

The wax caps can be sliced off with an uncapping fork, a sharp, thin, long knife or special knives heated by steam or electricity

In comb harvesting the equivalent step is the comb selection (eliminating pieces of comb with pollen or even brood - something that should already have been done during harvesting) the re-

moval of bees etc and the subse-quent thorough crushing of combs like in the case of honey from tra-ditional/ top bar hives.

Honey frame processing pro-ceeds, after uncapping, to centrifu-gal extraction. Extractors range in size from a manual 2-frame model to motorized units extracting more than 12 honey combs at a time.

Though honey can be extracted faster and more completely at higher temperatures, the combs will become softer and might break. Therefore, extraction tem-peratures should not exceed 30

0C.

Purification

The next step is the removal of any impurities such as wax parti-cles, other debris and air bubbles incorporated during extraction.

There are two practical tech-niques: settling and straining. The first simply consists of leaving the honey in a suitably large contain-er, so that impurities can separate according to their specific weight, i.e. air bubbles, wax particles, in-sect pieces and other organic de-bris float to the surface while min-eral and metallic particles drop to the bottom.

Following purification, honey should be stored in an air-tight container made of food graded plastic or glass or stainless steel.

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1. 45th Apimondia Congress

will take place in Istanbul,

Turkey, early October

2017

2. BIOFACH Organic Food

Show, Germany Feb 15-

18, 2017

3. GULFOOD, Dubai, 26 Feb -

2 Mar 2017

Seasonal Honeybee Management and Honey Harvesting

By: Dr Dereje Weltedji, OARI (derejew2010@gmail.com)

Upcoming Events ! !

1. Introduction

Both feral and managed honeybee colonies produce surplus honey and other bee products making beekeeping a productive and profitable undertaking. However, in order to be as such, the bee colonies must be managed properly. Protecting them from pests has been recognized as an important management tool many centuries ago and nowadays became a key activity of beekeepers. In many parts of the world, research is under way to investigate honeybee pests with their distributions as well as the kind of products they at-tack. Moreover, efforts are underway here and there to develop means of combating or preventing the most im-portant economically honeybee pests. To this effect, serious studies were con-ducted locally and many pests interact-ing with honeybees and their products were identified. Ants (Dorylus fulvus) are one of the most dangerous enemies identified among the pests of honey-bees in Ethiopia. Through research, ants were identified as enemy number one encountered in the beekeeping sector of the country and control options were developed. Realizing this, through the API NEWS, we want to circulate the information so that readers can dissemi-nate it to the users.

2. Effects of ants on honeybees and their products Among all enemies of honeybees, ants (Dorylus fulvus) are known to cause great harm through initiating aggressiveness, absconding, and destroying the entire bee colony. Ants are attracted by the smell of brood and honeys in the hives. Ants carry off any comb contents (honey, wax, pollen and brood). Normally ants move in columns (Figure 1) and disperse around when they want to encircle their prey. Although strong bee colonies resist for some time, ants cannot be prevented from entering the hive by bees because of their small size and hard integument of the ant which protects them from be-ing stung. Moreover, ants outnumber and overrun the bees. The bee colonies eventually abscond if molested too much and small bee colonies die shortly. A case study conducted in West Shoa zone of Oromia regional state shows that ants attack about 44% of the bee colonies in the zone yearly causing 24% absconding rate, 4.2% death rate and honey yield losses in 29% of the colo-nies included in the study.

3.Ant protection devices

Different ant protection techniques are underway at different places of the world and the type of protection de-pends on the level of production, skills and availabilities of protective materi-als. Generally, the following are some of the protective methods used sepa-rately or combined (Figure 2). A. Hanging the beehive with ropes or with other materials on trees or on poles. Indeed this method is feasible only for small scale beekeeping and it is not convenient to undertake routine hive inspection. B. Tie straw or grass to the tree or pole on which the beehives are placed C. Perpendicularly put the hive stand in a tin filled with used engine oil (Figure 2A). This method is tested to be 100% effective in protecting ant invasions.

D. Equipping the hive stand with corru-gated iron sheet and plastic (Figures 2B and C, respectively) The hive stand is immersed in tins containing used engine oil (A); equipped with a corrugated sheet (B); equipped with hard plastic (C). Culturally, beekeepers use different types of herbs which have ant deter-ring effects. They also apply hot ash around the hive stand to hamper the movement of ants. Both ways works, but serve only for short time. Another way of ant attack control is to spot the location of the ant colony, dig the area and destroy the queen, the eggs and all the brood. Moreover, clean hive areas and cutting down grass helps to detect raiding ants easily from a dis-tance so that the beekeepers can ap-ply intervention measures. Further-more, absolute cleanliness and avoid-ing honey and wax disposal around the hive is helpful as the ants can be attracted to them and eventually to the hives.

4. Recommendations Despite the research availed very effective protection devices, ant is still continuing to cause substantial losses of honeybees and their products at different beekeeping and honey pro-duction areas of the country. There-fore, it is imperative that stakeholders’ integrated efforts and effective exten-sion is in place so that the large major-ity of beekeepers can implement the existing recommendations and devic-es. *******************************************

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The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the EAB

Effect of ants on honeybees and its control methods By: Dr Desalegn Begna , apis_1996@live.com

Figure 1: Type of local ants known at-tacking bees while moving in row

A B

C Figure 2: Types of ant protective materials

The 2nd Edition of Api Business Directory of Ethiopia is now available on our website, www.ethioapiboard.org. For the printed version please contact us via: ethioapic2012@gmail.com

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PORTRAYING API - SECTOR ACTORS YERKISHO Honey and Beeswax Trading PLC

By Tamiremariam Woldemeskel, EAB, (tamirewolde@gmail.com)

The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the EAB

honey processing and packing

Photographs illustrating the company’s efforts in the target areas

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Founder and Managing Director Samuel Woldekidan Geographic Location Jimma Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia Area of business Honey and Beeswax processing and exports YERKISHO works with about 391 beekeepers in Gera and Gomma woredas of Jimma zone (ASPIRE woredas); equipping beekeepers with improved production items and trainings; opening markets for beekeepers; branding and promoting the regions to international markets. The selected woredas have a good production potential The following has been accomplished so far:

Training 4 Honey Producers Cooperative were supported 246 Beekeepers were trained (146 BKs from Gomma, of which 20 were females; and 122 BKs from Gera of which

10 were females)

Beekeeping equipment and materials supplied to the trained Beekeepers 690 framed hives dispatched for 350 Beekeepers 391overalls, 391 bee veils and gloves were dispatched for 391 Beekeepers

Market linkage Honey collected from the two woredas in Oromia Region amounted to 5,000 kg Total quantity of honey collected was 21,096 kg, this includes SNNPR Yerkisho shipped a total of 17,600 kg (17.6 tons) of honey to Europe (from both regions )

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