Beekeeping in Humla District West Nepal
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Beekeeping in Humla district West Nepal: a field study Commissioned by the District Partner Programme (DPP) - SNV Nepal With extra results from a study commissioned by ApTibeT Conducted and written by Naomi M. Saville and Narayan Prasad Acharya Final Draft submitted 15 May 2001 1 Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the District Partner Programme (DPP) of SNV for commissioning and funding this study and Appropriate Technology for Tibetans (ApTibeT) for allowing us to share our findings from the study commissioned by them. Thanks to all the field staff of DPP in Humla who welcomed us and made us so much at home in their guesthouse. An especial 'thank you' to Tschering Dorje who guided us, carried our pack and helped us in every way in the field. We could not have hoped for a more cooperative and easy assistant. Thanks to staff of the Village Development Programme (VDP), especially Phunjok Lama and Ram Chandra Jaisi, who assisted us in the field. A very big 'thank you' to the staff of Humla Conservation and Development Association (HCDA) for their excellent management and exceedingly warm welcome in the field. Thanks especially to HCDA field motivators Sunita Budha, Hira Rokaya, Dharma Bahadur Shahi and Prayag Bahadur Shahi for their enthusiastic assistance in working with Melchham communities and in making us welcome and comfortable. Thanks to HCDA runner Kara Siraha for assistance and Sunam Budha and Gorkha Budha for accompanying and guiding us over Margole Lekh. Thanks also to Sonam Lama of Bargaun for guide-porter assistance and Khadka Chatyel who guided us over Muniya Lekh in April 2000 during the ApTibeT study. Finally a very warm 'thank you' is extended to all the farming families in all the places we visited in Humla for welcoming us into their homes, feeding us and for giving up their precious time to talk to us. Back in Kathmandu we are particularly grateful to Maha Laxmi Shrestha of BEEDECO / the Beekeeping Shop in Kumaripati for analysis of honey and disease samples. 2 List of abbreviations used in the text 4S – Surya Social Service Society Jumla (local NGO) ADO - Agricultural Development Office ApTibeT – Appropriate Technology for Tibetans BPC - Beeswax Processing Centre Jumla CBO – Community Based Organisation DDC – District Development Committee DFID – Department for International Development (UK government development agency) DFO – District Forestry Office DPM - District Programme Manager of DPP DPP – District Partners Programme of SNV EDO - Economic Development Officer of DPP EFB – European Foul Brood Disease HCDA – Humla Conservation and Development Association ICIMOD – International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development JPP - Jajarkot Permaculture Programme JTA – Junior Technical Assistant (post in Agriculture development office) kcal – kilo calories Kg - kilogram KTM – Kathmandu KTS – Karnali Technical School Jumla (a training school for agriculture, construction and health workers run by the Centre for Technical Education and Vocational Training) N – north NARMSAP – Natural Resource Management Sector Programme NGO – Non-Government Organisation NTFP – Non-timber Forest Products NW – north west PAR – participatory action research PRA – Participatory Rural Appraisal S – south SIDC – Snowland Integrated Development Centre (local NGO) SLC – School Leaving Certificate TORs – Terms of Reference TSBV – Thai Sac Brood Virus Disease UK – United Kingdom UMN – United Mission to Nepal USCCN – Unitarian Services Committee Canada Nepal VDC – Village development committee VDP – Village Development Programme (local NGO) WWS – Women’s Welfare Society 3 Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Humla district and its problems.................................................................................10 1.2 Justification for the study ..........................................................................................11 1.3 Use of Newton frame hives – proven to be inappropriate ......................................12 1.4 Objectives of the study .............................................................................................13 2 Itinerary ................................................................................................................. 13 3 Methods ................................................................................................................ 16 3.1 Overall approach and site selection .......................................................................16 3.2 PRA tools employed .................................................................................................16 3.2.1 Focus group discussions ................................................................................................... 16 3.2.2 Preference ranking of income / livelihood sources.................................................... 16 3.2.3 Trend analysis of changes in bee populations over recent years ........................... 16 3.3 Key informant interview questionnaire .....................................................................17 3.4 Inspection of bee colonies and sampling of pest and disease organisms ..............17 3.5 Collection of honey samples ....................................................................................17 3.6 Demonstration / Training ..........................................................................................18 3.7 Language .................................................................................................................18 3.8 Gender issues – the difficulty of reaching women ...................................................18 3.9 Definition of 'disease' ................................................................................................18 3.10 Difficulty of obtaining objective data ......................................................................19 3.11 Conversions to metric for the various measures used in the text .............................19 4 Background information on potential causes of bee death for Apis cerana in Humla (and Nepal in general) ..................................................................................... 21 4.1 Thai Sac Brood Virus (TSBV) .......................................................................................21 4.2 European Foul Brood (EFB) .......................................................................................22 4.3 Starvation of bees .....................................................................................................22 4.4 Wax moth .................................................................................................................23 4.5 Phorid Fly ...................................................................................................................23 4.6 Varroa mite ...............................................................................................................23 4.7 Nosema ....................................................................................................................24 4.8 Acarine .....................................................................................................................24 4.9 Tropilaelaps ...............................................................................................................24 4.10 Queenlessness and worker laying ............................................................................24 4 4.11 Robbing ....................................................................................................................25 4.12 Absconding ..............................................................................................................25 4.13 Hornets ......................................................................................................................25 4.14 Pine martens .............................................................................................................26 4.15 Bears .........................................................................................................................26 4.16 Mice ..........................................................................................................................26 4.17 Ants ...........................................................................................................................27 4.18 Lizards .......................................................................................................................27 4.19 Insecticide poisoning ................................................................................................27 4.20 Poisonous nectar ......................................................................................................27 5 Results on Prevalence of beekeeping in Humla & social factors affecting it ....... 28 5.1 People keeping bees in Humla ................................................................................28 5.1.1 Lama (Bhotia) Tibetan language speaking people................................................... 28 5.1.2 Hindu Nepali speaking people ....................................................................................... 28 5.2 Issues around Caste, ‘untouchability’ and beekeeping in Humla ...........................28 5.3 Gender issues associated with beekeeping in Humla .............................................29 5.4 Preference ranking exercises to compare livelihood sources with