Factors Affecting Agroforestry Sustainability in Bee Endemic Parts of Southeastern Nigeria

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts, in an exploratory manner, to identify the various ways in which unsustainable beekeeping and honey hunting practices result in the loss of important multi-purpose agroforestry tree species in bee endemic parts of Southeastern Nigeria. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches (Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), community fora, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and semi-structured interview schedules) were used in an interactive manner to collect data for this study from five randomly selected communities in Nsukka, Igbo-Etiti, Uzo-Uwani, Igbo-Eze South and Udenu Local Government Areas of Enugu State. Results show that beekeeping/honey hunting in the area is traditionally gender-specific occupations involving only male members of the households, while female members play an active role in processing, preserving, and marketing the products. The majority (69.6%) of the beekeepers/ honey hunters were within the age range of 31–50, and most (75.2%) of them did not receive secondary school education. Findings reveal that outright felling of some trees in order to extract honey, cutting tree trunks open and/or cutting down tree branches and setting surrounding bush on fire are among the major factors negatively impacting on the agroforestry of the area. Species of trees particularly at risk include Irvingia gabonensis, young Chlorophera excelsa, Raphia spp., Elaeis guineensis, Brachystegia eurycome, Dialium guineense, Erythrophleum guineese and Strychnos spinosa. Recommendations are proffered to improve harvesting practices for hive and other non-timber forest products in order to avert the erosion of natural resource base of the fragile farming ecosystem of the area.     

Varroa mites,viruses and bacteria incidences in Kenyan domesticated honeybee colonies

Varroa mite (Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman) is a major global threat to the western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.). The ectoparasite has been implicated in the spread of honeybee viruses. Beekeeping plays a major role in transmission of the mite. The study aimed at assessing levels of Varroa infestation, bee viruses and bacteria incidences in domesticated honeybee colonies. Samples of adult honey bees, bee brood and Varroa mites were collected from Baringo, Narok, Kwale, Magarini, Voi, Ijara, Busia and Siaya in Kenya. Ten hives in each site were inspected for the presence of Varroa mites on adult bees using the icing sugar technique and forceps in sealed brood cells. The number of mites observed were recorded per site. Ribonucleic acid was extracted from the mites, brood and adult bees and a polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect the black queen cell virus. Pooled RNA samples of brood and adult bees were used in next generation sequencing on a 454 GS FLX platform to detect bee viruses and bacteria. Varroa mites were reported in all the study sites at varying levels. The black queen cell virus and three iflaviruses, European foul brood and its secondary causative agent Enterococcus faecalis were reported. The Kenyan honeybee population is threatened by bee pests and pathogens. There is a need for constant monitoring of bee pests and diseases in honeybee colonies in the country for early detection and to provide data on the status of bee health. All stakeholders in the beekeeping value chain should be enlightened on their role in pest and disease transmission.     

Bats and bees are pollinating Parkia biglobosa in The Gambia

A pollination experiment was conducted with Parkia biglobosa (Fabaceae) in The Gambia. P. biglobosa is integrated in the farming systems and produces fruit pulp and seeds used in cooking. The species is bat-pollinated, and in areas with few bats the main pollinators are assumed to be honey bees. A higher rate of effective pollination will in many instances increase fruit production, and the aim of this study was to investigate pollination efficiency of different pollinators. Access of flower visiting animals to flowers was controlled by nets with differently sized mesh, using five trees as replicates. The pollinators’ identity, efficiency, and relative effect were determined. Bats, honey bees, and stingless bees were able to pollinate the species. Bat-visited capitula produced more pods, but not significantly more than honey bees. Honey bees were more efficient than stingless bees, resulting in significantly less aborted seeds. The treatment which excluded all flower visitors developed no mature pods, indicating that P. biglobosa was not autonomous autogamous, apomictic, or parthenocarpic, while the treatment with confined honey bees showed that geitonogamy is possible. Sugar content of fruit pulp was analysed and a positive correlation between number of seeds per pod and the sugar content was found. Improved pollination success may thus result in sweeter fruits. We conclude it is important to strive against a pollinator-friendly environment in order to attract bats and bees. Furthermore, we suggest beekeeping in the vicinity of P. biglobosa as a way to increase yield.     

寒地果树凹唇壁蜂授粉及对坐果的影响1）

在苹果开花前释放壁蜂,花后对蜂管进行回收,并对蜂箱、蜂管、壁蜂授粉情况进行调查。结果表明：在寒地壁蜂的活动时间为7～16点,纸管回收率低于芦苇管回收率,坐果率高于自然授粉果树,果实种子数、单果重和果型指数明显增加。     

纳板河流域国家级自然保护区生区蜜蜂养殖研究

调查研究发现，研究区31个村寨，100％的村寨和38％的农户养蜂，共1281巢，产蜜5877kg，蜂产品基本自用，养蜂农户比例随民族不同和海拔不同有差异；饲养蜜蜂和无剌蜂共11个种，为西双版纳酿蜜蜜蜂的92％；农户有自己的蜜蜂分类体系和养蜂经验。认为社区养蜂有利于酿蜜蜜蜂的物种保护，建议给予重视。     

Infectious ideas: Modelling the diffusion of ideas across social networks

Will the practice of collecting wild honey wearing no clothes become a widespread practice in Zimbabwe? Or will beekeeping take over as the main way that people acquire honey? Both practices impact on forest resources; how can the foresters influence the uptake of these ideas? This paper describes an exploratory modelling study investigating how social network patterns affect the way ideas spread around communities. It concludes that increasing the density of social networks increases the spread of successful ideas whilst speeding the loss of ideas with no competitive advantage. Some different kinds of competitive advantage are explored in the context of forest management and rural extension.     

Nahrungswahl der Honigbiene bei verschiedenen Zuckern und Wirkung der Zucker auf die Lebensdauer

A study was carried out on the preference to some types of sugars by worker honey bees, and their effect on bee longevities. Honey syrup was preferred as food by the bees, followed by inverted sugar, common sugar syrup, and molasses. Worker honey bees fed on honey had the longest life-span (13.7 days), while those fed on commercial glucose had the earliest deaths.     

Bienenzucht in Südtirol

Apiculture in South Tyrol To day there are 40 000 bee swarms in South Tyrol. By their production of honey and wax the highlanders can increase their income. Furthermore the bees pollinate almost 7 millions of fruit trees as well as the plants of natural vegetation. In consequence of the using of insecticides in some regions the number of swarms has been strongly reduced. Unfortunately there is no rule in Italy which prohibits the using of toxical preparations during flower time. But altogether the apiculture in South Tyrol didn't decrease in last years in contrast to the most other European countries. The Agricultural School of Dietenheim near Bruneck harbours a station for apicultural information and research. But the equipment is antiquated. In the interest of rearing pure-blood bees (carnica-race) as well as of a better promotion of South Tyrolian apiculture it is urgent to build up a modern apicultural centre.     

Tree effects on forage growth and soil water in an Appalachian silvopasture

Silvopastures may have the potential to increase forage yields beneath trees compared to open pasture at some sites. This has been attributed to a combination of factors including improved water use efficiency by shaded grass and increased water availability through hydraulic lift by trees. The objectives of this research were to determine if silvopastures changed forage mass production and available soil water, and to determine how these two factors were related. Forage mass and soil water were sampled at 1.0, 2.0, and 3.6 m from the tree stem, or plot center under honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos L.), black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) and shade cloth in 2006 and 2007. Soil water was measured in the top 10 cm of soil using a capacitance probe, and at 30-cm intervals, from 45 to 105 cm, using a neutron probe. Forage was collected to determine dry mass and annual yield. In 2006, forage mass was greater under black walnuts and honey locusts than under 70% shade cloth. In 2007, with a 50% shade cloth, forage growth was similar in all treatments. In both 2006 and 2007, soil moisture in the top 10 cm was higher under shade cloth compared to honey locust or black walnut trees. Similarities in forage mass between treatments in 2007 indicate that the differences in soil water were not biologically significant for forage growth. Lower forage mass under the 70% shade cloth in 2006 was due to suppressed growth from intense shading. The major implication for pasture managers is that trees in these pastures had no negative effect on soil water availability and forage growth.     

Effects of variable retention logging in the boreal forest on the bumble bee-influenced pollination community,evaluated 8–9 years post-logging

Boreal forests are currently facing intensified logging pressures, yet we know little about impacts of logging on the pollination community. This study extends research done immediately before and after logging, to consider its longer term effects. We censused bumble bee and flower communities 8–9 years after experimental variable retention logging. Harvest treatments left 0%, 10–20%, 50–75%, or 100% of the original trees after logging. Total bumble bee and floral abundances were increased by all forms of logging; however the floral community in retention cuts (i.e., 10–20% and 50–75% of trees remaining) was more similar to undisturbed controls than was the community in clearcuts. Bumble bees in low-retention treatments (i.e. 10–20%) were in an ideal free distribution (IFD) with their floral resources, which allows for equal per-flower rate of visitation, regardless of local flower density. In clearcuts (i.e. 0%) and high-retention areas (i.e. 50–75%) bees were at an IFD with respect to the density of their floral resources, but undermatched (in 50–75% treatments) or were resource-independent (in 0% treatments) with respect to the energetic value of their floral resources. Bees in unlogged forest controls (i.e., 100%) deviated from an IFD by undermatching. Overall, low-retention logging (10–20%) was an improvement over clearcutting, because there was less change to the floral community, while still allowing for the achievement of an ideal free distribution. However, unlogged forest appeared to be negatively affected (in the lack of an IFD) by the presence of adjacent logged forests: numerical responses of bees to flowers were altered, with implications for bee foraging success and plant pollination service. Forest reserves should therefore incorporate buffer zones when adjacent to logged forest, to preserve the inter-relationships in their bee-influenced pollination community.     

Die Milbe Varroa jacobsoni Oudem., ein neuer Bienenparasit

The mite Varroa jacobsoni Oudem., a new parasite of the honey bee A view is given of the state of knowledge of the miteVarroa jacobsoni which was introduced from Eastern Asia to East and Middle Europe in younger time as an ecto-parasite of the honey bee,Apis mellifica. Especially new scientific findings given at theVarroa-Symposium in Vienna, 1977, are reported. This symposium was arranged by the Bundeslehr-und Versuchsanstalt für Bienenkunde, Lunz am See, and visited by 20 veterinarian and apidologists of 7 countries. The base lines of development and bionomy of the mite are given.V. jacobsoni lays the eggs on the bee larvae. The descendants leave the cells together with the young bees. Without bees the mites lived 5–9 days only. From a number of 10–20 mites the development of the bee larva is disturbed. In East EuropeV. jacobsoni caused high losses of bee swarms in last years. The ways of diagnosis and control are discussed. To day the bee-keeper can use a number of more or less effective preparations against the pest.

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Bundeslehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Bienenkunde A-3293 Lunz am See.     

Effects of shelter tubes on hardwood tree establishment in western Oregon silvopastures

Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), and honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) are warm season forage trees with potential to efficiently share site resources with cool season pasture plants in Pacific Northwest silvopastures. Establishment of hardwood trees can be difficult, however, because of feeding damage from wildlife and livestock. This study compared establishment and growth of trees planted in 88 cm tall solid plastic shelter tubes to 88 cm tall plastic mesh tubes, used to protect trees from animal damage. Three replications were established in May 1995 for each of the three tree species on a hill pasture near Corvallis, Oregon. Initial tree survival during the first summer and winter following planting was higher in shelter tubes than in mesh tubes. At the end of the third growing season, 58% of black locust and 94% of honey locust trees in shelter tubes were still alive compared to only 14% of black locust and 47% of honey locust in mesh tubes. Few honey mesquite trees survived regardless of tube type used. Average three-year total height growth for black locust was increased by 650% and basal diameter growth by 380% within shelter tubes, while honey locust height growth was increased by 300% and diameter growth was increased by 150% compared to trees in mesh tubes. However, shelter tube trees tended to be taller relative to their diameter and had difficulty standing upright if tubes were removed. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

白蛾周氏啮小蜂从寄主柞蚕蛹体爬出后的习性及林间释放的观察研究

白蛾周氏啮小蜂是寄生于美国白蛾蛹体内的天敌昆虫。为探索该小蜂的林间释放最佳效果,我们对白蛾周氏啮小蜂的出蜂时间、出蜂孔数、出蜂蚕蛹的数量、出蜂后的存活时间、林间释放等内容进行了观察,总结出了在释放白蛾周氏啮小蜂防治美国白蛾的过程中应注意的技术环节。     

Canopy vs. understory: Does tree diversity affect bee and wasp communities and their natural enemies across forest strata?

Bees and wasps provide important ecosystem services such as pollination and biocontrol in crop-dominated landscapes, but surprisingly little information is available on hymenopteran communities in temperate forest ecosystems. Species richness and abundance of bees and wasps can be hypothesised to increase with plant diversity, structural complexity, and availability of food and nesting resources. By experimentally exposing standardised nesting sites, we examined abundance and species richness of cavity-nesting bees (pollinators), wasps (predators) and their associated parasitoids across a tree diversity gradient in a temperate deciduous forest habitat. In addition, spatial distribution of individuals and species across forest strata (canopy vs. understory) was tested. Abundance and species richness was high for predatory wasps, but generally low for pollinators. Species-rich forest stands supported increased abundance, but not species richness, of pollinators and predatory wasps, and also increased abundance and species richness of natural enemies. In addition, the forests showed a distinct spatial stratification in that abundance of bees, wasps and parasitoids as well as parasitism rates were higher in the canopy than understory. We conclude that particularly the canopy in temperate forest stands can serve as an important habitat for predatory wasp species and natural enemies, but not bee pollinators. Enhanced tree diversity was related to increased hymenopteran abundance, which is likely to be linked to an increase in nesting and food resources in mixed forest stands.     

Integrating pine honeydew honey production into forest management optimization

Pine honeydew honey is an economically important non-wood forest product from eastern Mediterranean Pinus brutia forests, which are also important for timber production. Pine honey is produced by bees that feed on the honeydew secretions of Marchalina hellenica, a scale insect that infests pine stands and feeds on pine sap. The aim of this study was to optimize the joint production of pine honeydew honey and timber by maximizing the soil expectation value of pine stands. The simulation of P. brutia stand dynamics and timber production in healthy and infested stands is based on individual-tree growth and yield models that account for the effect of M. hellenica on tree- and stand-level growth and mortality. The optimization procedure uses a direct search method based on nonlinear programming. The results suggest that pine stands growing on good sites should be managed using rather short rotations and mainly aiming at timber production. In contrast, forest management in medium- and poor-quality sites should aim at longer rotations by taking advantage of the joint production of pine honey and timber assortments. Honey-oriented forest management can be much more profitable than timber production in stands growing on medium and poor sites. Pine honey represents an opportunity to increase the value and economic profitability of P. brutia forests.     

Methylglyoxal-induced modifications of significant honeybee proteinous components in manuka honey: Possible therapeutic implications

Methylglyoxal (MGO) is a major antibacterial component of manuka honey. Another antibacterial component found in Revamil honey, peptide defensin1, was not identified in manuka honey. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the content of defensin1 in honeys of different botanical origins and to investigate a presumed effect of reactive MGO on defensin1 and a dominant protein of honey MRJP1 in manuka honey. Immunoblotting of honey samples showed that defensin1 was a regular but quantitatively variable component of honeys. One of the reasons of varying contents of defensin1 in different honeys seems to be constitutive but varying defensin1 expression in individual honeybees in bee populations that we documented on samples of nurse and forager bees by RT-PCR. Comparative analyses of honeys revealed a size modification of defensin1, MRJP1 and probably also α-glucosidase in manuka honey. We further showed that (i) the treatment of purified defensin1 in solution containing high amount of MGO caused a time-dependent loss of its antibacterial activity and (ii) increasing MGO concentrations in a non-manuka honey were connected with a gradual increase in the molecular weight of MRJP1. Obtained results demonstrate that MGO abrogates the antibacterial activity of defensin1 and modifies MRJP1 in manuka honey. We assume that MGO could also have negative effects on the structure and function of other proteins/peptides in manuka honey, including glucose oxidase, generating hydrogen peroxide.     

Breeding and cultivation of black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, in Hungary

Black or common locust was introduced into Hungary between 1710 and 1720. Its present extent is 276 000 ha, 18.2% of the total forest area. Since its introduction, black locust has always been closely associated with farming.Selection breeding followed numerous steps. The best shipmast-type groves in the best stands were surveyed for superior trees which were grafted for clone tests.The National Agricultural Council for Variety Testing approved three selected or introduced locust cultivars in 1973 and five more in 1979. The registered cultivars and a further 13 candidates are grouped into three categories according to their proposed uses: sawlogs; poles and posts; and finally beekeeping and decorative planting.Some cultivars such as ‘Zalai’, ‘Kiskunsági’, ‘Császártöltési’, ‘Egylevelü’ and ‘Váti 46’ are suitable both for forestry and beekeeping.Vegetative propagation systems have been introduced for mass propagation of the improved cultivars. The planned production of 8 million plants in 1984 covers two-thirds of the demand.The selected cultivars demand intensive technologies, of which planting after deep-ploughing on better sites is the best. Silvicultural models have been worked out for producing sawlogs on better sites and poles and posts on medium sites.Interest in black locust is growing both in Europe and Asia. The area of man-made locust stands has increased in the last 20 years from 337 000 to 1 890 000 ha. These figures exclude China, where the tree is extensively used. In recent years the energy and forage aspects have become more interesting. South Korea leads in this respect, but various projects are also being undertaken in Hungary.     

Productivity of two Douglas fir/subclover/sheep agroforests compared to pasture and forest monocultures

Resource sharing between tree and forage plant components in silvopastoral systems includes a complex set of facilitative and competitive interactions. To the extent that facilitation exceeds competition, agroforests are expected to outyield monocultures of their components. Pasture and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) tree production of young agroforests was compared to pasture and forest monocultures under both grid and cluster patterns of tree planting near Corvallis, Oregon, USA, during 1983–1987. The height and diameter growth of forest and agroforest trees was similar, regardless of tree planting pattern. Five-year average annual forage production was 6500, 5800, and 2800 kg ha^–1 on pasture, agroforest, and forest plots, respectively. The total cumulative 1982–1987 above-ground phytomass yield of forage plus trees was similar for pasture and conventional grid forest monocultures. The total productivity of agroforests, however, was over 30% greater than either pasture or forest components grown in monoculture. Approximately 1.6 ha (0.96 ha forest + 0.64 ha pasture) of monocultures would be needed to equal the productivity of 1 ha of agroforest.Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Paper No. 10, 825.     

The complex responses of social stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) to tropical deforestation

Despite concern over a putative “global pollination crisis”, we still have an incomplete understanding of how bee communities respond to land-use change. I studied the responses of social stingless (or “meliponine”) bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) to surrounding forest cover and floral resources in 35 sites in a largely deforested landscape in Costa Rica over three years, sampling bees with a standardized netting protocol. I recorded a diverse fauna of meliponines, comprised of 20 species and nine genera. I found that meliponine species richness and abundance are strongly related to forest cover, but not floral resource variables (blooming plant species richness and abundance). The effect of forest on meliponine abundance, but not diversity, disappeared when the most common meliponine species, Trigona fulviventris (which comprised ∼45% of sampled individuals), was excluded from analyses. Meliponine community composition, by contrast, was related most strongly to plant species richness, only weakly to forest cover, and not related to blooming plant abundance. This work differs from past work in the same landscape, which did not find evidence of changes in species richness or abundance of meliponines and forest-related variables (distance to forest or forest fragment size), but did find shifts toward meliponine-dominated communities near forests, especially larger ones. The larger true sample size (i.e. number of sample sites) of the present work likely improved the statistical power to detect these relationships. While meliponines are forest dependent, I recorded some species in the smallest forest fragments in the landscape, and as a group they respond strongly to overall forest cover in the landscape (i.e. including both small and large patches of forest). Both of these observations support arguments for preserving even small fragments of forest in agricultural landscapes. Given the ecological and economic importance of meliponine bees, it is imperative that we better understand their long-term conservation needs in the changing tropical landscapes of the world.     

我国林木与竹子引进历程与展望

通过大量文献调查和关键信息人访谈,分别回顾了我国引进林木与竹子的4个历程:新中国成立前、建国至改革开发前、改革开放至上世纪末和新世纪以来。通过比较发现从随机和偶然性引进为主发展到目前系统科学的计划引进为主。引进用途从单一的材用和简单的绿化用转向材用、观赏用和生态用等多种用途。主要引进资源在各时期都涉及桉树、杨树、松树等速生林木,且改革开放后达到盛期,而竹子的引进规模相对较小,但在速生和高观赏价值竹子引进方面开展了很多工作。研究指出,我国未来的引进工作将在很长一段时期内依然重视速生丰产等遗传特性;更加重视高观赏价值林木与竹子的引进;注重引进能够提高森林质量和改善生态环境林木与竹子;且生物技术手段的应用将更加突出;引进渠道管理和(生态)风险管理将要加强。