Climate Change and Beekeeping Dr Dinh Quyet Tam

Climate Change and Beekeeping Dr. Dinh Quyet Tam Vietnam Beekeepers Association

Climate Change • Climate change is a change in the usual weather: – – Rainfall Temperature Seasonality Extreme weather events (floods, droughts, typhoons…) • Climate change occurs in different scale from region to global • Climate change impact to all nature, organisms and human worldwide

Beneficiaries of honeybees and Beekeeping • Agricultural crops and wild plants up on honeybees’ pollination – Around 35% of agricultural crops (Klein et al. 2007) – About 84% of cultivated plant species (William 1996) – Play important role for biodiversity by fertilization for floral plant • Honeybee is the most important pollinator – Unique insect to be kept by human for thousands years – Distribution throughout the world, high range of adaption to climatic and regional variation – High economic value from pollination and bee products • Value of honeybees – US$ 117 billion per year worldwide (Costanza et al. , 1997) estimated as pollinator ($14. 6 billion/year in the USA (Cornell University 1999), EUR 14. 2 billion/year in EU (Gallai et al. , 2009), £ 1 billion/year in UK (BBC News 1999) – Supplying valuable bee products: honey, wax, royal jellly, propolis – Job-creation and income-generation and reduction povery in developing countries

Climate Change Impact to Honeybees • Direct: – Biology and physiology of honeybees: Behavior, foraging, reproduction, lifecycle, distribution – Honeybees has biologic and genetic characters to adapt to climate change over hundreds million year for survival. • Indirect: – Habitats: Plants as nectar and pollen sources, availability of forage, water, agricultural landscape – Parasites and Pathogens: Mites (Varroa destructor, Tropilaelaps spp. , Acarine), Small Hive Beettle, Wax Moth, Bacteria (American foulbrood, European foulbrood), Microsporideae (Nosema ceranae, Nosema apis), Fungal (Chalk brood, Stone brood), Virus: (Sacbrood, ABPV, CBPV, IAPV, KBV, DWV…) – Predators: Birds, Wasps, Dragon-Flies, Spiders, Mantises, Toads, Geckoes, Weasels, Bears… – Invasion and competition between new ecotypes, races, alien species like Africanized honeybees – Pesticides and Fungicides, Herbicides – Social-Economic Factors: Agricultural system, Land use, Policy, Social perception

An apiary in rubber trees Nectar on rubber leave A worker bee drinking Small Hive Beetle in colony Spores of Nosema ceranae Tropilaelaps clareae

How to Protect Beekeeping 1. Habitats: Make an environment with availability of forage and safe for honeybees – – Limit deforestation Develop reforestation Ensure agricultural systems and vegetation are suitable Using pesticides/fungicides/herbicides in right compounds and direction to minimize harmful for honeybees

How to Protect Beekeeping 2. Biodiversity: For indigenous species § Preserve indigenous honeybees § Select and breed good subspecies § Apply appropriated methods for honey hunting For exotic species: Apis mellifera • Select and preserve good ecotypes to breed • Import selected drone’s semen to increase biodiversity by Artificial Insemination 3. Research: • • • Biological and genetic honeybees Parasites, pathogens, predators and control methods Nectar and pollen sources Forage and nutrition New techniques and equipment for beekeeping Beekeeping economy

How to Protect Beekeeping 4. Raising awareness of the community about beekeeping: – Propagate role of honeybees and beekeeping – Diversify traditional beekeeping models – Educate beekeeping in selected schools, agricultural colleges and universities – Multimedia: TVs, Books, Posters, Leaflets, Newspapers… – Organize seminars, workshop, events about honeybees and beekeeping

How to Protect Beekeeping 5. – – – – Governmental: Promulgate policies to protect the honeybees and floral sources; regulations for using pesticides, beekeeping preservation, good beekeeping practice, quality standards for bee products and equipment Enhance capacity of lab to control quality Support for training courses, beekeeping extension, marketing, free or low tax for beekeeping Grant for bee research and development Assist private beekeeper to set up organizations (cooperative, association. . ) Promote trade and marketing: Advistisement, Trade Far, study tours Facilitate credit for beekeepers Encourage deveping traditional beekeeping models (log hives, top-bar hives) with Apis ceranan

How to Protect Beekeeping 5. Famers, Beekeepers and Exporters – – – Raise perception of protection of honeybees and evironment Apply and abide by rules and requirement on good beekeeping practice and pesticide guided by manufacturers Try to produce organic honey and value added products Respect to commitments and contracts with sellers and buyers about quality, quantity Establish effective cooperation between researchers, farmers, beekeepers, exporters in producing, breeding and maketing 6. International cooperation in: – – Scientific studies on the honeybees and beekeeping Education and Development beekeeping Marketing Join International orgainization: Apimondia, AAA

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