Bees and Beekeeping: Key Concepts and Challenges

This post summarises the main themes and important facts discussed concerning bees and beekeeping. Mrs M. Alleck Principal Scientific Officer, covers a broad range of topics, from the basic biology of bees to the challenges faced by beekeepers, particularly focusing on the Mauritian context where three bee races exist.

1. Introduction to Bees and Beekeeping:

• Nature of Bees: Bees are identified as insects and, importantly, social insects that have existed for millions of years. Human beekeeping is a relatively recent practice, only a few hundred thousand years old.
• Taxonomy and Importance: Bees belong to the order Hymenoptera, with Apis being the main species. They are crucial for agriculture as primary pollinators of fruits and vegetables and are producers of honey and beeswax.
• Colony Size: A healthy bee colony can house a significant number of individuals, ranging from 40,000 to 60,000.
• Beekeeping Definition and Importance: Beekeeping is defined as the practice of maintaining and caring for bee colonies primarily for honey production, pollination, and beeswax. Its importance lies in preserving biodiversity, food production, and ensuring food security.

2. Bee Races in Mauritius:

• Three main races are present in Mauritius:
• African Bee: Described as darker and more aggressive but less productive.
• Italian Bee: Characterized as more yellow, docile, and more productive.
• Hybrid Bees: The most common type now, resulting from crosses between the African and Italian races, exhibiting a mixture of their traits.

3. Biology of Honeybees:

• Anatomy: Honeybees have three body parts: head, thorax, and abdomen.
• Castes: A hive contains three categories of bees:
• Queen Bee: The most important female, responsible for laying eggs (up to 2,000 per day) and releasing pheromones to maintain hive order. Lives for about 5 years.
• Drones: Male bees whose primary role is to mate with the queen. They die after mating. Develop from unfertilized eggs.
• Worker Bees: Female bees (from fertilized eggs but not fed royal jelly exclusively) that perform all the work in the hive, including cleaning, feeding larvae, building wax combs, collecting nectar and pollen, defending the colony (they have a stinger), and maintaining hive temperature. Their lifespan is shorter, around 40 days. During their first three weeks, they typically stay within the hive.
• Life Cycle: Bees undergo four developmental stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
• Eggs (small, rice-shaped, cream-colored) are laid singly in cells.
• Larvae (C-shaped, cream-colored) hatch after 2-3 days and are fed by worker bees.
• Pupae develop after the cells are sealed by worker bees.
• Adults emerge from the cells.
• Development time varies: queen bees develop fastest, followed by worker bees, with drones taking the longest. Queen bee cells are larger, worker bee cells are smaller, and drone cells are wider.

4. Bee Foraging and Food Sources:

• Worker bees forage for food from flowering plants, primarily those with nectar (meliferous plants).
• Their main food sources are:
• Nectar: A source of sugar for energy, which is chemically processed into honey. Nectar contains a high percentage of water (up to 75%), which is reduced in honey (70-80% moisture). Honey is produced by bees for their own consumption and storage.
• Pollen: A source of protein; a colony can collect up to 26 kg per year.
• Water: Essential for various hive functions; a colony can consume up to one liter per day.

5. Bee Communication:

• Bees are highly specialized social insects with sophisticated communication methods crucial for survival, foraging, and hive maintenance.
• Two main forms of communication are:
• Dance and Vibration: Used primarily to communicate the distance, direction, elevation, odor, and location of food sources.
• Pheromones: Chemical signals produced mainly by the queen for various purposes, including colony defense, identification of their own hive, aggregation, and location of food.

6. Sources of Bees for Beekeeping:

• Swarms: Swarms occur when a colony becomes overcrowded, and a group of bees leaves with an old queen. Collecting swarms offers readily available bees but carries the risk of unknown origin and potential pests or diseases.
• Established Beekeepers: Purchasing bees from reputable beekeepers is a safer option.
• Nucleus: A small hive consisting of 4-5 frames with a queen, food, and honey, which can be transferred to a new hive to build up a full colony.

7. Structure of a Normal Beehive:

• Bottom Board: The base of the hive, providing an entrance for bees.
• Brood Chamber: The lower section where the queen lays eggs and brood develops. Contains frames for the queen to lay in.
• Queen Excluder: A mesh with openings small enough to prevent the larger queen from moving upwards into the super but allowing worker bees to pass.
• Super: The upper compartment where worker bees store nectar and convert it into honey. It is crucial to keep the queen out of the super for efficient honey harvesting.
• Inner Cover: Sits on top of the super.
• Outer Cover: Usually made of metal to protect the hive from rain and harsh weather.

8. Constraints to Beekeeping:

• Environmental Factors: Climate change, loss of habitats due to urbanization and deforestation, and seasonal variations.
• Pest and Diseases: The Varroa mite is identified as the main worldwide pest, along with other pathogens.
• Loss of Genetic Diversity: Due to inbreeding.
• Pesticides and Agrochemicals: A significant threat to bee health.

9. Impact of Pesticides on Bees:

• Pesticides are toxic chemicals, not only to pests but also to bees. Certain categories, like neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos (many now not recommended), are particularly toxic.
• Even if not lethal, pesticides can negatively impact bee behavior, including reduced foraging activity, movement and memory problems, and weakening of the immune system, making them more susceptible to pests and diseases.
• Neonicotinoids: Systemic pesticides absorbed by plants, affecting bees visiting their flowers. Can lead to colony collapse and disorientation. Imidacloprid is mentioned as an example of a neonicotinoid no longer recommended for agricultural use.
• Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD): A phenomenon where bees abruptly abandon the hive, leaving the queen behind. The exact causes are still being studied, but factors like diseases, habitat loss, and pesticides are believed to play a role. While not as prevalent in Mauritius, it is a concern in many other countries.
• Impact on Pollination: Pesticide exposure reduces bees' effectiveness as pollinators, leading to decreased food production, food insecurity, and economic losses for farmers, including those who rely on beekeepers for pollination services.

10. Mitigating Pesticide Exposure:

• Integrated Pest Management (IPM): Promoted by the Ministry of Agro Industry, emphasizing a combination of less toxic methods to control pests and minimizing pesticide use.
• Timing of Application: Avoiding spraying pesticides in the morning when bees are most active is recommended.
• Bee-Friendly Pesticides: Using less toxic biopesticides.
• Buffer Zones: Creating unsprayed areas around beehives to reduce exposure.

11. Pest and Diseases in Detail:

• Varroa Mite (Varroa destructor): A reddish-brown external mite that attaches to adult and immature bees, sucking their blood. Infestation symptoms include weakened bees, deformed wings (due to virus transmission), reduced lifespan, spread of diseases, and potential colony collapse. Introduced to Mauritius in 2014, now under control through management practices.
• Non-chemical management is preferred to avoid resistance and honey contamination. Recommended practices include integrated pest management, resistant stock, soft chemical treatments (as a last resort), mechanical methods (e.g., hive designs that facilitate mite drop onto sticky boards).
• Small Hive Beetle: A small, black beetle whose larval stage is most destructive, feeding on honey, brood, and wax. Control involves specific traps and maintaining strong colonies.
• Wax Moth: The larvae cause damage by feeding on honeycombs, pollen, and even wooden hive parts. Strong colonies are less affected. Control includes maintaining strong colonies and exposing infested equipment to sunlight or freezing.
• Chalkbrood Disease: A fungal disease that attacks larvae, causing them to become hard and chalk-like (symptoms include mummified larvae at the hive entrance). While not typically fatal to the colony, it can weaken it and reduce productivity. Management involves maintaining strong colonies, replacing poorly performing queens with more hygienic ones, and avoiding the use of equipment or pollen from infested hives.
• Deformed Wing Virus: A virus transmitted by the Varroa mite, causing wings to develop improperly, affecting bees' ability to fly, forage, and potentially leading to colony collapse.

12. Managing Infested Colonies:

• Early Monitoring and Detection: Regular inspection of colonies (weekly or fortnightly) for signs of pests and diseases. Using sticky boards to monitor Varroa mite levels.
• Control Measures: Prioritizing soft chemical or non-chemical treatments over harsh chemicals (used only as a last resort). For Varroa mites, time-based pesticides and traps can be used. For diseases, cleaning infected colonies, removing heavily infected ones, and limiting the movement of bees and equipment from infected to healthy hives are crucial.

Conclusion:

The lecture provided  a comprehensive overview of bee biology, beekeeping practices, and the significant challenges facing bee populations, particularly the impact of pesticides and the threat of pests and diseases. The information highlights the importance of bees as pollinators and the need for sustainable beekeeping practices and responsible pesticide management to protect these vital insects.