Apiculture

Siting an Apiary
The following factors are to be consider when siting an apiary:

 Away from built up areas for public safety.

 A far distance away from bee-keepers residence.
 Absence of pollutants/pesticides
 Good pathway to apiary
 Soil not water logged
 Close proximity to flowers/food source
 Protection from direct sunrays (but should get morning and evening sunlight)
 Protection from wind ( as continuous strong wind disrupt the bees)
 Protection from pests, e.g., toads, ants.
 Protection from domestic animals (straying livestock may damage hives).
 Prevention of praedial larceny.
 Prevent disorientation of bees.

Parts of a Hive
Stand
 To lift the hive 75 cm above the ground
 Protect hive against predators, e.g. frogs.

Bottom Board or Floor

 Made of durable material

 Subject to deterioration

Brood Chamber or Body

 Contains a number of frames for the bees to make combs

 Queens lay eggs here
 Young workers are reared in the brood chamber
 Spacing of frames 4 cm from centre to centre within the brood chamber

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Supers

 Extra honey storage compartment

 Located above brood chamber

Covers

 Can have inner and outer covers

 Inner covers protects against draughts and ants

Comb

 Frames the comb-building foundation

 Cells of comb are for brooding, pollen storage and honey

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Honey Production
The following processes are involved in honey production:
 Worker bees go out to find nectar.
 They take the nectar into their stomachs where enzymes act on it.
 The workers fly back to the hive and regurgitate it into the combs.
 The workers remove excess water from the comb by fanning the comb with their wings.
 Combs are then sealed with wax.
NB: The queen should be secluded from the super.

Honey Extraction
There are two seasons when honey is extracted. These are called the Honey Flow periods.
Guidelines for honey extraction:
 Use protective clothing
 Do not wear bright colours or use perfume.
 Use a smoker to pacify bees.
 Use a hive tool to open the top of the hive.
 Remove frames and uncap combs using a sharp knife
 Place frames in a centrifuge.
 Strain honey after it has settled to remove debris.
 Replace undamaged frames to the hive.
 Extract only capped cells (frames).
 Bottle honey and label.

Swarming
Swarming is a natural phenomenon to increase the number of bee colonies.
The stages of swarming is as follows:
 Worker bees build queen cells. Cells are easily identify since they hang vertically and are
larger than other cells.
 Bees engorge themselves with honey.
 Workers act as ‘scouts’, to seek out a new site.
 The swarm settles about 50 m from the old hive to make sure the old queen is present.
 The queen can be captured now to form a new hive.
 A new queen will emerge in the old hive.
 This new queen kills other developing queens.
 The new queen makes her nuptial flight.

Causes of swarming
 Loss of food source
 Overcrowding in hive
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Economic Importance of Bees

 Bees produce food directly, e.g., honey.

 Bees produce food indirectly, through the process of pollination.
 They produce healthy foods, e.g., royal jelly, pollen.
 Industries are set up around the rearing of bees, e.g., builders of bee equipment.
 The produce raw material for industries, e.g., wax.
 Bee venom is considered as medicinal for arthritis.

Plants Which Attract Bees

 Avocado
 Tonko Bean  Lylay
 Citrus  Chennet
 Paw Paw  Coconut
 Mora  Coffee
 Mangoes

Pests and Diseases of Bees

Bee Mites

These are spread by clinging on to bees when they go to forage for nectar.

The fertile adult female mites enter bee brood cells before they are capped and deposit their eggs.
These eggs hatched rapidly. These developing mites feed on the “blood” of developing brood.
When the bees emerge from the cells the mites also emerge and seek other bee brood cells.

Symptoms

Appearance of adult bees with:

 Deformed wings
 Missing legs
 Shorten abdomen

Diagnosis

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  A scattered pattern of sealed and unsealed brood cells should indicate mite infestation.

Control

 Hive fumigation
 Biological control- achieved by depriving the mite of brood for three days by confining
the queen in a small egg laying area.

American Foul Brood (AFB)

AFB is caused by the spore-forming bacteria Paenibacillus larvae ssp. Larvae, is a highly
infectious bee disease. It is the most widespread and destructive of the brood diseases.

Cause

 Bacterium

Symptoms

 Dead older larvae or pupae lying flat in their cells.

 Discoloured capping sunken and punctured.

Diagnosis

 Use of ‘stretch test’ – a small stick about the size of a match stick is inserted into the
mass of the decayed larva and gently withdrawn. If the dead brood adheres to the tip of
the stick and can be stretched about 2.5 centimeters typifies AFB.
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Control

 The colonies infected with AFB should killed and burned with the entire hive
 Use of antibiotics such as terramycin.

European Foul Brood (EFB)

EFB is a bacterial disease that effects honey bee larvae before the capped stage. European
foulbrood disease is characterized by dead and dying larvae which can appear curled upwards,
brown or yellow, melted, and/or dried out and rubbery. The causative bacteria, Melissococcus
plutonius is ingested by honey bee larvae after which the bacterium competes for food inside the
larvae. If the bacteria out-competes the larva, the larva will die before the cell is capped.
Alternatively, the bee may survive until adulthood if the larvae has sufficient food resources. 

Symptoms

 Affects only young honeybee larvae 4-5 days old

 When the stretch test is used the dead larvae cannot be pulled out in a thread.

Control

 Re-queening
 Supplemental feeding
 Adding frames of emerging brood
 Use of antibiotics

Sacbrood disease

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Sac brood is a contagious disease which causes major damage to the bee-keeping industry. It is
caused by a virus which attacks the larvae of the brood, causing their death. Sac brood attack
reduces the number of larvae, thus later on reducing the population adult bees. Sac brood attack
does not wipe out the colony but weakens it, making it susceptible to other pest attacks.

Symptoms

 Dead larvae in the comb which have failed to pupate.

 The larvae are sac-like in appearance.
 There are colour changes from white to pale yellow to dark brown or black

Control

 Re-queening
 Adding frames of emerging brood
 Supplemental feeding

Eradicating the Virus

Check the hive for sac brood once every two weeks. If sac brood is present, take the following
actions.
 If the attack affects than 20% of the comb, remove the comb and burn it, or melt it in a
Solar Wax Extractor.
 If more than 20% of the brood is infected, all adult bees must be destroyed with a
household aerosol pesticide spray. To ensure all bees are dead, close the hive and spray it
again after 24 hours.
 Separate the comb wax from its frame, and burn or melt the wax.
 The hive's frame should be fumigated with formalin. This can be done by putting the
frame in a plastic bag together with a small cotton roll soaked with 40% formalin. Close
the end of the plastic bag and leave it for 24 hours
 Isolate the hive box and sanitate it before reuse. Either fumigate it with formalin, or
submerge it in 2% Clorox or Dettol solution.

Nosema Disease

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Nosema disease in honey bees is caused by two species of pathogens, Nosema apis and Nosema
ceranae. Nosema apis was the only known microsporidian honey bee pathogen until 1996, when
a second species, Nosema ceranae, was identified from the Asian honey bee. Nosema ceranae
appears to be the dominant species in the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) in many parts of
the world, including in Europe and the United States. Both of these pathogens cause chronic
deleterious effects in the honey bee host.

Cause

 Protozoa- brought on by stress conditions for example, poor laying queens, unhygienic
hive conditions, and inclement weather.

Symptoms

 A lab test is necessary

Control

 Re-queening
 Supplemental feeding

References

1. Baily, L. (1956). Aetiology of European foulbrood; a disease of larval honeybee. Nature

178: 1130.
2. Baily, L. (1960). The epizootiology of European foulbrood of the larval honey bee, Apis
mellifera Linnaeus. Journal of Insect Pathology 2: 67-83.

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