p. 0. Box 202, Gaborone, Botswana - Bees for Development

p. 0. Box 202, Gaborone, Botswana

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VIII
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XI
Introduction
The Horizontal Tanzanian Top Bar Hive
Beekeeping
A) Getting and Securing Bees
B) Dividing
C) Introduction of Swarms and Colonies
D) Feeding
E) Honey Ear-vest
F) Equipment
G) Record on the Development of a Colony
Bee Plants around Kagcae
A) Vegetation Zones
B) General Observations
C) List of Main Bee Plants
D) Other frequent Plants
Foraging Times in the Course of the Year
Some Observations about Foraging
Some A additional Remarks on Biology and Behaviour
Natural Enemies
A) Ants
B) Bee Pirates
C) Death's Head Hawk Moths
D) Wax Moths
E) The small Hive Beetle (Aethina tumida)
F) The Beelouse Braula
Training of Beekeepers
A) The first Training Group
B) Regrouping of the Trainees
C) Involvement of Adults
D) Harvest from Kagcae people's hives
Expansion of Beekeeping
A) Extending Numbers of hived Colonies
B) Extending Beekeeping to other Places
Goals for the next Future
BEES AND BEEKEEPING AT KAGCAE IN THE WESTERN CSSTTRAL KALAHARI
This is a preliminary report; it deals only with a fifteen
months period of observation and practical experience.
I Introduction
tagcae is one of the water and land development schemes within
He official Remote Area Development Programme of the government
of Botswana. Beside teaching in the small school our liaison
tasks here are manyfold. We have to encourage the Remote Area
Dwellers at Kagcae (in this case they are mostly Basarwa =
"Bushmen"), to take up and to keep up self help projects, so
that they may improve self-reliance.
The settlement of Kagcae is situated about 15okm south-east
of Gantsi, near the Gantsi-Lobatse road, in the western part
of the Central Kalahari.
Vegetation: The Central Kalahari has an average altitude of
Iloom aT5ove sea level, and it is by no means a "desert".
It is a densely vegetated grass and ."bush land, with scattered,
open ACACIA giraffae and ACACIA luderitzi forests (dry savannah,.
shrub savannah).
Rainfall: The mean annual rainfall in this area is 3oo-4oomm.
Surlng^he rain season there are often considerable intervals
between the rainfalls. The main rainfalls are generally between
January and April. About 4-5 winter months are without any
rain. See attached rainfall graph.
Groundwater at Kagcae is nearly 2oom deep.
The texture of the sandy soil however keeps moisture over
amazingly long periods, f
Example: last rain 24 May 1978| 19mm)- moisture end of June
ca. 7-8cm deep, end of August ca. 9-locra,
. rises daily considerably between short time before
sunrise a53 early afternoon. During the warmer and wetter eeasor.
the range may be for instance from 21 to 38 Centigrade, in
wintertime from -7 to 2o C,
Bees: Soon after our arrival in September 1976 I found the
African Honeybee, Apis mellif era adansonii, fairly common here.
People used to destroy "tne J Dee~coionies~ i6urd in hollow trees or
in holes in the ground ,and they harvested the honey.
BS1 To me ii; was an exiting idea to start utilizing
natural resources without any ecological hazard (quite on the
contrary! ) - under the aspects of encouraging self help, right
from the beginning on.
I had no beekeeping experiences, but during my university-years
I once studied the behavior of bees academically.
After reading some books about beekeepfcg and long discussions
with several beekeepers in Botswana and Namibia I came to the
conclusion that it would be a worthwhile experiment.

59R._U_
UNDP BOTSWANA
Mean Annual Rainfall
400 MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL (OCT-SEPT) JNrnni.
~-fiO%- PERCENTAGE SEASONAL VARIABILITY FROM
MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL.
• 687-3 SELECTED RAINFALL STATIONS AND MEAN
ANNUAL RAINFALLW Itim.
THE »EAN ANNUAL H
is aaaEo ON » THIRTY YEM
PERIOD IB39-40 TO IBM.gg
YE*Ra AND T9HINC fo
TWELVE YEAH9
FOOD AND A6R!ClJLTUflE_0«S*NtI»TIO« OF THE UH IT 60 N*T10F« cc

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II The Horizontal ganzanlan Top Bar Hive
a fine Example.''- of Intermediate Technology
Thickness of wood = 2,0 - 2,3 cm
Top bars are flush
Fine entrance holes 0 9.5 - 10 mm
The 26 top "bars are«3,2cm wide, and. they hare
an edge on which the bees are expected to hang
up their combs-.
The fronts of our hives are facing eastern to north-eastern
direction. The colonies are all settled iii the northern half of
the hive to "be safe from southerly cold winds, and to get warmth
in the afternoon during winter time.
MvantaggSL of &tie hive are so far:
l.Easy and quick access to the colony; Interchangable top "bars.
2.The long and undivided space provides flexibility between
brood nest and honey section. There is always enough space for
quickly varying brood-, building- or storing activities.
Once we inserted queen excluders between the 8 and 9 top
bars of some hives. Even though small combs and. top bars with
wax. edges were hanging on the other side, the "bees didn't pass
over, but. preferred to swarm instead, up to six times. So we
dropped the idea.
3.Enough space does not prevent swarming,but certainly aggressiv*
ness and absconding, as overcrowding is nearly impossible in
this long hive. Established and "big colonies never absconded
up til now, even after severe interferences like brutal burgle
and having been knocked down by cattle.
4.The small entrance holes are of great value:
a.)They prevent snakes and bigger; natural enemies like Deaths
Head Hawk Moth from entering the hive.
b)Three to four gards can block the holes from inside with thei
heads.Smaller intruder like robfeerbees, ants and bee pirates
can he repulsed successfully.
5,The colonies remain calm when the hives are opened, in a certaiJ
distance from, the nest$. (see 1.)
6.There are hardly hiding places fo» wax. moth larvae in this
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7. There is space enough between the top "bars to provide sufficient
top ventilation; most spaces are even closed "by propolis,
especially during the cold and dry seasons, but it is .no
problem to lift the top bars.
To support airing we lift the metal lid foir about 2,5cm.
A thick layer of grass on the lid, In addition to to a well
shaded place may help the "bees within the hive to cope better
.' with the enormous daily differences of temperature.
8, Obviously the biggest advantage of the tanzanian hive is the
fact that th(s"beefriendly hive" seems to make the notorious
Apis_niellif era adansonli friendly. Only 3-4 bees per hole can
see what is going on outside, and they seem to feel quite safe.
Till today there was never an attack on passers-by and nearby
playing children. Bogs and cattle are lying often around the
hives, goats even -on top, to share the shade, undisturbed
by bees.
A disadvantage of this hive so far:
The unoccupied half of this long hive tends to get mouldy during
the wet season. Prom January to April the atmospheric humidity
is relatively high. That's the time when a strong colony has
difficulties in getting rid of respiration moisture. Whereas the
occupied half of the hive is kept dry, the other half seems to
be used as "drainage" space. But the last rain season we had not
yet lifted the lids. May "be it will "be" better now,
III Beekeeping
1. Purchase
Ipurchased 22 colonies .from beekeepers in Lobatse (S.E.Botswana)
and Windhoek (Namibia),
2 .Capture
I dug or chopped out 2 colonies in Windhoek, 11 on a farm near
Gohabis (Namibia), and one in Gantsi.
9 colonies have been captured "by Kagcae people themselves, as
well as 7 swarms.
3,More colonies by Dividing (see below)
We got another lo new colonies "by splitting them off,
4. losses
We lost 18 of these 62 colonies: ^
2 died on transport,
3 were united 'bv, us,
7 united ^fodwf&s (as we were short of hives we subdivided
some and kept two to three colonies >per hive; apparently
there was a mutual assimilation of smells!)
1 colony had laying workers, failed to rear a new queen, and
died out,
3 absconded witotit a clear reason (perhaps because of ants),
2 absconded from a hive '.made of tin containers (differences
of temperature, ants).
5. Whereabouts of the remaining colonies
44 colonies remained.
26, are stationed in the Kagcae area.
were transported to other places in the Gantsi District.

B, Dividing
•4-
We divided strong colonies up to three times in order to create
nww colonies. This fairly successful method can be obviously
used at any time of the year, as long as brood and drcnes are
present.
A split-off unit consists of one to three brood combs (brood of
all ages) and one or two framing honey combs. The brood combs
are transferred into the new hive with all covering bees.
Some more bees are then brushed into the new hive, too. The
queen was normally left in the parent colony.
Split-off colonies didn't abscond, provided they were not to muc;
bothered by ants or standing too near to established colonies.
(We experienced once a mass amalgamation!) They settled nicely
while rearing a new queen.
During winter months we discovered the first eggs already after
3-4 weeks, in summer-time after 4-5 weeks.
When the split-off units are strong enough and are containing
abundant pollen and honey they may not only build emergency cell;
but also swarm cells. Example: On 8 October 78 I divided a very
big colony three'times. And after two weeks one of these three
new colonies was left by one, the other one even by two swarms,
which were all hived,
The preferable time for dividing seems to, be between May and
October: Our big. colonies had still brood and drones 1f, and
ants were not such a severe problem, then.
_0y Introduction ofnSwarms and Colonies
1.Naked swarms
After a swarm, has been captured, we search for the queen. She is
then kept in a slightly opened matchbox, inmidst the captured
swarm.
The right half of the hive is prepared, by smearing old wax. on
the, inner walls and the top bars, A top bar with a comb with
capped brood and a honey comb from another colony are inserted.
We put the matchbox with the queen in one corner of the hive
and shake the awarm gently into it. When most of the bees concentrato
near1 the queen, she can be released, and the hive is
closed.
formally the swarm covers the brood quickly, it gfcts quiet, and
a queen excluder is hardly necessary.
Foraging, started sometimes already 1-2 hours after the introduction.
One October day a captured swarm rised again before the new hive
was ready, left the queen in the matchbox behind, and joine*
a colony about 3m away which was queenless, but had about
'When I dug and chopped out 11 colonies in the Gobabis area
in the second week of May 78, I found brood in all of them;
4 contained drones and drone brood, Gobabis has the same mean
rainfall as the Western Central Kalahari.
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ten queen cells. As soon as the new hiws was ready I tooK. a
brood comb with the jointly covering bees, inserted it and
brushed some more bees into the new hive, I added the matchbox
with the queen, and released her after half a day, with no complications.
We experienced however problems when ants intruded the new hive
before a small swarm could settle, or when no brood combs were
available at all. In both cases the swarms absconded many times.
Swarms, introduced into corabless hives during wintertime, seem
to be more ready to settle.
2. Dug or chopped out colonies
As the honey and brood combs of "wild" colonies can't "be
attached to the top bars they have to be placed parallel in the
corner of the hive, just below the top bars where the bees are
-expected to hang up -their new combs.
As soon as most of the bees hare moved upwards and start to build
the first new combs within the hanging cluster, we remove the old
honey combs successively, break them into pieces,and put them
down in the other half of the hive. Brood corahs are moved a bit
aside, together with the covering bees, in order to make them
unattractive for the queen: When the brood has emerged, the
combs are often filled with honey. We "bra»k^ them into pieces,too,
and move them also further away. Bees empty the comb pieces which
are then removed, to avoid wax moths.
Bees' take also stored pollen out of old comb pieces. I never observed
this when the combs were lying putside the hive.
D) Feeding
1. Mixtures
We feed sugarwater (l part sugar : 1 part water).
We use simple feeders: jar turned upside down, standing on a
larger lid on the bottom of the hive.
In times of poor pollen supply we add 1-3 teaspoons of powdered
skim-milk, or about 4-5 teaspoons fresh milk, to 1/4 litres
sugarwater. If the dosage is too big this mixture ferments very
quickly, especially on hot days.
When a colony has enough honey storage, but no pollen, we feed
skim-milk powder, mixed with a bit sugarwater to a thin paste.
This mixture does not ferment, if kept in a little saucer. Bees
were not interested in plain powdered skim-milk. But they take it,
when it is strewn into open honey cells containing unripe honey.
2. Quantities used for a swarm
How much sugar is used to build up the "first combs with brood
and storage?
The small swarm "K" (about 5 000 bees), caught and hived on
July 8, 1978 may be an example, as July ^Q was a month with poor
foraging activity,
"K" was introduced without any brood and honey combs, but it
tried only one time to abscond.
We fed a sugarwater-milk-mixture till the end of July and then
pure sugarwater till August,10 (When more pollen was again
available).

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Till this date "K" produced about 18og wax and ca, 8oog honey
out of 3ooog sugar. (5 one third-combs, and a 6-th Tery smalljpiece
This boost seemed to be sufficient, and »E» turned out to be
our record hive. On November, 9, we controlled the colony and
fowaft 6 large combs and a half. So 6 was more than half sealedfi
the owner harvested it, 1,7kg comb honey. He harvested again
on Decemberr4r'ke got 4,2kg, and on Dec,31, another 1,5 kg, and
2,2 kg. Altogether it was 9,6 kg. only half a year after the
introduction, -
3.B.easons for feeding
We only feed newly captured swarms, if no honey combs are
available, and when we want to "boost colonies before dividing.
We never feed big, well established colonies, as we don't
harvest too much, honey (see below).
E, Honey Harvest
1. Which, combs can he taken?
Only pure honey combs are taken out, whictfare at least half
sealed. Following this "rule of thumb" we left always abundant
honey foF the colony,
It may sometimes occur that a fine honey comb borders the brood
nest and contains a small brood section on the inner side.
In this case we put a top bar between it and the last brood comb
After the brood has emerged, She bees fill the cells with honey,
and the comb, can be harvested.
2. Times of opening the hive
Apis mellifera adansonli seems to be least aggressive during
morning and afternoon hours at temperatures between 2o"and 24 0.
Control/s can be carried out under these conditions, also, without
being boiaiered by bee pirates (see ^Enemies. . . ")
Z,_ Equipment "'
Aa costs have to be kept as low as possible, I experimented with
utmost simple equipment from the beginning on, KtSaoesxEbciiyx
in the presence of interested persons (mainly boys), and we all
got more aid more confident, handling b-ees witout any special
clothes, veils, and gloves,
We only use a broad-brimmed hat (if available), a knife, a big
feather, and a smoker, made of a perforated tin. Smoking material
is cow dung. An empty matchbox serves as a queen cage, e.g. aftei
a swarm has been caught.
The smoker is our most essential tool, though smoke is always
used very sparsely. A little bit only, blown into the entrance
holes before opening the hive, keeps a strong colony calm*
After the hive has beenqpened, a bit smoke is applied now and
again .
Small and medium sized colonies are handled generally, without
any smoke, as well swarms which are not yet fully settled.
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G. Record on the Development of a Colony
In mid-September I purchased my first colony "W" from
Mr.H.Going, a farmer and beekeeper near Lobatse.
It was a small colony of about 5ooo bees. I provided therefore
plenty of sugarwater till the middle of December 77.
There was apparently sufficient pollen. The growth was enormous,
and I could take out 6 brood combs between mid-November and
mid-December, in order to boost two small swarms which we had
captured in the meantime.
Here some more data about4further development and exploitations:
24-1-78: 7 fullsized combs, No 8 half; No 7;large brood section
17-2-78: 11 fullsised combs, No 12 two small pieces, still empty
g_3_73: general control:
w v s/
'i^W
rf
v
tf
"No 1 little pollen and. honey «,
No 2 much pollen and honey (mostly sealed)
No ,37capped brood in lower part ,rest-filled with honey,l/3sealed
No 4 capped brood in lower part.,rest filled with honey,l/3sealed
No 5

2-9-78 till 19-9-78: 8 swarms left the hive
S-lo-78: Colony again big, 15 fullsized combs, one half comb-
No 1 and 2 pollen and honey, Wo 3-9 brood,
No lo capped "brood on inner surface,outer surface hon
Wo 11-14 honey, 1/4 sealed.
An empty top bar was put between Wo 9 and Ho lo, in
order to "save" No lo for honey. (Ho 9a)
21-10-78: No lo both sides filled with honey!
21-11-78: 14 fullsized combs, No 9a two small pieces, one with
drone cells and eggs
25-12-78: 14 combs; but the 9a drone cells are now containing
only honey (pollen shortage begins), No lo and 11
' - • ' te^^t£

,
Mar Apr May june
Flowering time, black = main forage

No 14
No 15
No 16
No 17
18
No 19
No 20
No 21
No 22
No 23
No 24
No 25
No 26
No 27
Wo 28
-lo-
Tribulus sp. , herb, will certainly spread where perennial
grasses disappear
Indigofera cf.costata. herb, notiiattractive in Aug.-Novembe
Hibiscus caesius. small shrub, pollen provider, not attrct
in October-November?
Acacia ataxacantha. shrub, Foraging not yet observed, but
aoc- «> Johannsmeier pooaibly an average nectar and pollen
plant
Urochloa brachyura. grass, will spread further (see No 14)
and will become a more and more important booster of
brood rearing because of its abundant pollen production
Ocimum sp. herb
Hermannia modesta. herb, not attractive in May?
Hirpiclum gazanioides. herb
Jernonla poskeana. herb, forage from midmorning on,
appearantly the most important bee pfoant for about three
months '
Lycium austrinum. shrub with frost-resistant leaves and
flowers
Mpnechma divaricatum. frost-resistant herbes
jUgyphus mucronata. shrub, first seen in 1978
Gitrullas lanatus. Citrullus naudinianus, herbs, Oct. - APT
Commelina'-sp^. herb, January - April
C_leroaendrum~ternatum. herb, October/November, pollen and
nectar was collected for about 10 days, later flowers were
neglected^- though containing s-till plenty of nectar and
pollen
No 27 and 28 occur on sormrfe small sandy patches and it has still
to be found out, whether they belong to t^-he main bee plants.
No 29 Combretum cf. collinum. October? Srees about 1,5 - 2 1cm -^-~
soutli of Kagcae seilleraent. I don-tt know yet how intensivel
they are visited.
No 30 Securidaca longep_edunculata. a very bee-attractive, but ver
rare tree in our area.
I suppose that some frost-resistant Asteraceae (e. g. Pentzia,
Felicia, Pteronia), Fabaceae (Melolobium) . Serophulariaceae. and
Acanthaoeae may be main pollen and nectar providers during" the
winter months, together with No 1, 16, 22, 23, 24. Most of these
plants tu>e growing in the pans of Kagcae area. Other frequent
plants, on which I couldn't observe any foraging so far:
Boscia albitrunca. tree, September/October, in every vegetation
zone
Catophractes alexandri. shrub, September/October, bord— er of pans
gassia arachoides. herb, October - Jmne>.:on sand
Harpagophytum pro'cumbens , herb, October -"March, on sand
Heliotropium lineare. herb. November - March, in pans
We once experienced that pollen stored in combs with its
honey had a strange, fishy taste.
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_—
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BauMnia macrantha. shrub, November - January, on sand.+'
Melhania acuminata. herb, February -May
Favonia sp., herbT February - Juner^on"sand
Oprchorus sp., herb, February - June'
Rhus tenuinervis. shrub, February, on sana
Acrptome inflata, herb, February - June, on sand
Tetragonia calycina, shrub, February - May, in the pan
Eriocephalus pubescens, shrub, February - June, in the pan
CofhicTarpais_p^ndaMrus't" herb, February - June, October, in pan
Celosia linearis, frost-resistant herb, March - June, in the pan
Hermann!a tomentosa, frost-resistant herb, March - November, sand
Oxygonum sp., herb, March - May, on sand
Folljchia. campestris, shrub, February - June, on sand
Helichrysum argyrosp'haerum, frost-resistant herb, June - October,
on sand, follows after destruction of the sward.
Though this list of plants and abservations can't be perfect at
all, it may give already an impression of the considerable
variety, especially where the three vegetations zones are close
together.
V_J?oraging Times in the Course of the Year
Foraging can be observed generally during the early to mid mornings,
and again from the second hal'f of the afternoon till the
early evening.
Scout bees may bee observed at any day time.
During the warmer months (September to March) foraging starts
about 4o min. before sunrise, and the last home-comers can be
seen about 4o min. after sunset. a
Foraging has been observed between lo°and 38 C.
During the cold season activities may sometimes begin only
between 8 and lo o'clock in the morning at a minimum temperature
of 13°C, and they stop sometimes about 2o min. before sunset.
From April to October foraging activities can be observed
generally throughout the day. There are however unpredictable
departures from these "rules" quite often, mainly in the warmer
and wetter season.
I couldn't see yet a clear influence on foraging activities by
light intensity, temperature, atmospheric humidity, light rains,
•winds, "sieges" by bee pirates,
I suppose that foraging activities are determined in the first
hand by other variables, such as developments within the single
colony, differing nectar and pollen periods of the various plant
species, and the"luck" of single scout bees.
The productivity of flowers is of course also dependant on
weather conditions. Most of the flowering plants seem to produce
during the morning and afternoon hours, but some also during the
hotter and drier hours of the day (e.g. Acacia mellifera, Vernonia
poskeana, Hibiscus caesius), Pollen^activity seems to slow down
for 2-3 days after rain. ^««f*f
Bauhinia esculenta 8 km northeast of Kagcae on Dec, 6, 78
According to the people here, these plants are there since
only some years. Is this the most southern occurrence so far?
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-12- -13-
It can be observed very often that after a fairly equal start
in the early morning the intensity of foraging differs from hive
to hive during the following hours. And again the following day
the pattern of differences can be another one, without any
risible reasons.
¥e experienced the lowest" foraging activities between the middle
of June and the middle 6f July 1978, with a corresponding reduction
of worker and drone brood - "besides the already mentioned
actual poor situation in December 1978.
71 Some Observations about Foraging
1. Workers on flowers of Acacia mellifera, fleckii and lUderitzj.
were busy either as nectar or pollen collecting "specialists" or
as nectar and pollen foragers.
2. The loads of nectar, water and pollen are often enorracuus The
crop may contain liquid drops bigger then a bee's head. In
February and March I saw huge disk-shaped, pollen loads of a
diameter of 3,5 mm, covering even the second tarsus..
3. Sluggish landings seem to be more likely the result of heavy
loads than of low temperature.
4. Bees forage the sweet secretions of Acacia glands (see page 9'
between 10* and 15* in the early morning.
5. I started the first pollen loads from a temperature of 13°
upwards.
6. Foraging of grass pollen (Urochloa brachyarfl) between January
and March is peculiar. Urochloa anthers "open and "dust" just
around sumrise, especially on dewy mornings. Bees forage between
18* and 25* (exceptionally till 28*), shortly after sunrise for
about two hours. Their restless movements when crawling and
hanging below the anthers make the light yellow pollen ripple
down on their stomachs. Many anthers are teared off and partly
kneaded into the pollen loads, so that they look like fringes.
After 3-4 min, the forager flies home. During the morning hour;
the house bees are throwing the empty anthers out of the entrance
holes, so that the ground is strewn with them.
April mornings seem to be too cold already for this specfial
activity though Urochloa is still producing pollen.
Til Some Additional R em arks on_ Bio 1 p gy and g ejiayi our
1. The_ puzzle of water .supply, in th_e dry_K_alahari_
According to G. ""wurst-Henning ( "Praktische Bienenzucht in Siidwest",
1944) a water source, 6 km from the hive, seems to be
still economic for Apis mellifera adansonii. The "undeveloped"
Kalahari, however, is virtually without any surface water for
more than three quarters of tne year. The shallow pools within
the pans are drying up mostly after some weeks. But bee colonies
can be found everywhere in the Kalahari. How do they get their
minimum water supply during dry times? Which are their "tricks"
of being economical with water?
Let me state some r observations and theories about this
-13-
matter.
a) Dew is certainly a main water source when pools are dry.
Dew is frequent from January to May and less regular in June/
July (aften. as white frost but mostly disappeared till the
flights start), and October to December. During May I saw "bees
collecting dew from Acacia leaves.
b) Bees come to suck blood and other liquids of killed animals.
I saw a bee sucking urine.
c) I could imagine that bees use also liquid resins and fruit
for water supply.
d) What about the possibility of recycling respiration water?
Colonies seal their hives additionally with propolisrespecially
•in the dry. months Jirly to October.
e) Other possibilities of getting and keeping water seem to me:
Very watery nectars; deposited (salt)water secretious on certain
slants, like Salsola; hygroscopic property of unsealed honey
(see d); fat body produces water by chemical desintegration,
feeding on "brood as a last resort ...
2. Requeening
One morning I detected an old (?) dying queen on the bottom of
a hive. I found eggs from the same day on, laid by another (youngt
Queen. Is it possibly an example of a take-over without any
interruption of brood rearing? - ,
A swarm introduced into a new hive.(in Oct., 24, 1978Jgot a
brood comb from another hive. Eight days later the queen had
disappeared, and I detected five emergency cells. On Nov., 7,
I saw the new queen, eggs and some young brood, but also two
still capped queen cells. They were -bit open the same day. I
suppose that the two queens were kept imprisoned till the older
sister proved to be successful.
3. Drones . ,
Drone flights are sometimes starting in warm mornings, but
generally between noon and mid afternoon, all over the year,
as far as they are tolerated by colonies during winter months.
They return between one hour and half an hour before sunset.
They seem to feel at home in several hives: A number of drones
e. g. were buzzing about a place'ln the late afternoon from
where a hive had been removed the previous evening,.
We abserved that strong and well established colonies are
carrvine out a permanent control of their drone population.
Colony »W» excluded many drones and cut their numbers down, too,
by removing pupae (between April and July 78). Dead drones on the
ground werS often dragged further away. In August there were no
drones left, but they appeared again in the beginning oi
September During the first half of September the colony swarmed
SigJt t£«7 IndSno drones were left in October .-Colony "Bl" had
drones all over the year, but controlled their numbers
continuously, mostly by removing pupae.
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4 . Swarming
We experienced two swarming periods here at Kagcae:
Fir at perj.od : Beginning of September to the middle of November.
Sgcond periocT: End of April to end of May
Swarming occurred mainly during late mornings or early afternoons
regardless of high temperatures (till 31*J. Strong colonies
swarmed up to eight times within three weeks.
In one case the finally remaining, exhausted colony failed to
rear a new queen out of young larvae. We found capped queen cells
which never hatched. When we opened then we found mumified
workers in them, in an upright position,
Swarms were generally gentle, also after having been caught:
We use to search for the queen without any protection.-Swarms
got, however, aggressive, when the queen got lost or couldn't
fly and the swarm was buzzing nervously on the ground.
5 . Foragers
Returning foragers are not excluded from emergency tasks: I
observed at the end of November that several home-comers with
pollen loads were dragging dying bees out of the hive.
6. Aggressiveness
After a frosty night a big colony "can afford" numb bees on the
surface of its cluster, A small colony however keeps all bees
warm enough to be alert: it is much, more aggressive than a big
one when a hive is opened on a very cold early morning.
VIII Natural Enemies
During the "ant-season" from November to April ants can become
the most serious threat, not to a medium sized or strong colony,
but to a small one, even in the "ant-tight" top bar hive,
certainly because a small colony needs every bee on the combs:
Entrance holes are not guarded, even if only two - three of
them are ropen. Ants may even overcome a mixture of grease and
paraffin, smeared around the legs of a trestle. A feeding bottle
encourages them more than full honey combs, which are defended
by the covering bees.
The best ant control is really a strong colonyl And a weak one
should bett-er get small honeycombs instead of food from "a
feeding bottle. It is of course a very tricky situation when
there is no pollen around, and substitute must be fed. We have
got this situation in December 78, and are at the moment trying
to keep ants out of small colonies by strewing skim-rmilk powder
into the cells of food combs (see also III, D, l).
Pirates
1. Philanthus dladema
We saw a Philanthus diadema already at the end of July 78_, lying
dead in front of a hive. Ph.ilanth.us is already and still 'active
at temperatures of 15P, also before sunrise and after sunset,
It is hovering near flowers as well as in front of hives. After
having been seised suddenly by Philanthus the prey is paralysed
on the ground and -a ft 03*- th£o carried away. This wasp is even
intruding hives where it can "be found quite oftenistung to death.
After some time the dead Philanthus is thrown out1 of the hive,
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Ph.ilanth.us is apparently not as dangerous as the swift and more
frequent .
2, Falarus latlfrotts
The first Palarus '(males) appeared at the end of September. Lots
of females joined them after the first half of October - they
are the hunters. They are sometimes very rare, but numerous
again from one day to the other. But from April on we stated a
real decrease. During hive controls Palarus grasps bees from
combs even inside the hive, like Ptiilanthus. Palarus are mostly
found in restless and rapidly swinging flights in front of hivec,
chasing each other. But we observed them also at watering places.
They seem to be more dependent on warmth than Pliilantus; they
are hunting most successfully between 26*and 40*, also a£ter
•sunset. Under 24°Palarus has still to "recharge" every now and
then, sitting down in the open sun for some seconds. Uii'Ter these
conditions bees have still a good chance of escape by aig-zag
flights, or even by shaking Palarus off.
At 25° Palarus must often go down to the ground in order to
paralyse the seized bee. But with increasing temperatures Palarus
is strong enough, to do this in the air. It seems that strong
winds decrease the activity of Palarus.
When there is no foraging activity during the hot parts tff the
day, the extent of Palarus nuisance gets fully visible. Competition
and attacks against each other get fiercer. Oftfen interrupted
by others, they sit down at the entrances and. tickle single
bees out and paralyse them. A massive siege by Palarus in front
of larvae entrances makes the bees often cling together tightly,
in 'Trcu:rFains" or clusters. They turn the tip of their bodies
towards the provoking wasp, but theyttry also to get hold of it.
When a Palarus is seized, it is tightly balled. The bees
succeed only sometimes in stinging through its smooth, chitin.
But they mutilate and drop it to the ground where it is carried
away by ants. Meanwhile the bees have got fairly aggressive.
Things like these rarely happen in front of the small entrances
of top bar hives and the bees keep calm.
Drones are only killed when there is a bigger number of Palarus
competing (50 - 40).-How can a queen avoid Palarus in connection
with her mating flight?-Palarus seem to be attracted mainly by
colonies which are ventilating more than others, and by the
smell newly introduced swarms are spreading.
Up till now I can't see clearly that foraging activities are
handicapped by bee pirates. When there is nectar and pollen
available or water needed the bees fly.
Examples:
On February 6, 78, at 10.00 in the morning we had the "ideal"
Palarus temperature of 32°. .And the bees were foraging despite
the bee pirates.
There are "rush-hours" in the afternoon because of forage
opportunities and despite bee pirates which, have now great chances
and are thertslt&ardly to be- seen.
There are sometimes colonies without any foraging activities,
though they are for some reason not molested like others.
"Play Flights" of young bees are also happening during "Palarus
hours".
A different problem could perhaps be caused by a sharp increase
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of Palarus numbers and if smaller colonies would "be severely
weakened. I suppose, however, that besides heavy rains there
might be°"tfatural "controllers" of Palarus populations.
I made some vague observations so far in this connection:
4- - 5 ran long wasps witli black and grey stripes are sometimes
sitting near the hive entrances. They are bothering the guard
bees, but seen mostly to look out for Palarus: Shortly before
Palarus is landing -frhe fearer wasp is rushing towards it and
dfinging to its thorax" far a second or so. I saw this three times.
In January to March I also observed pairs of small syrphides
(hovering ,flies?) for several times, nearly of the same colour
like the^wasps. They were also larking near entrances, ^ and as
soon as a bee pirate got away with a bee,' the**e two flies
followed it closely. They never followed a starting bee ...
All these observations are of course still mysterious.
are fairly common during rain seasons, especially in October and
then again from February to April. They are no problem for top
bar hives,osthey get stuck in the entrance holes, where they are
killed by the bees.
Both species are occurring here, but the Greater ¥ax Moth displace
the .Lesser one soon. Wax moths haven't been a big tfjreat so far
for colonies in the top bar tiives . Bees are aftle to control this
pest , as only small larvae can hide in spaces between the top
bars. As soon, as they are leaving these hiding places, they are
seized, killed, and remove*. Only pieces of old combs on. the
bottom of the hive can become a major breeding-place.
Deserted brood combs are infested with larvae within 4 days,
a threat to comb pieces when a dug out colony has been introduce
Aetkina has never been a threat to hanging and well occupied
combs.
This insect infested several colonies during winter time; I found
Braula on workers as well as on the queen. After one week however
they had nearly disappeared. Are bees able to get rid
of them?
There are no major problems with birds, (drongo, bee eater),
agamas (as long as the hive is high enough above the ground),
Asilidae= Robber Flies (only sporadic). Dragon Flies are
"frequent, but they don't seem to concentrate on bees.
Pseudoscorpions, which are certainly harmless, are seised and
removed, when the bees get hold of them.
IX Training of Beekeeperg
Everybody here was wellcome to take part actively in my first
beekeeping experiments.9 boys, between 12 and 16 years old,wern
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the first group of trainees. In January 1978 I introduced three
occupied training hives as "common property"
I intended to hand them over to certain individuals later, after
some distinct progress,
Educational meetings were arranged, slide shows, and also first
exercises in handling hives and eolonies.i demonstrated how to
handle a big colony like "W", and after mjc first harvest we had
a delicious "honey meeting" together.
The training programme was a success with an unexpected result:
Some of the boys had got so confident that they opened the3hives
secretely several times, without using smoke, and took the hone?
out, which was still "for the bees'V They examined the "brood
combs, too, and put them back, but two 'colonies lost their
Obviously it had been a mistake not tn put the hives Into private
responsibility.
Immediately after the robbing I showed the boys how to requeen
and handed the three hives over to three sub-groups, making
clear that the hives were still lent to 'them, but the colonies
were their property from now on. In case the hives were abandoned,
I would take them back.
Each group had to control and to handle an own colony now, and
this was quite a different stimulus. '
Since then only one group burglared their own hive once. But
the owners had the choice now between raising money for sugarwater
and loosing the colony by absconding. The very fact that
the other two. colonies contained sufficient honey storage put
the screw on them. A kind of competition arose between tlie groups,
There was of course a certain impatience among the boys with
their medium-sized colonies, especially when they saw me harvesting
a second time from "W",
3UIn the meantime they have been rewarded for their patience. They
got their first honey harvests after only three quarters of a
year. It was a big feast each time, every harvest was always
shared among all beekeepers.
This was a real push, and there seems to be also a kind of fascination
^behind their growing consistency. Beekeeping activities
are carried out more and more experienced. Some boys managed
already to get own colonies.
All boys want to carry on. They are thinking about how to pay
the hives .
Meanwhile some adults felt encouraged to start beekeeping, too.
Two men had robbed a "wild" colony in 1'tay 1978, They had left
two pieces of brood comb in order to keep the colony in the
tree till its capture and hiving.
A young man found the obove mentioned swarm "K" and hived it, too
Two other men chopped two further colonies out of trees at the
"beginning of January 1979 and hived them.
They all bought sugar Voluntarily like the "boys to boost their
colonies. '
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D) Harvest_froro_Kagcae Eeogle^s b.ives
The three colonies of the "boys produced 15,4 Kg comb Jioney
( 6,5+ 4,9 + 3,o). Two adults' hives produced Ipj4~kg^ honey.
("record colony K"= 9,6 kg; the other one only^ o,8~kg, "because
two big swarms left it before we could take all the honey)
Altogether it has "been a total harvest of 25,8i_ kg.
The honey was produced in the period September to December 1978
This might "be one of the two honey se'asons of the year. Ttie
other bigger one seems to'be "between T^rcli^jand.June, according
to our experiences with "W".
It was certainly necessary in the beginning to have fun and
delight by eating all the honey. The owner of "K" was an
exception: He decided, to sell some of his honey to visitors
from outside, but also to other Kagcae inhabitants.
There is a great chance of an additional income source for the
beekeepers here, as there is a strong demand for honey on the
local market. Whenever visitors come from outside they ask wh
honey Is available.
^l_l5i^^SS_SJS^_._;_
The introduction of a professionally made and properly working i
top bar hive has so far been successful. The number of colonies f
here are increasing by different means.
The problem is now however:
How can people with only a marginal and irregular income afford
more hives? Only a person with a regular income can afford the
P35 • -~Txn?40,~ per bar hive, "made in Botswana"^ the expensive
wood has to be imported still from South A^frica/l There is no"
problem at the moment in raising funds from different sources.
This has "been the case with 20 hives so far, and the Ministry o?
Agriculture has been approached by the Gantsi Agricultural Advisor
funding another 30 hives. But fund raising is no long term
solution. Even though Remote Area Dwellers have to pay only a
reduced price at the moment, there has to be a limit in my
opinion. If an interested person wants to hive an increasing
number of colonies he has to achieve this by himself in the
long run. This means that this person must be encouraged and ,
assisted in constructing top bar hives out of cheap materials or
even "waste". As we had already good results here in keeping I
colonies temporarily in card boxes, we coated already two cardboxes
with a darable layer of a cow-dung-clay-mixture. Top bars
are simple ledges with wax edges. One of these hives is already
in operation since some weeks,and this experiment seems to be
more promising than a previous one with two connected paraffin
tins: The paraffin tin hive, though coated also, with a cowdung-mixture,
got apparently too hot and was abandoned.
Provided a top bar hive out of cheap materials will prove and
provided a"beekeeping scheme" in the Kalahari is finally supervised
and supplied with the necessary materials by the
Agricultural' Advisor or some different local liaison worker,
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a final step in the direction of an additional income source
can be done. Income could be possible by selling comb honey,
perhaps by selling wax, and even by "exporting" split-off
colonies to other interested individuals or organisations.
Meanwhile beekeeping experiments with top bar hives are already
happening outside the Kagcae area.
"Kanye Rural Industries Innovations" has an occupied top bar
hive.
The Agricultural Scheme of the mission at Xanagas (north western
Gantsi District) has started beekeeping with two hives.
The Agricultural Advisor in Gantsi became a beekeeper. He organized
and supervised the introduction of eight occupied hives
at another Remote Area Settlement and in Gantsi itself.
In August 1978 I brought four hives with small colonies to the
Remote Arjja^Settlements Bere and Matlhoaphuduhudu (-ab&ut tfQ 1cm **
-woct-of *f cigocto ] . Some of the boys acted as instructors and,
supervisors, possibly a more convincing training method -sulTo'iac
-Kageee. One beekeeper at Matlhoaphuduhudu harvested aSuready
2.5 kg; the other one 0. 5 kg. One of the beekeepers in Bere
failed to wait. The other one didn't get honey yet. The boys
will extend their "service" to other places in the future. The
essentials of their "training programme11 are so far: Simple
knowledge about biology and behaviour, controlling and demonstrating
harvesting, catching swarms* and their queens, hiving,
feeding, dividing, re queening (in case a queen gets lost).
XI Goals for _the_ next j .Future^
We are just at the beginning of beekeeping. There are still
many open questions, we have to tackle with in future:
1. In which extent is it necessary for me to investigate further
on biology, "behaviour and natural potential (plants) in untaucted
areas?
2. How far are overgrazing effects favourable or adverse to
beekeeping?
Gantsi village e. g. provided good results: Huge colonies have
been found there already. Plants following overgrazing or introduced
ones are: Acacia mellif era, Acacia nebrownii , Tribulus ,
Elephant orrhizg, div. Compositae; Schinus molle7~Frosopis,
3. Is it possible to develop a kind of environmental awareness,
giving the people an idea of the importance T-e^'c'eVtain bee_
plants? Will the beekeepers here see ^ the ""import aife§***f or the
pollination of wild fruit (e. g. Grewia berries, tsamraa melons)
and, of field products, like beans and melons?
4. How does beekeeping develop when We're is less rain?
How long does the honey storage last, which we leave in our
hives for the bees? Will the beekeepers provide sugar water in
case of a drought, or will they resign and let their bees go?
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('STn.cjro aro oimilap.i-ifc-leD with a dry fiolg«J.Will they start again
by catching new swarms or colonies, when weather conditions
are again improving? J%e>rc are s,'#,,Va.r,'/'