FINAL PROJECT REPORT

Title Bee Diversity and Honey Production for Food Security

ID number 230

Thematic Area Productivity Enhancing Technologies

Project Period (Start

date)

July 2011

Project Period (End

date)

August 2013

Institutions (Partner

Unit)

Mekelle University, Ethiopia

Institutions (Embrapa

Unit)

Embrapa Acre

Project Co-leaders (full

name, first name first)

(Partner Institution co-

leader)

Mohammed Tilahun

Project Co-leaders (full

name, first name first)

(Embrapa co-leader)

Patricia Drumond

- Describe in a short

and accurate way what

the project was about,

how it was

implemented and the

main results achieved.

Max 4000 characters.

The Bee Diversity and Honey Production for Food Security project is

about to explore the diversity of bees used for honey production and

the influence of genetic makeup of honeybees on honey production

in Tigray region, Ethiopia. It is also to explore the influence of bee

plants in the environment on quality variation of honey. The diversity

of honeybees in the region is assessed through questionnaire survey

with 290 beekeepers. Molecular as well as morphometric analysis of

honeybee samples were carried out to characterize the bee diversity.

Bee samples collected from hives in Tigray region were subjected to

molecular analysis of mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite mapping

in Brazil at the University of Sao Paulo. In addition, the right forewing,

abdominal hair length and hind leg parameters were measured at

Mekelle University. Honey samples were also collected to

characterize the type of honey in association with its botanical origin.

The molecular analysis result shows that the honeybee species used

in Tigray is only one but with high within population variations. The

morphometric analysis indicated that the species have five clusters

that are the subspecies of Apis mellifera. However, distinguishing

such subspecies with our naked eye is a problem. The diversity on

cold highland and warm lowland differs. The survey result indicated

that the local people are also using Apis florea, and stingless bees as

honey producing insects from the wilderness. Apis florea in Tigray

migrated from Sudan due to the change in environmental condition in

Sudan. The experimental trial on honey yield potential and adaptation

of the subspecies at lowland, midland and highland areas is still

running. Honey quality analysis of the project is also expected to be

completed in May 2014. The project also worked on building the

capacity of local community with queen rearing techniques of

grafting, splitting and miller methods. A combination of miller and

splitting methods has been accepted easily by the local farmers. In

this project 80 farmers are trained and the training is continuing

through peer-to-peer network training.

- Annex 1 - Please

complete and attach

the file that was sent to

you by email. Save it in

Excel format "xls, xlsx

or xlsm". (Title)

00118_01_8 - Planned (as in contract) X Implemented Activities

_BEE DIVERSITY REPORT (1)

- Describe the results,

products and outcomes

obtained in the project,

including the

contributions to

product, process or

public policies

innovations; human

resources training

through capacity

building; and

technology transfer.

Max 2000 characters.

1. The honeybee species managed under traditional and modern

hives for the purpose of honey production by farmer beekeepers in

Tigray regional state in Ethiopia is only one species i.e Apis mellifera.

This has been studied from the Mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite

mapping of bee samples. The morphometric analysis provided

evidence on subspecies variations. 2. The morphometric analysis

result revealed that large within population difference on the

molecular analysis is due to the differences in subspecies of Apis

mellifera. It is found that the Apis mellifera subspecies in the region

are A.m.mellifera, A.m.Jementica, A.m.Scutelata, A.m.monticola and

a hybrid group. A.m.Jementica is highly abundant on lowland warm

and dryland areas. The diversity of honeybees is less on highland

when compared with lowland and midland. 3. Other important bee

species used by local residents in the wilderness are: a. Apis florea:

This species has been migrated from Sudan due to the high

environmental degradation. Farmers recognize this bee species in

the north western part of Tigray regions since 2000E.C or 2008 G.C.

Due to this reason this bee species is locally named as ”Millennium

bee”. b. Stingless bee: Farmers are hunting the high-priced honey of

stingless bee in Tigray usually from lowland areas. Despite its high

price honey it is highly valued for its medicinal value. Very few

farmers have started domesticating the stingless bee in the region. 4.

Survey result indicates that farmer beekeepers understood high

production of honey is expected from lowland and midland areas and

very less on highland areas. 5. Three apiary sites established, fenced

with mesh wire and equipped with hives, colonies and accessory

equipment that can be used to conduct further researches. 6. One

MSc and one undergraduate students supported under this project.

7. Fourteen (14) farmer beekeepers are trained as trainers from

seven (7) different districts in the region.

- Describe what was

the most relevant

result achieved and

indicate which results

could be scaled up, and

how, in your opinion,

that could be

done. Describe the

potential replicability

of these results. Max

Knowing the diversity of bees and their potential merits is important

to keep diversity and get benefit from the diversity according to their

potential. In this project we found that, farmers recognize the

difference between colonies with regard to their honey production

and reproduction behavior. For example A.m.monticola, A.m.

scutelata and A.m.mellifera are known to be bred easily during queen

rearing and have high tendency of swarming. These bees produce

good brood even during the dry season. These bees are also claimed

to be highly aggressive. However A.m.jementica is not easy to

multiply but has high honey yield in lowland and midland areas.

Therefore to get benefits out of such natural diversity, doing the

2000 characters diversity assessment on a wider scale at national level will be

important to get the big picture of diversity before choosing traits for

further breeding. For example if careful breeding of the bee races is

made, it is possible to increase the genetic frequency for the most

wanted gene in the bee population. Otherwise such bees are also

naturally crossbreeding and the outcome can be to the unwanted

direction. This kind of research can also be done throughout Africa

because one of the major reasons mentioned by women beekeepers

in Tigray not to be involved in the beekeeping sector is due to the

aggressive nature of bees.

- Describe the expected

impacts of the project

results. Max 2000

characters.

Apis mellifera race identification in the region is the first of its kind

and will encourage new research ideas in the area of bee adaptation

to different hives and climatic conditions and breeding of bees. The

Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, Tigray Agricultural

Research Institute and Relief Society of Tigray are working on

development of the beekeeping sector in the region that can make

use of the experimental results of honey productivity and honey

quality analysis. The bee diversity result is communicated to the

university community and participants of the APITRADE AFRICA

2012 which has drawn the attention of professionals towards further

bee research. In Tigray region most farmers are buying colonies from

local bee colony market. These bees are usually coming from

highland areas. This practice obviously has impact on adaptation and

productivity of the colonies since they are transported from highland

to lowland areas. In addition to this, possible disease transmission is

a risk for beekeepers. Therefore queen rearing training that is now

provided to 80 farmers will reach to at least 800 beekeepers within

two years due to the continuous follow up and peer-to-peer network

training. The price of one colony is about 63USD which means by

multiplying good colonies a farmer beekeeper can save 63 USD per

colony added to his apiary. Some colonies are producing up to 50 kg

honey per harvest per hive and others are producing 10kg per

harvest per hive. This average value will increase in the lowland and

midland areas to at least 40kg per harvest per hive. White honey

produced in the region has double price compared with red colored

honey. when the quality analysis and the association with botanical

origin is completed the bee plants that bees collect to make white

honey will be included in the vegetation rehabilitation program of the

region to increase the value of the rehabilitated lands from bee

product harvesting.

- Describe prospects for

continuation of project

activities, including

possible new

partnerships, if any.

Max 5000 characters.

Mekelle University has recognized the importance of bees as one of

the livelihood means for the local community in the region and good

ecosystem health drivers. Due to this fact the University is funding a

new project each year to establish Bee Breeding Center as one of

center of excellence in bee research. The goal of the unit is to identify

the most adaptable and productive subspecies of honey bees in the

dryland area and improve the population of such gene in the region.

It will also work on trial experiments of equipment used in the

beekeeping sector. This unit will make use of the three apiary sites

established by the Bee Diversity and Honey Production for Food

Security project as research sites. The project has already started

working jointly and is willing to continue the experiments. The college

of dryland agriculture and natural resource of Mekelle University has

also partnership with University of Ghent in Belgium and private

USAID funded projects in Tigray regional state that works on queen

rearing and hive prototype verification. These apiary sites can get

additional support from the projects and the established assets will

also be used by the projects. The apiary sites will be used as

farmers' training centers on beekeeping.

- Describe the issues

encountered during the

project implementation

and how they were

addressed. Max 2000

characters.

When the project was designed, it was assumed molecular analysis

and honey quality analysis to be conducted in Brazil: molecular

analysis at the University of São Paulo and honey quality analysis at

Embrapa Meio-Norte. However, due to the delay in sending bees to

Brazil, the entire work plan was hindered, making us miss a major

rainy season. To compensate this we requested extension of the

project for six months and the approved extension was only three

months. Similarly the honey sample collected from nine potential

honey producing districts of Tigray region couldn’t be sent to Brazil

due to the problems of customs office in Ethiopia. To solve this

problem the project support one MSc student to conduct the analysis

in Ethiopia this is now being carried out by the researcher. Purchase

of materials for grafting and honey containers was another obstacle

during the project implementation. These materials are not produced

and sold in Ethiopia. Our participation on APITRADE AFRICA 2012

held in Addis Ababa created a good opportunity to get such materials

easily. Morphometric analysis was time and labor demanding activity

and the project hired a contract worker for three months to solve the

problem. Vehicle problem was solved by paying mileage per

Kilometer travel to other projects in the university. Small programs

and books that are helpful for morphometric characterization have

been provided by the producers as gifts by communicating them

through official university letter and on Email. A book from ABC

TAXA provided from Belgium and Bemorph software for discoidal

shift and cubital index measurement offered from England.

- Describe, in bullet

points, the key lessons

learned during the

implementation of

project activities. Max

2000 characters.

• Creating opportunities for farmers to be trained by other trained-

farmers opened their heart and build better trust of the technology

/knowledge/. • Relying on the infrastructure available in Brazil to carry

out some analysis using samples from Ethiopia requires a better

planning as there are several bureaucratic issues to overtake in both

countries. • Beekeeping in Tigray region is not only important due to

honey production but also an incentive for revegetation of degraded

open communal lands. • Farmers’ feedback on new technology

distribution on beekeeping is important. • The variation on honey

yield of honeybees in Tigray is high even for colonies under similar

management and hive type due to type of subspecies that vary in

adaptation to different climatic conditions. • Distinguishing all Apis

mellifera subspecies with naked eye is difficult. • Good

communication should be present between the two project co-leaders

to solve problems of the project implementation.

- Briefly, describe your

suggestions to improve

project

implementation.

Include any additional

relevant information.

Max 2000 characters.

Building the capacity of researchers and local institutions can

improve the implementation of projects that will be designed under

partnership between Brazil and Africa. This partnership, however,

would be more effective if all issues related to sample exchange

among countries were clarified before starting the project. If

researchers’ capacity and institution capacity with equipment are

improved the project can be run with other funds and possible

partnerships can easily be sought. This can also improve the

sustainability of the project impact. In addition, the Market place team

should visit the projects onsite and create awareness at each

institution where grant is made. This can improve feedback

mechanism and trust about further requests of financial or time

extension to be fruit full. The project co-leaders visit should also be

planned in the beginning of the project to design and understand the

realities on ground. When the first contract agreement is signed, it

would be better to include the signatures of all leaders in hierarchies

in the institution to be aware about the project activities and purpose

of the grant.

- List the references of

publications effectively

published.

LEANDRO R S, ADDISSU G A, MOHAMED T, ZENEBE A,

PATRÍCIA M D, MARIA C A. (2012). MITO-CHONDRIAL AND

MICROSATELLITES POLYMORPHISM IN ETHIOPIAN HONEYBEE

(pp445). ANAIS DO X ENCONTRO SOBRE ABELHAS RIBEIRÃO

PRETO, 25 a 28 de julho de 2012.

Annex 1: 00118_01_8 - Planned (as in contract) X Implemented Activities _BEE DIVERSITY REPORT (1)

Technical Activities Planned

Activity Planned Activities Timeline Status* Indicator Verifier Observation

A1 Preliminary survey, bee sampling and morphological analysis for diversity assessement

June-July /2011/

Completed survey report, morphological classification result report

Survey report and morphological characteristic difference table for Apis mellifera subspecies

morphological result used to start the honey yield experiment

A2 Bee sampling and Molecular analysis

July-September /2011/

Completed DNA and Mitocondrial mapping conducted

Molecular analysis report DNA and Mitocondrial analysis couldn't give clear result on the species type and subspecies level category

A3 Apiary site selection and establishment at the three agroecological zones

September-Oct /2011/

Completed Established apiary site

Three sites at lowland, midland and highland agroclimatic situations selected, fenced, equiped with hives and colonies

The lowland site couldn't be colonized with bees due to the poor rainfall distribution

A4 Honey sampling Nov- December /2011/

Completed Collected honey samples

Honey quality analysis is being conducted

Honey sample delivery to Brazil was not possible due to bureaucratic issues

A5 Focus group discussion with model beekeepers on traditional queen rearing methods

January-Feb /2012/

Completed Focus group discussion conducted

Best seasons for queen rearing identified for different agroecologies, local constraints of queen rearing methods known

Well conducted except that farmers do not have enough time to spend with us due to crop harvest season

A6 colony acquisition and preparation for honey yield experimental trial

July /2012/ Completed on two sites

colonies availed at established experimental apiary sites

Thirty two (32) colonies availed for experimental trial at the three sites (15 at higland, 15 at midland and 2 at lowland)

Some farmers are not willing to sale their colony that we identified during the morphological analysis

A7 Queen rearing training (first round) for trainers at Mekelle University

August /2012/

Completed Training for trainers completed

Participant list Well conducted

A8 Honey yield experimental trial

September-Nov /2012/

Under implementation

Five sub-species each replicated three times

Data is being collected from miland and highland apiary sites

Data collection on molecular and morphological parameters delaid it

A9 Honey physico chemical analysis

October-December /2012/

Under implementation

Different honey types subjected to standard honey quality analysis

report One MSc student is attached with the project and doing the analysis in Ethiopia due to the failure to send the honey sample to Brazil

A10 Training on Queen rearing by trained trainers

January-March /2013/

Under implementation

Trained trainers creat peer networks in their nieghbor

Each Trained-trainer is trianing five nieghbors about queen rearing using miller, grafting and spliting mehtod

It is a continues process that we follow up even after the end of the project

A11 Honey yield experimental trial repeated (2)

March - May /2013/

Not initiated experimental set up data on honey yeild and adaptation pontetial of the five subspecies collected

waiting the first round experiment result

A12 Experience sharing visit to Ethiopia by 1 Brazilian researcher to Ethiopia

December /2013/

Not initiated visit carried out Report of experience shared

Delaid due to the delay of the workshop

A13 Reflection on grafting method by trained trainers and developing locally adoptable queen rearing method

June /2013/

Completed Reflection session conducted

Merits and demerits of grafting method understood

A14 Honey yield experimental trial repeated (3)

September-Nov /2013/

Not initiated Experimental set up Data on honey yield and adaptation potential of the 5 subspecies recoreded

Needs the first and second round trials to be completed first

A15 Experience sharing visit to Brazil by 1 Ethiopian researcher

May /2013/

Not initiated visit carried out report of experience shared

Used the opportunity of the forum to visit the bee research units

A16 Honey Quality standardization and closing workshop

December /2013/

Replanned for June 2014

workshop held quality of Tigray honey determined

waiting the honey quality analysis result to be completed

*Not Initiated, Under Implementation or Completed.

Annex 2: