Honey bee species used for beekeeping - Ethiopia

Ethiopia: A. mellifera is the most common used Apis species for beekeeping. According to a local scientist (Holeta Bee Research Institute, Ethiopia) beekeepers do not prefer a certain subspecies of A. mellifera. Instead they use the locally available subspecies for beekeeping (Fig. 1). In some regions of Ethiopia, colonies can be financially obtained (prizes) but the more common practice is to catch feral colonies and put them into hives. A study by Sebsib et al. (2018) reviewed that in the Kaffa, Sheka and Bench-Maji Zones, beekeepers use a specific method to attract the feral bee colonies. They clean the hives with Clausena anisata and Capsicum frutescens prior fumigating them. For fumigation, depending on the region, either parts of the plant Ekebergia capensis together with wax, or plant parts of C. Africana are used.

Figure 1: Distribution of the 5 subspecies of A. mellifera in Ethiopia. Picture was taken from Amssalu et al. (2004).