THE COPPERBELTUNIVERSITY

BEEKEEPING LECTURE
FO 301
THIRD YEAR BSc. FORESTRY

By
R. Kasubika
Introduction

What is beekeeping?
 Beekeeping is an art/science of
caring for/managing honey bee
colonies in bee hives for various
reasons as determined by the
beekeeper
 Academicians refer to the subject
as apiculture because a beekeeper
is always known as a apiculturist
Introduction cont’
 Generally beekeeping is different
things to different people.
 To some it is an industry of world
wide importance; to others it is a
home enterprise combining profit and
pleasure; and others an absorbing
hobby pursued for its own sake.
 Beekeeping is an ancient skill which
was practiced even before biblical
times
Introduction cont’

 Modern beekeeping started in the

16th century when man learned to
safeguard the future of the colonies
of bees he found in the hollow trunks
whereby a certain amount of care and
supervision was exercised.
 Before the 16th century, primitive
people learned to get honey by
robbing the bee’s nest in hollow trees
or rock crevices.
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF
BEEKEEPING IN ZAMBIA

 First beehives (bark hives and log

hives) were recorded by David
Livingstone in 1854 in the upper
Zambezi among the southern Lunda
Ishindi
 Probably beekeeping started in the
17th century
 It was stimulated by beeswax trade
which was started by the Portuguese
traders in Angola.
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF
BEEKEEPING IN ZAMBIA cont’

 Because of this market, by 1936, extension

work in beekeeping and wax production was
started under the guidance of Agriculture
Department of Northern Rhodesia.
 Colonial extension work concentrated
on the promotion of barkhive making
and beeswax production, with good
response, in the then honey hunting
areas of Mwinilunga, Solwezi and
Kasempa Districts
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF
BEEKEEPING IN ZAMBIA cont’

 After independence, in 1964, the

Zambian government made more
comprehensive extension messages
which included the need of keeping
bee in beehives, which eventually
was good success
 Eventually government opened
offices in each province because it
attached great importance to
B/keeping
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF
BEEKEEPING IN ZAMBIA cont’

 The major ones being in Mwinilunga,

Solwezi, Kasempa, Mufumbwe
(Chizera), Kabompo, Zambezi, Lukulu,
Kaoma, Machile, Mumbwa, Petauke,
Lundazi, Mansa, Mbala, Masaiti boma,
Chati (Kalulushi) and Mwekera (the
HQ of beekeeping in the country)
 Later the industry developed such
that honey factories were opened in
Mwekera, Kaoma, Kabompo and
Mwinilunga
IMPORTANCE OF BEEKEEPING IN
ZAMBIA

Direct Benefits
 Honey is used as food e.g. in
times of famine
 Honey is used as medicine i.e. as
a cough mixture, for dressing
wounds, for cleaning wounds and
used as a healing agent on such
wounds.
Direct Benefits cont’

 Source of income through the sell of

honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen,
royal jelly, sell of beehives and other
beekeeping equipment, renting out
bee colonies to farmers for
pollination purposes, sell of honey
beer (mbote), sell of foundation
starters to beekeepers and selling of
bees themselves i.e. brood and
queen bees.
Direct Benefits cont’

 Source of foreign exchange through

export of beeswax and honey, other
bee products i.e. pollen, propolis
and royal jelly, beekeeping
equipment, honey wine, bees.

 Production of beeswax for various

uses i.e. making floor, shoe polish,
varnish, lotion, coating pills,
cosmetics etc.
IMPORTANCE OF BEEKEEPING IN
ZAMBIA cont’
 Pollination of some agricultural
crops i.e. sunflower, water melons,
citrus fruits etc.
 Conservation of forests – trees are
reserved for bees to collect and
nectar. Honey hunting which kills
both bees and trees is discouraged.
 Creation of industries and
employment
Advantages of Beekeeping

 It does not require a large labour

force – can be started by one
person.
 in Zambia, does not need land
ownership
 Does not need capital in some cases
 Does not take up much time
Disadvantages of Beekeeping

 Destroys trees for hive making

 Skill is necessary

 Acquisition of equipment is difficult

 Not very well organised in Zambia

LIFE CYCLE OF THE HONEY BEE

 The honey bee is an insect that

undergoes a complete
metamorphosis i.e. it goes through
the four stages of development e.g.
egg, larva, pupa and adult/imago
during its life cycle

 The duration/length of these various

stages is different for the queen,
worker and drone bees
Developmental stages of Queen, Worker
and Drone bees

Bee EGG LARVA PUPA Total No. ADULT LIFE

Category Days

Queen 3 5½ 7½ 16 2 to 5 years

Worker 3 6 12 21 4 to 6 weeks

Drone 3 6½ 14½ 24 2 months

Developmental stages of Queen, Worker
and Drone bees cont’

Event QUEEN WORKER DRONE

Egg hatch 3rd 3rd 3rd

Cell is capped 8th 8th 10th

Adult emerges 16th 21st 24th

Some Key B/Keeping Terms

 The swarm
This is a cluster of bees normally
hanging on a branch of a tree, outside
roofs e.t.c., resting and waiting for
scout bees to locate a nest where
they can stay. It consists of one
queen, hundreds of workers and few
drones
 Swarming

This is a natural way of multiplying

species of honeybees. Normally a
swarm divides into two swarms (one
swarm with an old queen and the other
with a new queen). Swarming occurs
due to overcrowding (the hive
becomes too small) resulting form
enough food storage and good laying
queen.
 The colony
This is a complete biological unit consisting of one
queen, thousands of workers, few drones, broods
and combs. Combs may consist of honey, pollen, and
brood.
 Absconding
This is a term used when a colony deserts or
abandons the hive as a result of adverse factors.
Some of the adverse factors include: outside
disturbances due to pests, intruding rains, fires and
a severe shortage of food due to small honey stores
during poor flowering seasons.
The Honey Bee Colony

 The Queen

 The Worker Bees

 The Drones
The Honey Bee Colony

 The Queen

 The Worker Bees

 The Drones
QUEEN

 She is the only fecund female in the

colony and she is also referred to as
the “mother bee”
 Lays both fertilized and unfertilized
eggs and provides colony cohesion
through the ‘queen substance’ that
she produces from her mandibular
glands
 The queen is generally larger than
the worker bee
QUEEN cont’

 Her abdomen protrudes beyond the wings.

She also has an unbarbed sting and has
pollen baskets
 The queen is genotypically diploid having 32
chromosomes as she develops from
fertilized eggs
Basic Functions

 To mate with drones

 To lay eggs e.g. 800 to 3000 eggs per day
 To secrete queen substance (pheromone)
responsible for colony cohesion.
Workers

 Develop from fertilized eggs, but are incomplete females with

underdeveloped female organs (ovaries)

 They form the majority in the colony occurring as many as 60, 000
individuals.

 They have pollen baskets for collecting pollen from the field and a
barbed sting

 The wings almost cover the whole abdomen

 A worker has a life span of 4 to6 weeks in the active season and up
to 5 months during the inactive season.
Workers

Basic Functions

 All the work that is needed to provide and maintain

the requirements of the colony are done by worker
bees. In a normal colony only mating and laying
are outside their domain.
 The worker bees are divide into a number of
groups or categories in order to perform various
tasks of the colony:
Drones

 These are males and occur in few hundreds (ranging from

200 to 2000) in a colony
 They develop from unfertilized eggs (16 chromosomes)
 During periods of drought, they are driven out or refused
food.
 A drone’s body is larger and stouter than that of a worker but
weighs the as the queen
 The wings are large and cover the blunt abdomen
 The last abdominal segment is covered with plenty of hair
 Their main function is to mate with the queen
 They have a life span of not more than 2 months