Globally, honey bee (Apis mellifera L. ) is the most domesticated bee species due to their ability to produce honey of commercial value, wax, pollen, royal jelly and propolis. They also facilitate pollination processes of flowering plants. However, there has been an increase in reported incidences of hive and colony infection by honey bee parasites and pathogens, contributing to colony collapse disorder. This study explored the beekeeper’s approaches to hive infestation by bee parasites and pathogens in Kenya. Using a questionnaire, 78 individual beekeepers and 15 beekeeping groups in eleven different Counties in Kenya were surveyed between 2012 and 2013, and their ability to identify and manage honey bee pathogens and parasites was determined. Majority of the farmers (95%) said they experienced challenges with pests. Ants were the pests mostly mentioned by the apiarists (90%), followed by small hive beetles (32%), wax moths (28%) and pirate wasps (18%). Only one respondent mentioned Varroa mites and no respondent mentioned any of the pathogens transmitted by these parasites. Most (90%) management practices apiarists mentioned targeted controlling ants. Farmers had no idea of how to control other pest and/or parasites, in spite of their presence as was confirmed by this study that all colonies inspected in all sites were infested with Varroa mites. Majority (93%) of the apiarist harvested honey at night when visibility is poor and hence could not see other pests and/or pathogens. Apiarist’ need education on bee husbandry in order to contain honey bee parasites and pathogens to improve their awareness on the same and to manage colony collapse disorders. They need to embrace colony inspection and honey harvesting during the day when sufficient lighting is available for detection of parasites and pathogens.
| Published in | International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management (Volume 3, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11 |
| Page(s) | 46-52 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Apis Mellifera, Bee Parasites, Pathogens, Beekeeping Practices
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APA Style
Onyango Irene Awino, Shadrack Muya, Samuel Kabochi, Hellen Kutima, Muo Kasina. (2018). Apiarists’ Awareness and Responses to Honey Bee Colony Parasite and Pathogen Infections in Kenya. International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, 3(4), 46-52. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11
ACS Style
Onyango Irene Awino; Shadrack Muya; Samuel Kabochi; Hellen Kutima; Muo Kasina. Apiarists’ Awareness and Responses to Honey Bee Colony Parasite and Pathogen Infections in Kenya. Int. J. Nat. Resour. Ecol. Manag. 2018, 3(4), 46-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11
AMA Style
Onyango Irene Awino, Shadrack Muya, Samuel Kabochi, Hellen Kutima, Muo Kasina. Apiarists’ Awareness and Responses to Honey Bee Colony Parasite and Pathogen Infections in Kenya. Int J Nat Resour Ecol Manag. 2018;3(4):46-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11,
author = {Onyango Irene Awino and Shadrack Muya and Samuel Kabochi and Hellen Kutima and Muo Kasina},
title = {Apiarists’ Awareness and Responses to Honey Bee Colony Parasite and Pathogen Infections in Kenya},
journal = {International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management},
volume = {3},
number = {4},
pages = {46-52},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnrem.20180304.11},
abstract = {Globally, honey bee (Apis mellifera L. ) is the most domesticated bee species due to their ability to produce honey of commercial value, wax, pollen, royal jelly and propolis. They also facilitate pollination processes of flowering plants. However, there has been an increase in reported incidences of hive and colony infection by honey bee parasites and pathogens, contributing to colony collapse disorder. This study explored the beekeeper’s approaches to hive infestation by bee parasites and pathogens in Kenya. Using a questionnaire, 78 individual beekeepers and 15 beekeeping groups in eleven different Counties in Kenya were surveyed between 2012 and 2013, and their ability to identify and manage honey bee pathogens and parasites was determined. Majority of the farmers (95%) said they experienced challenges with pests. Ants were the pests mostly mentioned by the apiarists (90%), followed by small hive beetles (32%), wax moths (28%) and pirate wasps (18%). Only one respondent mentioned Varroa mites and no respondent mentioned any of the pathogens transmitted by these parasites. Most (90%) management practices apiarists mentioned targeted controlling ants. Farmers had no idea of how to control other pest and/or parasites, in spite of their presence as was confirmed by this study that all colonies inspected in all sites were infested with Varroa mites. Majority (93%) of the apiarist harvested honey at night when visibility is poor and hence could not see other pests and/or pathogens. Apiarist’ need education on bee husbandry in order to contain honey bee parasites and pathogens to improve their awareness on the same and to manage colony collapse disorders. They need to embrace colony inspection and honey harvesting during the day when sufficient lighting is available for detection of parasites and pathogens.},
year = {2018}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Apiarists’ Awareness and Responses to Honey Bee Colony Parasite and Pathogen Infections in Kenya AU - Onyango Irene Awino AU - Shadrack Muya AU - Samuel Kabochi AU - Hellen Kutima AU - Muo Kasina Y1 - 2018/09/06 PY - 2018 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11 T2 - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management JF - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management JO - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management SP - 46 EP - 52 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-3061 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20180304.11 AB - Globally, honey bee (Apis mellifera L. ) is the most domesticated bee species due to their ability to produce honey of commercial value, wax, pollen, royal jelly and propolis. They also facilitate pollination processes of flowering plants. However, there has been an increase in reported incidences of hive and colony infection by honey bee parasites and pathogens, contributing to colony collapse disorder. This study explored the beekeeper’s approaches to hive infestation by bee parasites and pathogens in Kenya. Using a questionnaire, 78 individual beekeepers and 15 beekeeping groups in eleven different Counties in Kenya were surveyed between 2012 and 2013, and their ability to identify and manage honey bee pathogens and parasites was determined. Majority of the farmers (95%) said they experienced challenges with pests. Ants were the pests mostly mentioned by the apiarists (90%), followed by small hive beetles (32%), wax moths (28%) and pirate wasps (18%). Only one respondent mentioned Varroa mites and no respondent mentioned any of the pathogens transmitted by these parasites. Most (90%) management practices apiarists mentioned targeted controlling ants. Farmers had no idea of how to control other pest and/or parasites, in spite of their presence as was confirmed by this study that all colonies inspected in all sites were infested with Varroa mites. Majority (93%) of the apiarist harvested honey at night when visibility is poor and hence could not see other pests and/or pathogens. Apiarist’ need education on bee husbandry in order to contain honey bee parasites and pathogens to improve their awareness on the same and to manage colony collapse disorders. They need to embrace colony inspection and honey harvesting during the day when sufficient lighting is available for detection of parasites and pathogens. VL - 3 IS - 4 ER -
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