Current Status of Beekeeping in the Arabian Countries and Urgent Needs for its Development Inferred from a Socioeconomic Analysis
Journal Article
Abou-Shaara, Ahmad A. Al-Ghamdi, Mohammed M. Alsharhi and Hossam F. . 2016
المجلة \ الصحيفة:
Asian Journal of Agricultural Research
رقم العدد:
2
رقم الإصدار السنوي:
10
الصفحات:
87-98
مستخلص المنشور:
Beekeeping is an important activity to agriculture, food
security and biodiversity as well as it participates in reducing
poverty and boost livelihoods in rural areas worldwide
(Chazovachii
et al
., 2013; Gupta
et al
., 2014). It also contributes
in the agricultural production due to the essential role of
honey bees,
Apis mellifera
, in plants pollination as the
pollination of more than 90 crops depend mainly on honey
bees (Partap
et al
., 2012). About 15 billion dollars have been
estimated as pollination value of honey bees in the USA alone
in 2000 (Morse and Calderone, 2000). Moreover, honey bees
participate in the conservation of the biodiversity for many
crops beside their valuable nutritional and medicinal products
including; honey, royal jelly and other bee products
(Klein
et al
., 2007) which are considered as source of income
(Qaiser
et al
., 2013).
Beekeeping is being practiced in all the arabian countries
(AC) and is very old in Egypt about 5000 years ago. There
are two main types of beehives in the AC, langstroth and
traditional log hives (Hussein, 2000; Alqarni
et al
., 2011).
Each AC has indigenous (native) bee race, for examples;
Apis mellifera lamarckii
in Egypt (Sheppard
et al
., 2001),
Apis mellifera jemenitica
in Yemen and Saudi Arabia
(Alqarni
et al
., 2011) and
Apis mellifera syriaca
in Syria
(Zakour and Bienefeld, 2014). But these indigenous races have
been replaced or hybridized by other imported ones
mainly
Apis mellifera carnica
as has happened in Egypt
(Sheppard
et al
., 2001; Kamel
et al
., 2003). Other countries,
mainly in the Arabian Gulf, for example in Saudi Arabia beside
keeping honey bees in the traditional beehives, honey bees
in modern langstr oth beeh ives are importe d from Egypt
(Al-Ghamdi and Nuru, 2013). That caused high degree of
hybridization between imported and indigenous bees
(Al-Ghamdi
et al
., 2012). The impacts of the imported bees on
current beekeeping in the AC need to be investigated. Since
the last review article by Hussein (2000), there is no updated
comprehensive information about beekeeping in the AC.
Although the huge area of the AC with rich flora to honey bees
e.g., (Alghoson, 2004; Abou-Shaara, 2015) the total production
in all the AC of honey represents only 1.4% of the world
production (FAO., 2012) which suggests the presence of some
obstacles facing beekeeping in the AC. Such obstacles need to
b e h ig h li g ht e d t o as s is t th e re s po n si b le au t ho r it ie s in b oo st i ng
beekeeping in the AC.
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