We have had three hard working days in the ICIPE apiary working out the experimental procedures for the protocol we are working on. My experiences in the wiley apiary have definitely prepared me for working in the field here. The most interesting reflection for me working in the apiary is how much knowledge we have about european honey bees. For Maryann, her most interesting reflection is the uniqueness of the african bee developmental biology such as multiple larvae developing in a single cell. Jeremy's most interesting reflection is the gentility of James and his bees, one of the ICIPE beekeepers and our amazing driver, and how he works the colony. Sitting in the shade wearing his bee suit at the apiary Jim was wondering about the 10 degree increase we are going to have on the coast at Mwatpa was his most interesting reflection. Chris and I have had many discussions in the lab about how much we have yet to learn about the bees. As I have been working here and asking questions I realize there are basic biology questions we still don't know about african bees and then to complicate things there are multiple subspecies within the same country.
From right: Joyce, Jeremy, and Fiona processing the
samples and looking for varroa on the pupae.
Some observations from the Apiary:
The apiaries are located in very shady places under tree cover and enclosed by bushes.
There is a lot of smoker use before, during, and after the hive is being worked. Saw dust and dried grass is used as smoker fuel.
The worker bees are smaller than european worker bees.
Each hive stand has buckets or rings of tar around the legs of the stands to keep the ants out of the hives.
The alternative is to have the hives hanging from trees.
Maryann, Muli, James, and I went for a short drive yesterday to buy binders for the beekeeping workshop here in 2 weeks and I took some pictures of our trip, mostly for my dad, the excavator.
Instead of metal scaffolding here construction workers
use branches tied together with rope.
A new highway is being built here. The dirt here is very
reddish, and dusty. There is no familiar smell of topsoil.
More road building going on. In the background you
see some of the town and the billboards here are almost
3x as big.
For all the diesel drivers back home diesel is cheaper here.
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