Follow us on:

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube

Archive -Seychelles

Beekeeping in Seychelles gets new lease of life |20 October 2017

 

The local apiculture, or beekeeping, community expects to see more efforts in improving the industry and securing our food security with the launch of the new Seychelles National Apiculture Platform.

The African Union Inter African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-Ibar) in collaboration with the Seychelles Agricultural Agency (SAA) launched this platform in a workshop which started yesterday, and which is expected to end today.

Relevant stakeholders such as beekeepers, agricultural technicians, health officials, representatives from the bio-security department, importers and other interested parties are participating in the two-day workshop. Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros are the only regional countries where the AU-Ibar has decided to implement an apiculture platform.

According to Gerald Monthy, who is responsible for the beekeeping section at SAA, the recently launched platform is a starting point for the local beekeeping sector which had not seen much traction over the years.

“We want to gather ideas to pave a way forward in order to keep this sector lively and productive,” Mr Monthy said during a press interview.

A bee health project officer from the AU-Ibar, Dr Norber Mbahin, was present during yesterday’s session and heavily emphasised on the necessity for Seychelles to take care of its bees because bee pollination contributes massively to food and income security.

Recent survey has shown that Seychelles currently has 527 bee colonies compared to 125 recorded in the late 1990s, revealed SAA.

The existing quarantine protocol controlling the importation of bees and other bee-related products such as bees wax is one of the attributed reasons as to why local bees are free of diseases.

However Dr Mbahin said the potential risk for virulent viruses -- which can threaten local bees -- to reach our shores is quite significant.

Bees pollinate around 70% of what humans eat, and without them humans could see a drastic change in their diets and lifestyle.

“Seychelles is a breeding site for bees, and those bees are at risk because Madagascar which is not far from Seychelles is infested with varrao mite. We need people to be aware that dangers are on the way coming,” Dr Mbahin explained.

Varroa mite is a parasitic mite that attacks certain species of honeybees and appeared in the Northern part of Madagascar in 2010. As reported by a sustainable development and conservation charity in Madagascar, SEED Madagascar, varroa infestation led to a 90% decline in honey production in affected hives during 2012 alone.

It would seem that this risk is compounded by issues raised during the plenary session of the workshop such as the alleged lack of efficient border control inspection from the bio-security department and honey products coming in aboard fishing vessels.

“If we do not take care of these small bees, we would be digging our own graves without knowing,” added Dr Mbahin gloomily.

He concluded that the solution is to bolster education and awareness of the issue in addition to valuing local production above imported goods.

 

 

 

 

» Back to Archive