Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

Keeping European bees in Africanized Bee territory?

1K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Michael Bush 
#1 ·
I would love to start keeping bees, but I live in Suriname, South America which is home to the Africanized honeybee.
Is it even possible for me to keep European bees under these conditions? I would like to avoid keeping the Africanized bees because of the potential danger, but I have no idea how I would even GET European bees, let alone if they would survive the competition with their aggressive cousins.

Is there anyone in this community with experience on this topic? I'd love some feedback!
 
#2 ·
I'm from a completely different continent, several thousand miles away and know nothing about Suriname nor your neighbours Guyana or Brazil (other than Brazil has a rain-forest which is currently on fire) - so I had to 'do a Google' to find out even the most basic information about beekeeping in your region.
The following articles might be of interest if you haven't already read them:

http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/media/2632/bfdj82-guyana013.pdf which tells a very sad story of the demise of hobby beekeeping in Guyana following the introduction of Africanised bees.

http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/media/2742/chapter-15.pdf which gives lots of historical info, including the number of beekeepers in Suriname and a possible link to your beekeeping association. But - this may be dated info.

https://www.researchgate.net/public...ekeeping-in-Brazil-A-Bibliographic-Review.pdf - an up-to-date source of beekeeping info re: one of your neighbouring countries, which may be of some interest.

Sorry can't help more. Good luck.
LJ
 
#3 ·
I've worked bees in a lot of Africanized areas. From what I've seen and heard I would say the unworkable bees are an F1 cross between an European and the local wild (Africanized) bees. I think you are better off to get local bees and select for temperament. That way you don't end up with those vicious F1 crosses.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top