Bees for Development Journal 94 PROFITABLE BEEKEEPING WITH APIS CERANA Fujio Hisashi, Sasebo City, Nagasaki, Japan Keywords: Asian honey bee, Apis cerana japonica, bee behaviour, box pile hive, Goto Islands, honey production, Japan, Vespa mandarina I am reporting my progress since the article Restoration of Apis cerana japonica on the Goto Islands was published in BfDJ 85, December 2007. In that article I described how I reintroduced Apis cerana to four Japanese islands where indigenous honey bees had become extinct after World War II. I traced all the families that had kept the bees on these islands before the end of the war, and described causes for extinction of Apis cerana. Immediate results To produce enough bees for the islands, I invented a device to protect bees from attack by the Asian hornet Vespa mandarina and I put it on all my hives. Consequently my colony numbers doubled every year and I had enough to transfer 50 colonies to the Goto Islands in 2008. On each island the bees rapidly increased in numbers and people decided to take up beekeeping as their occupation. They realised that beekeeping with Apis cerana was more lucrative than with Apis mellifera, because the Apis cerana honey sells at four times the price of Apis mellifera honey. Advantages and disadvantages of A Ap pi is s c ce er ra an na a Apis cerana suffers from hardly any disease. It is not necessary to administer medicines to the bees and the honey is free from residues of any unnatural chemicals. Apis cerana is resistant to attack, is docile, a good pollinator and produces delicious honey. Also you need less beekeeping equipment. There is one disadvantage with Apis cerana: their radius of foraging activity at 2 km is half that of Apis mellifera. This means that a colony covers only a quarter of the area covered by Apis mellifera and therefore one colony of Apis cerana produces one quarter of the honey produced by an Apis mellifera colony. I do not think that this is necessarily a disadvantage. If you have four times as many colonies you will get the same amount of honey as from Apis mellifera. For example, one island produces a certain, total amount of nectar. Both species of honey bees collect the same amount of nectar from the island. The price of honey from Apis cerana is four times that of Apis mellifera. If you use Apis cerana to collect the nectar, you will harvest the same amount of honey but four times the amount of money! Some say that Apis cerana readily abscond. I say that they hardly abscond without reason. The beekeeper’s thoughtlessness causes this absconding and I rarely experience it with my bees. I will explain how docile Apis cerana is. The bees make friends with humans and they never sting their friends: I never wear a bee veil even when I harvest honey. A smoker? No, I never use one. Apis cerana has a language that you can learn if you live with them for a time. I now understand around 20 expressions. Apis mellifera also has a language, but I understand only 10 expressions in their vocabulary. W Wi il ld d s st tr ra aw wb be er rr ry y p pr ro ov vi id de es s a an n e ex xc ce el ll le en nt t f fo or ra ag ge e r re es so ou ur rc ce e 8 PHOTOS © FUJIO HISASHI An Apis cerana swarm finds shelter to cluster ALL PHOTOS © FUJIO HISASHI M Mr r H Hi is sa as sh hi i’ ’s s i in nv ve en nt ti io on n: : a a h ho or rn ne et t r re ep pe el ll li in ng g d de ev vi ic ce e i is s n no ow w f fi ix xe ed d o on n a al ll l h hi is s h hi iv ve es s t to o p pr ro ot te ec ct t h hi is s b be ee es s f fr ro om m a at tt ta ac ck k b by y t th he e A As si ia an n h ho or rn ne et t Vespa mandarina
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Bees for Development Journal 94
PROFITABLE BEEKEEPING WITH APIS CERANAFujio Hisashi, Sasebo City, Nagasaki, Japan
Keywords: Asian honey bee, Apis cerana japonica, bee behaviour,box pile hive, Goto Islands, honey production, Japan, Vespa mandarina
I am reporting my progress since the article Restoration of Apis ceranajaponica on the Goto Islands was published in BfDJ 85, December2007. In that article I described how I reintroduced Apis cerana to fourJapanese islands where indigenous honey bees had become extinctafter World War II. I traced all the families that had kept the bees onthese islands before the end of the war, and described causes forextinction of Apis cerana.
IImmmmeeddiiaattee rreessuullttssTo produce enough bees for the islands, I invented a device to protectbees from attack by the Asian hornet Vespa mandarina and I put it onall my hives. Consequently my colony numbers doubled every year andI had enough to transfer 50 colonies to the Goto Islands in 2008.
On each island the bees rapidly increased in numbers and peopledecided to take up beekeeping as their occupation. They realised thatbeekeeping with Apis cerana was more lucrative than with Apismellifera, because the Apis cerana honey sells at four times the price ofApis mellifera honey.
AAddvvaannttaaggeess aanndd ddiissaaddvvaannttaaggeess ooff AAppiiss cceerraannaaApis cerana suffers from hardly any disease. It is not necessary toadminister medicines to the bees and the honey is free from residues ofany unnatural chemicals. Apis cerana is resistant to attack, is docile, agood pollinator and produces delicious honey. Also you need lessbeekeeping equipment.
There is one disadvantage with Apis cerana: their radius of foragingactivity at 2 km is half that of Apis mellifera. This means that a colonycovers only a quarter of the area covered by Apis mellifera and thereforeone colony of Apis cerana produces one quarter of the honey producedby an Apis mellifera colony. I do not think that this is necessarily adisadvantage. If you have four times as many colonies you will get the
same amount of honey as from Apis mellifera. For example, one islandproduces a certain, total amount of nectar. Both species of honey beescollect the same amount of nectar from the island. The price of honeyfrom Apis cerana is four times that of Apis mellifera. If you use Apiscerana to collect the nectar, you will harvest the same amount of honeybut four times the amount of money!
Some say that Apis cerana readily abscond. I say that they hardlyabscond without reason. The beekeeper’s thoughtlessness causes thisabsconding and I rarely experience it with my bees. I will explain howdocile Apis cerana is. The bees make friends with humans and theynever sting their friends: I never wear a bee veil even when I harvesthoney. A smoker? No, I never use one.
Apis cerana has a language that you can learn if you live with them fora time. I now understand around 20 expressions. Apis mellifera alsohas a language, but I understand only 10 expressions in theirvocabulary.
WWiilldd ssttrraawwbbeerrrryy pprroovviiddeess aann eexxcceelllleenntt ffoorraaggee rreessoouurrccee
8
PHOT
OS ©
FUJ
IO H
ISAS
HI
An Apis cerana swarm finds shelter to cluster
ALL
PHOT
OS ©
FUJ
IO H
ISAS
HI
MMrr HHiissaasshhii’’ss iinnvveennttiioonn:: aa hhoorrnneett rreeppeelllliinngg ddeevviiccee iiss nnooww ffiixxeedd oonn aallll hhiiss hhiivveess ttoopprrootteecctt hhiiss bbeeeess ffrroomm aattttaacckk bbyy tthhee AAssiiaann hhoorrnneett VVeessppaa mmaannddaarriinnaa
Bees for Development Journal 94PROFITABLE BEEKEEPING WITH APIS CERANA
Apis cerana flies without making any sound. If you hear a hum, thebees are saying something to you and their sisters. You will notice thatafter they become your friend, they are silent as they pass you as theygo out and come back into the hive. When Apis cerana are attacked byVespa mandarina, they come to you and beg for your help. They humand alight on your shoulder. If you doubt that insects do such a thing,keep Apis cerana yourself!
DDiiffffeerreenncceess iinn bbeehhaavviioouurr Apis cerana bees face upwards when in a cluster and do the same whenworking on honeycombs. Apis mellifera face downwards. There areother differences in behaviour between the two species. Apis cerana’s‘forearms’ seem to be stronger than those of Apis mellifera, and willhang in a cluster with the weight of the others hanging below.Apis cerana catch and confine hornets with their strong ‘forearms’forming a ball of bees around the hornet and killing it with heat (seepicture overleaf).
Apis cerana queens lay eggs only in newly built cells. This means thatthe cells are not used twice for eggs, and workers have to keep buildingnew cells downwards. Repeated use of movable frames in hives is nothelpful for Apis cerana: used empty combs are troublesome for theworkers, who need space to build new cells for brood, rather than thehoney cells. Only in the nectar flow season, the used combs inmovable frames enable the bees to fill the honey cells more quickly,because they can save time on rebuilding honeycombs.
Therefore, we find the ‘box pile hive’ to be the best hive for Apis cerana.You create room for new cells for brood by adding a new box at thebottom of the hive, to enable the combs to be built downwards.
Apis cerana face upwards
A nest of Apis cerana
9
Apis mellifera face downwards
BBooxx ppiillee hhiivveess*For 20 years I have been searching for the best hive for Apiscerana. I have collected many types of hives, and pictures of hives,from all over Japan and the rest of Asia. I built hives and testedthem with my bees. I believe now that the best is the ‘box pile hive’or ‘multi-storey hive’ that is a traditional, Japanese style of hive. Itconsists of 3-4 piled up boxes with the internal dimensions of eachbox at 25 x 25 x 15 cm. The hive has a lid, and floor with entranceand a number of boxes. I am certain that I have arrived at the bestdimensions for the box pile hive.
Unlike Apis mellifera, Apis cerana lays eggs in newly built cells,and you have to keep giving them room to extend the combsdownwards. Box pile hives are a good solution, because you alwayscan add a box to the bottom of the hive.
Hives with movable frames are a further development of the boxpile hive. Many of them are in use in Iki Island where the nectarflow is abundant all year because beekeepers grow forage plants toflower continuously. The bees are spared the job of rebuildinghoneycombs and so they collect nectar more quickly.
*The box pile hive is similar to the Abbé Warré hive – a simplehive in which bees build their combs attached to slats across theceilings of the box. No frames and no foundation. Slots enable thebees to move between boxes [Ed]
For more on hive designs see the Information Portal of the BfDwebsite
The box pile hive
Bees for Development Journal 94 PROFITABLE BEEKEEPING WITH APIS CERANA
Apis cerana evolved in monsoon forests using hollows in tree trunksfor nesting, ie vertical cylinders. This means that the best hives forApis cerana are vertical and long.
IIssllaannddeerrss’’ eeffffoorrttss ttoo bbeeccoommee pprrooffeessssiioonnaall bbeeeekkeeeeppeerrss Iki Island is the most successful of the four islands, and where we triedto create professional beekeepers. Eleven people started keepingApis cerana japonica, each with two hives that I gave them in 2007. Byspring 2009 some of them had 30 colonies and harvested 500 kg ofhoney with an income of about JP¥5 million (US$55,200; €40,000).They anticipate having 100 colonies in 2010, with beekeepers eachharvesting one tonne of honey.
The beekeepers are cultivating neglected fields for forage sources andcreating new apiary sites. They plan to grow buckwheat and rape seed,and by planting seeds continuously, nectar sources will be availablethroughout the year. More people are interested to start beekeeping andthey plan to create a union of entrepreneurs.
SSuucccceessss ffaaccttoorrss ffoorr pprrooffeessssiioonnaall bbeeeekkeeeeppeerrssEnsuring sufficient forage is the most important issue for beekeeping.Indigenous trees are thriving on Iki Island and the scent of their flowersdrifts all over the island in the swarming season. However, beekeeperscannot depend solely on the natural nectar flow, and it is necessary toplant other nectar sources like buckwheat, rapeseed and annualvegetables. Iki Island is depopulated like other islands of Japan andthere are many neglected fields. Fortunately, most of the members arefarmers and they can rent other fields for almost nothing.
DDeevviicceess ffoorr ccoonnddeennssiinngg hhoonneeyyIn Japan we have two periods in the year: dry and wet seasons. Thehumidity in the dry period is 45%, and can reach 75% in the rainyseason. The bees are unable to condense their honey sufficiently at thistime and the honey, if harvested, will ferment and cannot be served onthe table. It must be stored in a refrigerator to prevent fermentation.Apis mellifera beekeepers heat the honey at 50°C for three hours to killthe fermenting yeast.
Iki Island beekeepers have sought ways to reduce the water content tobelow 20% without heating. They found a way to extract the water fromthe honey using a desiccant. This discovery has enabled them toharvest honey at any time it fills the hive. You do not have to feed thebees with sugar syrup and you can harvest every 45 days.
‘Making friends’ with Apis cerana: the bees never sting their friends
Honey condensing unit: the water is extracted from the honey using a desiccant
Extracting the honeyThe colony needs to cool down
Mr Hisashi demonstrates adding a new box to the bottom of the box pile hive
10
AAppiiss cceerraannaa is one of eight honey bee species indigenous to Asia.Apis cerana naturally nests inside cavities and therefore can be keptin hives.
AAppiiss mmeelllliiffeerraa is the (only) honey bee species indigenous to Africa,Europe and the Middle East. Apis mellifera has been introducedworld-wide and provides the basis for beekeeping industries in manycountries.
Bees for Development Journal 94PROFITABLE BEEKEEPING WITH APIS CERANA
Apis cerana catch and confne hornets with their strong ‘forearms’ and kill themwith heat by ‘balling’ the hornet
Interior of a box pile hive
Ready for harvest
Usually the ‘doors’ are closed and bees use the 6 mm entrance provided
One box showing the wooden slats under which the bees construct the comb.
Mr Masahiro and his box pile hives in his apiary on Iki Island
FFuurrtthheerr rreeaaddiinngg
BfD Journal 85 Restoration of Apis cerana japonica on the Goto IslandsBfD Journal 61 Mono Block Clay Hive for Apis ceranaBfD Journal 54 Effect of Apis mellifera on indigenous plant and animalspecies in JapanBfD Journal 30 Apis mellifera versus Apis cerana in the north ofThailandBfD Journal 26 Genetic diversity in Apis cerana
11
Related Documents
