UNIT 5 : ANIMALS (fish and bees)
Key Unit Competence:
Learners should be able to recognise fish species by their characteristics and make successful beehive.
5.1 Learning Objectives
(i) Knowledge and understanding
• Explaining characteristics of fish species.
• Describe differences between fish species.
• State the characteristics of fish species and breeds to rear.
• Define bee keeping and explain its importance.
• State categories of bees.
• Explain the process of making beehives.
• Carry out management of bee hive and harvesting of honey.
(ii) Skills
• Find out fish species with comparison of their anatomic characteristics.
• Select fish species to rear.
• Perceive bee hives containing bees and its importance.
• Recognise the categories by their characteristics.
• Make beehives.
• Practise management activities of bee hive and harvest honey bee.
(iii) Attitudes and values
• Observe attentively fish species and their characteristics.
• Participate actively in group discussion and interact positively with colleagues.
• Be attentive in choosing fish species and breeds to rear.
• Agree with colleagues on the definition and importance of bee keeping.
• Pay attention and be attentive while observing bee categories and characteristics.
• Show concern to make beehives.
• Be careful and avoid risks to yourself and others while managing beehive and harvesting of honey.
Introduction
The practice of keeping fish in artificial pond is referred to as pisciculture. Pisciculture in Rwanda is an important business because of the need to introduce affordable animal proteins in the people’s diet. The significant lack of animal proteins indicate substantial potential demand for fish, most of which is cultivated using different systems such as monoculture, polyculture and integration of fish with other animals such as pigs, chicken or ducks in pens besides or over the fish ponds to increase efficiency and profitability. On the other hand, the practice of keeping bees is referred to as apiculture. The demand for bee-keeping and its products also increases as a result of which commercial production will require improved hives and bee equipment. This unit addresses important types of fish and the making of improved hives and bee management. Observe the following photographs carefully:
Analyse the photographs and answer the following questions:
1. What is happening in these photographs?
2. What can be done on photographs number 1 and 2 to solve the problem?
3. Analyse the three methods of keeping fish and point out the difference between them in the above photographs.
4. Based on these photographs 5, 6 and 7, identify the criteria taken into account when selecting anyone of the methods of keeping fish.
5.2 Fish species and main characteristics
Activity 5.1: Research and/or a group activity to observe and identify fish species using their anatomical characteristics
Using the reference materials provided, together with internet, carry out the following activities:
(i) Find out the anatomical characteristics of the following fish species:
– Limnothrissa miodon
– Clarias
– Tilapia
– Limnothrissa haplochromis
– Carp
(ii) Discuss and record your findings.
(iii) Present your findings to the class.
(iv) Take teacher’s summary notes.
Fish are naturally found in rivers, lakes, seas and other large water bodies. These sources of fish are away from the fish consumption areas. This makes fish availability difficult and their cost high. This means the need to rear fish in artificial ponds in order to supply the ever increasing high demand.
The following fish species are reared in artificial fish ponds:
(i) Limnothrissa miodon
(ii) Clarias (iii) Tilapia
(iv) Limnothrissa haplochromis
(v) Carps
External structure of fish
Different types of fish are distinguished from their external characteristics as follows:
(a) Limnothrissa miodon
Also known as Lake Tanganyika sardine. This fish is found in the shores and bays. It is nocturnal and feeds on plankton especially atyid shrimps and also on copecods sprawns. It has no cannibalism tendencies.
Anatomical characteristics
(i) Its body is fairly slender. With pre-pelvic scutes not strongly keeled, beginning behind the base of the last pectoral fin ray.
(ii) Its maxilla blade is over four times as long as its shaft. Its lower toothed edge continues forward to meet the hind tip of the pre-maxilla. The second supra-maxilla which is asymmetrical to the lower half is larger.
(iii) The lower gill rakers are larger and slender.
(iv) It has a distinct silver stripe along the flank.
(v) The snout is broad with tapering sides but not concave when viewed from above.
(vi) It has a larger bladder which is responsible for its ability to move greater vertical distances.
(b) Clarias (Clarias spp.) The clarias species, for example, Clarias gariepinus or the African sharp tooth catfish belong to the family Clarridae, the air breathing catfishes. The name clarias is from the Greek word “chlaros” which means lively. This is in reference to the ability of the fish to live for a long time without water.
Clarias fish are of great economic importance in fisheries and fish culture. They grow very fast and feed on a large variety of agricultural by- products. They are hardy and tolerate adverse water quality conditions. They can be raised in high densities resulting to high net yields. This fish can be sold live and hence attain high price than tilapia in some countries.
It matures fast and reproduces highly, even under confinement. They require less space and have high feed conversion rate. Clarias have been used to control overbreeding in tilapia and as a bait for fishing in Lake Victoria.
Anatomical characteristics
(i) Clarias are recognised by their long-based dorsal and anal fins which give them an eel- like appearance.
(ii) They have slender bodies, a flat bony head and a broad terminal mouth with four pairs of barbels.
(iii) They have large accessory breathing organ composed of modified gill arches.
(iv) Only the pectoral fins have spines.
(c) Tilapia There are several important species of tilapia fish which include the Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, Oreochrormis aurens, Tilapia macrochir and T. rendalli which is not fast growing since increase in weight is 0.5 g/day and others.
Tilapia are mainly fresh water fish inhabiting shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes. They are of increasing importance in aquaculture and aquaponics. They have high quality delicious meat hence popular. Tilapia are mouth breeding fish which means that they carry the fertilised eggs and young fish in their mouths for several days after the yolk sac is absorbed.
Anatomical characteristics
(i) Tilapia is a bony fish.
(ii) Has steamlined body for easy movement.
(iii) It is covered with scales for protection.
(iv) The body is divided into head, trunk and tail.
Head
• Starts from the tip of the mouth to the end of the operculum.
• The upper and lower jaws bound the terminal mouth.
• Have teeth.
Trunk
• Starts from the operculum to the anus.
• It bears the fins, pectoral, pelvic which are paired, dorsal fin, ventral and caudal which are used for balancing and swimming.
Tail
• It consists of the rest of the body from the anus to the caudal fin.
Gills
• These are for respiration.
• There is one on either side of the head.
• Each gill is a red comb-like structure supported on a curved bony bar called gill arch.
• Each gill has two slender structures called gill filament.
(d) Limnothrissa haplochromis
These are small bony fish, smaller in size compared to the others in the same genera. They are mostly used in aquariums.
Anatomical characteristics
(i) Have relatively large eyes and a few scales in the midlateral line.
(ii) Have a smaller body depth than the other species.
(iii) Males have bluish to dark grey brown colour. Sometimes the dorsal flanks are greenish and the ventral parts are yellow with red areas in unpaired fins. The male colours change depending on their mood, switching between yellow and blue colour for the dominant males. The other males remain colourless and can be mistaken for females. The females are grey in colour.
(e) Carps Carp fish are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cryprinidae common in Europe and Asia. They have been introduced to various locations including East African lakes. Carps are said to be unattractive slimy fish and choose to live in turbid or brackish water, so referred to as “trash fish” by fishermen. They adapt well to pond life and used extensively in aquaculture. They are herbivorous, eating water plants and also omnivorous, eating small insects and crustaceans.
Anatomical characteristics
(i) Mouth and snout– These are sub-terminal with two barbels on each side. They have no teeth. The shorter barbels are found at the tip of the snout and the longer barbels at the corners of the mouth.
(ii) Body pattern – Body colours are variable from solid dark brown to golden or olive brown on the back and flanks to tan, cream or yellowish white. The body shape is slightly laterally compressed somewhat ventrally flattened.
(iii) Fins – Carps have dorsal fins with a serrated spine and 15–23 soft rays. Anal fins also have serrated spine and 4–6 soft rays.
There are differences in the different carps species as follows:
Common carp
This is the most domesticated and cultivated of the carps species. It is omnivorous, eating the benthic fauna and decaying vegetable matter. They burrow in the pond bottom in search of food, also make good use of artificial supplements.
• They grow at the rate of 1kg/year. The body is fully scaled with large scales.
• They are light gold to dark brown in colour. They have large scales covering their entire body.
Grass carp
This type of carp fish is suitable for biological control of aquatic weeds especially in rice fields.
• In its early life, it feeds on plankton then macrophytes.
• It is a voracious eater and show preference for vegetable foods such as grass, leaves and weeds.
• They also accept supplementary artificial foods. They do not have barbels on their mouths.
Leather carps
These species have no scales on the body.
Mirror carps
These species have extra large spotty scales in a few parts of the body though some are fully scaled. Eyes are on the lower part of the side of the head.
Linear carps
Their scales form relatively straight line that run across the back and the side of the body.
Ghost carp
White or light in colour. It is not an albino since they have pigment in their eyes which are black.
Koi carp
These are ornamental fish having different colours ranging from white, black, red, yellow, blue and cream.
Exercise 5.1
The pictures below show different types of carps species. Study and identify them using the descriptions given above.
5.3 Selection criteria of suitable fish species to rear
Activity 5.2: Research to find out the selection criteria of suitable species of fish to rear
Use the references provided to carry out the following activities:
(i) Find out the selection criteria of suitable species of fish to rear.
(ii) Discuss and record your findings.
(iii) Present your findings to the class.
(iv) Take teacher’s summary notes.
Although a large number of fish species grow successfully in ponds, only a restricted number of species are usually cultivated on commercial scale. This is because the commercial pond culture basically aim at getting the maximum number of fish and optimum utilisation of the natural and supplementary food. This can only be found in certain fish species.
In order to select suitable fish species to rear, the following criteria are used:
(i) Adaptability to undrainable pond environment – Some fish species prefer free movement in large masses of water. Such fish may not be suitable for restriction.
(ii) Faster growth rate – This means they reach market weight earlier and be sold.
(iii) Efficient utilisers of natural food resources of the pond – Such fish will not eat a lot of artificial food supplements.
(iv) Efficient converters of artificial feed hence no food wastage.
(v) Hardy and not easily affected by diseases.
(vi) Easy to breed and to rear the young ones.
(vii) Prolonged breeding period or have multiple breeding within a certain period.
(viii) Non-predaceous, plankton eating and preferably be herbivorous and detritus feeder.
(ix) Should produce palatable and highly nutritious meat.
(x) Should have high market demand and fetch high prices.
These qualities may not be in one fish species but the species with more of the required traits should be considered. Figure 5.9 below shows fish pond with all the parts.
5.4 Definition and importance of bee-keeping
Activity 5.3: A research activity to find out the definition and importance of bee-keeping
Use the references provided to carry out the following activities:
(i) Find out the definition and the importance of bee-keeping.
(ii) Discuss and record your findings.
(iii) Present your findings to the class.
(iv) Take teacher’s summary notes.
Bee-keeping is the art and science of rearing honey bees. The bees are reared in structures known as hives in order to produce honey and other bee products. It is also referred to as apiculture. The practice is an improved ancient human activity of collecting honey from wild bee colonies. It started with the domestication of the same wild bees in different types of structures which today are known as hives.
The importance of keeping bees may be summarised as follows:
(a) As a source of food – Honey, a product from the honey bees, is a delicious and nutritive food for human. It is eaten whole or mixed with other foods as a supplement. In many communities, it is mixed with simsim and groundnuts. Bee products such as royal jelly, pollen and brood are also used as proteinous foods. Young brood are given to malnourished children in some societies.
(b) As a source of medicine – Bee products such as bee venom, honey and propolis are used for the treatment of various ailments.
(i) Bee venom– Used to treat bee poisoning and is therapeutic to Parkinson disease.
(ii) Propolis – Used to treat and relieve arthritis, asthma, sinusis and others.
(iii) Honey – Used as an antiseptic on raw wounds and burns, also treats coughs, measles, stomach upsets. Honey has antibiotic properties to kill micro-organisms. It is also used in preservation of meat and other foods.
(c) For cultural purposes– Honey is used to make traditional brews in most communities. This brew has several cultural importance. For example, dowry negotiation ceremonies cannot take place without this brew while honey itself forms part of the dowry.
(d) As a source of income – Honey and other bee products extracted from the hive are sold either locally or exported to generate income for the farmers.
(e) Source of employment – The bee-keeping industry provide employment to a big population including the bee farmers, carpenterswho make the hives, value adding, food and beverage industries, pharmaceutical industries and others.
Fig. 5.14: Carpenter making a beehive
(f) Source of bees wax – This is another bees product which has a lot of value. It is used in cosmetic industries for soap making, pharmaceutical industries to make pill coatings, paint and shoes polish industries.
(g) Pollination – The honey bee is known to pollinate many cultivated and wild plants as it collects nectar, pollen, resins and gums. Crops such as maize, pawpaws, sunflower and others are known to increase their yields in the presence of bees.
Fig. 5.16: A bee pollinating a flower when collecting nectar
Conservation of natural resources Bee-keeping is an activity that does not lead to the destruction of the environment like crop and livestock farming. Bees need forage plants which include trees for their raw materials they collect. Farmers plant and protect trees, shrubs and other bee plants to provide habitants for the bees.
(i) Bee-keeping is a cheap occupation due to the following reasons:
• It does not require a lot of land. Land is always a limiting factor to small-scale farmers.
• It does not require a lot of expenses, for example, in terms of feeding except during drought.
• The materials needed to start a bee-keeping business are cheap and locally available.
• Raw materials for making honey such as nectar and pollen may be wasted if bees are not kept.
• They can be profitably kept in the semi-arid and arid areas which may be unsuitable for crop production. This makes such areas productive.
(j) Api-tourism and scientific research bee reserves attract tourists and scientists who carry different scientific research in them.
(k) Hobby – Bee-keeping is used by several people as a hobby. It is an enjoyable activity away from the formal type of employment.
5.5 Categories of bees in a colony and their characteristics
Activity 5.4: A field visit to an apiary to observe and find out the different categories of bees and their characteristics
Make a visit to a farm with an apiary and carry out the following activities:
(i) Find out the types of bees in any one of the hives in the apiary.
(ii) Categorise the bees according to their characteristics.
(iii) Discuss and record your findings.
(iv) Present your findings to the class.
(v) Take teacher’s summary notes.
Honey bees are social insects which live in colonies of between 10,000 and 60,000 bees. A colony consists of three categories of bees, queen, workers and drones. Each category is known as a caste. The caste consists of males and female bees. The drones are the male bees while the queen and the workers are female bees.
A bee-keeper needs to be able to identify these different castes of bees for proper management. The knowledge of the parts of a bee is important to be able to find out the differences between the bees.
Parts of a Bee
The following are characteristics of each category or caste of bees in a colony:
(a) Queen bee The queen is a fertile female bee which develops from a fertilised egg.
(i) The body is larger than a worker bee and longer than a drone bee.
(ii) The wings are shorter in proportion to her body length.
(iii) The abdomen is long, slender and tapering for depositing eggs in the cells of the comb. They produce a short smooth sting with 2–5 barbs.
(iv) The head is round and small with small eyes at each side.
(v) Hind legs are straight and shorter than the abdomen.
(vi) The proboscis is short.
The queen bee larva is fed on a food substance called royal jelly secreted by the worker bees. The larvae develops within 15–16 days. She is fed on royal jelly throughout her lifetime. The virgin queen is mated 5–10 days after emerging from comb cell. The queen is mated on a flight with 8–10 drones. The mating flight lasts for a few days and the fertile queen comes back to the hive to lay eggs. The queen can store enough sperms to last for her lifetime. She can lay between 1500 and 2000 eggs per day. Her lifespan is 3–5 years.
Functions of the queen bees
The queen bee functions in the hive include:
• To lay eggs: She determines at will when to lay the fertilised eggs which develop into either queen bees or worker bees and unfertilised eggs which develop into drones.
• To keep the colony together: The queen produces a pheromone known as queen substance which keeps the members of the colony together. This substance will guide the worker bees on how to identify the hive when they come back from foraging. It also helps them to identify each other. The queen substance also inhibit ovary development in worker bees. There is only one queen at a time in the colony.
(b) The worker bees
The worker is a sterile female bee which develops from a fertilised egg. They do not lay eggs under normal circumstances, except when the colony has no queen. They have the following characteristics:
(i) The body is small with a short abdomen which produces a long sting with 8–11 barbs.
(ii) The head is triangular in shape with small compound eyes on each side.
(iii) The proboscis is long for extracting nectar deep into the flowers.
(iv) The wings are long to cover the whole length of the abdomen.
(v) The legs are hairy. The hind legs are long, strong and hairy with pollen basket, brush and press. This is used as an equipment to collect pollen.
Worker bees are the largest group of bees, totalling about 60,000 in a strong colony. When the young larvae hatch, they are fed on royal jelly and pollen until maturity. They take 21 days to mature after which they feed on honey and pollen. They begin their chores when they are 20 days old, starting with short flights. This helps them to get acquainted with their surroundings and be able to identify the hive. Their lifespan is 4–6 weeks.
Functions of the worker bees
They carry out all the chores of the hive which include:
• Protection and defending the hive.
• Clean the hive.
• Collect food (nectar, pollen) and water.
• Feed the queen, brood and drones.
• Build the combs.
• Prepare a new queen when need be.
• They determine whether the queen is incapacitated, kill her and prepare for another queen in the queen cells at the edge of the combs.
• Scout for new locations to swarm to.
(c) Drones
The drone is a male bee which develops from an unfertilised eggs, laid by the queen, though occasionally by workers whose ovaries develop in the absence of the queen. The eggs of the drones are laid in larger cells than for the worker bees. They take 24 days to mature. There are about 100–150 drones in a normal colony. They die soon after mating since their reproductive organs rapture beyond repair during mating.
They have the following characteristics:
(i) Large blunt abdomen.
(ii) The head is rounded with two big compound eyes that meet at the back of the head.
(iii) They have a large wing span, covering the whole length of the abdomen.
(iv) The body is covered with black hairs.
(v) They do not have any sting.
Functions of the drones
• They mate the queen: They congregate outside the hive and wait for the queen while patrolling the hive. They fly about 9-15 m above the ground to mate.
• They cool the hive: They flap their wide wings at high speed increasing air movement.
Table 5.1: Summary of the characteristic differences between the honey bee castes
5.6 Beehive making
1. Construction materials
Activity 5.5: A research activity to find out the materials required for making beehives
Use the references provided to carry out the following activities:
(i) Find out the type of materials required to construct the following types of bee hives:
• The long hive
• The top bar hive
• The langstroth hive
(ii) Discuss and record your findings.
(iii) Present your findings to the class.
(iv) Take teacher’s summary notes.
The materials required to construct beehives depend on the type of hives to be constructed.
Types of beehives
(a) The log hive: Log hives are traditional hives which have been used for many years by different communities. This hive is a fixed comb hive where the inner materials of a log of a tree is scooped out to leave it hollow. The honey combs are cut out when harvesting, thus destroying the brood. The materials used to make this hive are cheap and locally available.
Construction materials
The following are the construction materials for the log hive:
• A cylindrical log; a tree trunk of 90 cm –120 cm and 30 cm – 35 cm diameter.
• Two cylindrical end covers of 30 cm – 35 cm in diameter.
• A plain wire about 75 cm long.
• A stick with V-shaped hook at one end and an inverted V- shape at the other end.
(b) The Top Bar Hive (TBH): The top bar hive is a movable comb hive. Narrow bars normally of wood rest across the top part of a box-like container and hence the name top bar hive. The box forms the space that contains the bees nest. Bees build combs on the bars which are wide enough to give proper spacing between combs. A bar with its attached comb and adhering bees can be removed from the hive and examined. Each comb is built naturally by the bees, suspended from its top bar. Top bars are the slats of timber on top of the hive to which bees attach their combs. They are placed side by side to completely cover the whole hive container or space. An outer lid or cover is provided over the bars for additional protection from the weather elements.
Construction materials
The following are the construction materials for the top bar hive:
• Sawn timber of about 3 cm thickness. This timber should be smooth and enough to make the side pieces, bottom piece, the end pieces and the top bars
• 1 sheet of corrugated iron sheet about 3 m wide
• Plain wire about 5 m long
• 1 kg, 5 cm nails
• 6.4 cm nails, 4–5 pieces
Cider or cypress timber is the best for the construction of the top bar hive. These materials will be cut to size during the construction of the top bar hive.
(c) The langstroth hive
This is an American hive named after the founder Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth. It is another movable comb hive. It is made of two tiers, brood chamber and the super chambers for the honey with a framed wire mesh for the queen excluder.
Construction materials
The following are the construction materials for the Langstroth hive:
• Sawn timber of about 3 cm thickness. This should be enough to construct the chambers of the hive as required
• Mesh wire of 4 × 4 mm mesh size, one piece of 60 × 50 cm is required
• Nails or deck screws
• 80 × 40 cm sheet of 3 4 inch plywood
• 50 mm nails (2 inches nails )
• White or light paint about 5 litres tin
• Timber frames; these can be bought when they are ready made
2. Beehive making process
Activity 5.6: A practical activity to construct the top bar hive
Use the materials provided to carry out the following activities:
(i) Construct the top bar hive.
(ii) Discuss and record findings.
(iii) Report your findings to the class.
(iv) Take teacher’s summary notes.
Procedure for constructing a top bar hive
1. Cut the timber into the following pieces:
• 2 -end pieces each measuring 48.3 × 27.5 × 18.9 cm
• 2-side pieces each measuring 90.0 × 27.5 cm
• 1- bottom piece measuring 86.0 × 19.0 cm
• 27 pieces top bars each measuring 48.3 × 3.2 cm
The cut pieces are as shown in figure 5.29 (a).
2. Drill six holes on the narrow end of one of the end pieces.
3. Assemble the pieces as follows:
(i) Hold the two side pieces upright as shown in figure 5.29 (b) below.
(ii) Place the drilled end of one end piece on top of the side at the bottom end of the two side pieces. The drilled edge of the end piece should be at the slope cut of the side pieces as shown in figure 5.29 (c). Fix the edges together with the 5 cm nails.
(iii) Repeat this procedure for the other end piece which does not have holes on it. Fix it in place firmly with the 5 cm nails.
(iv) Now turn the whole structure upside down so that the narrow side faces upright. Fix the bottom piece on top firmly with the 5 cm nails, all round. Attach the hanging blocks on the end pieces on both ends, using the 6.4 cm nails. This is shown in figure 5.29 (d).
The hanging blocks should be nailed at the position where they will not interfere with the lid.
4. Prepare the top bars by chiseling both sides of the top bars to leave a protruding strip of wood where the starter wax is applied. This is shown in figure 5.29 (e)
5. Construct the top cover as follows:
(i) Cut a piece of corrugated iron sheet measuring 100.5 × 60 cm using a pair of tinsnip.
(ii) Fold and nail about 5 cm length of the iron sheet round a timber frame to make the safety edges of the top lid or cover. The final dimensions of the top lid should be 95.5 × 55 cm with a safety edge.
3. Management of the beehive
Activity 5.7: Field visit to a farm with an apiary to carry out beehive management practices
Make a visit to a farm with beehives in an apiary and carry out the following activities:
(i) Observe the siting of an apiary and the arrangement of the beehives in the apiary.
(ii) Carry out the following hive management practices:
• Stocking of the hive.
• Hive inspection.
• Feeding of the bees.
• Controlling pests and diseases.
(iii) Discuss and record your findings.
(iv) Present your findings to the class.
(v) Take teacher’s summary notes.
Siting the apiary and arrangement of the beehives in the apiary
(a) The site
The site where the apiary is located should be a place;
(i) Where forage plants or flowering plants are available.
(ii) Where water is easily available.
(iii) Well sheltered from strong wind and sun. There should be a hedge which is free from noise and any other disturbances.
(iv) Away from human beings and livestock thus from homesteads and busy roads.
(v) Without any bad odours.
(b) Arrangement of the hives in the apiary
Hives in the apiary should be placed in such a way that they allow easy movement, high stocking rate and achieve good control of pests, in case they are present. The following hive arrangement may be adapted:
(i) Hanging patterns
Here the hives are suspended between posts with plain wires. The hives should be at least 1 m above the ground level. The bee entrance should face outwards and the posts fixed firmly. This method controls hive pests such as the honey badgers, monkeys and also insect pests like sugar ants.
Hanging include:
• Single pattern: In this pattern, a single hive is suspended between two posts as shown in figure 5.31.
• Line pattern: This is where hives are suspended on posts in a straight line. This pattern is convenient especially where there is a narrow strip of land for the apiary.
• Cross pattern: In this pattern, the hives are suspended with one post at the centre being shared by four hives to form a cross-like pattern. This method saves on the posts and the space used. Entrance holes should face outwards.
• Zigzag pattern: Here, the hives are suspended on post to form a zigzag pattern appearing like letter Z. This method is suitable in terrain that is not even and also on sloppy areas. The entrance should always face outwards.
(ii) Placement method
In this method, hives are placed on permanent platforms about 1 m above the ground level. This method is convenient when working with the bees. However, it is only suitable where there are no pests.
(iii) Modified hanging method
In this method, the hives are placed on a platform which is then suspended between posts using plain wires. This method is meant to guard against the badgers, monkeys and squirrels.
Maintenance of the apiary The apiary should have a conducive environment for the bees.
Therefore, the following maintenance practices should be carried out:
– Clearing undesirable vegetation around the hives to press pests.
– Replacing broken posts and platforms.
– Avoid use of pesticides around the apiary.
– Removing all wasted pieces of combs after harvesting.
Beehive management practices
The following are beehive management practices:
(a) Stocking the beehives
Most bee-keepers place empty hives in an apiary and wait for the bees to occupy them naturally. This may take a long time. Therefore, it is recommended to set up a catcher box or to use a swarm net to catch the bees from elsewhere and stock them in the hive as shown in figure 5.37.
Once the bees are in the catcher box or the swarm net, the bees can be transferred easily to the hive. The top bars from the catcher box already have some combs build on them. These top bars are transferred to the hive and replaced with those from the hive.
The next thing is to locate and transfer the queen bee to the hive. When this is done, the other bees will follow with ease to the hive. It is important to remember that when bees are on a sloping surface, they will always move upwards. Therefore, the hive should be placed higher than the catcher box with the entrance holes facing each other. The two are then connected with a sloping board.
(b) Supplementary feeding of the honey bee
Naturally, the food for the honey bee consists of nectar, honey, pollen and water. However, when environmental conditions become difficult, it is necessary to give the bees supplementary foods. This is to prevent the bee colony from absconding. Conditions that may make it necessary to feed the honey bees include:
(i) Drought conditions: When there is severe drought, bees may not get food and water in proximity. This may make the bees run away. To prevent this, the bees are fed on a sugar syrup made of sugar and water at a ratio of 1: 1, combs of honey from the previous harvesting and pollen supplements for proteins. The feed should be placed close to the beehive or in a feeder box for the top bar hive.
(ii) New colonies: A newly established bee colony that either entered the hive on its own or brought in with a catcher box need to be fed with the syrup to give it time to familiarise itself with the surrounding as well as to multiply and increase in number.
(c) Controlling diseases and enemies of bees
Honey bee diseases
The honey bee is affected by several diseases mostly attacking the brood. The diseases of the brood include foul brood, sac brood, stone brood and chalk brood.
Foul brood disease – These are bacterial diseases which are spread by infected equipment. These are controlled by use of antibiotics and destruction of the affected colonies.
Sac brood disease
This is a viral disease which attack sealed brood. It is controlled by maintaining a strong colony through proper feeding.
Stone brood and chalk brood diseases
These are fungal diseases which attack the brood at all stages of development. They are controlled by keeping the hive clean, removing the moulds from the hive and destroying the affected combs.
Honey bee enemies
The honey bee has many enemies, some of which are predators. They attack the honey bee in colonies and reduce their performance. These enemies are categorised into:
(i) Insects – Those which include wax moths, beetles, safari ants, sugar ants, termites, bee louse and pirate wasps.
Insect pests are generally controlled by:
• Maintaining a strong colony through proper feeding during drought.
• Removing destroyed combs.
• Fumigation with ethylene dibromine to control moths.
• Reduce the bee entrance space to prevent entry of beetles.
• Greasing the hanging wires and posts to create barriers for the ants.
• Clearing the bushes around the hives.
• Use of tobacco smoke to dislodge the lice from the bees.
• Use of wasp traps to prevent the robber bees.
• Avoid leaving pieces of honey combs outside the hive .
(ii) Mammals – Mammals that predate on the honey bees, eat the honey, the brood and destroy the hives. They include human beings, honey badger, monkeys and squirrels.
These predators are controlled by:
• Suspending the hive by use of wires.
• Proper and securely fencing the apiary.
• Use of bee house.
• Scaring and surveillance.
• Setting traps.
(iii) Amphibians – These include frogs and toads. They feed on the bees. They are controlled by making sure that the apiary is not set in marshy areas.
(iv) Reptiles – These include lizards, geckos and snakes. They eat the bees, brood and honey. They are controlled by chasing them away and clearing the apiary.
(v) Birds – These include the honey guide and the European bee eater bird. They feed on the bees, the brood and the honey. They are controlled by scaring.
4. Harvesting of honey
Activity 5.8: A field visit to an apiary to harvest honey
Make a visit to an apiary with beehives and carry out the following activities:
(i) Inspect the hive to find out the condition of the bees, brood and the queen.
(ii) Find out whether the honey is ready for harvesting.
(iii) Harvest the honey and any other hive products.
(iv) Discuss and record your findings.
(v) Present your findings to the class.
(vi) Take teacher’s summary notes.
Honey harvesting involves identifying the ripe honey to take away for processing. In order to identify whether the honey is ready for harvesting, the hive should be inspected first.
Hive inspection
This is carried out before harvesting honey to find out the following:
(a) Whether the honey is ready for harvesting: Only the combs with capped honey are ready for harvesting. This means that the honey cells of the combs are full to the brim with honey and then sealed with a thin layer of wax. If honey is harvested when it is not ready, it will have a lot of water hence poor quality.
(b) The condition of the queen. A healthy queen should be able to place an egg properly at the bottom of the brood cell, lay 1500 eggs per day and be able to regulate the number of drones in the colony. Failure to do this, the queen may be sick, old or has become less prolific. This queen is replaced by the workers. During routine inspection, the bee-keeper should be able to notice such activities.
(c) Condition of the colony: When the colony becomes overpopulated, the bees prepare to divide by raising a new queen. This is carried out by the worker bees. They create queen cells on the surface of the comb and feed the young larvae with royal jelly to raise a young queen. The old queen then takes off to start another colony leaving the young queen to continue. During inspection, the beekeeper will be able to identify colony division and assist. This will prevent the bees from swarming and, therefore, be retained as a new colony in another hive.
To approach the hive for inspection safely, it is important to wear the protective clothing which include the following:
(i) Coverall– This is also called a bee suit. It is made of lose fitting smooth material which is light coloured, for example, white or cream. It should have long sleeves and long trousers with elastic bands at the end.
(ii) Head veil –This is used to protect the head. It has a top made of the same material as the coverall while the sides are wire mesh or wire netting to allow visibility. The neck should have tight elastic band at the end.
(iii) Hand gloves – Should be made of leather, same colour as the coverall. They should be a pair with tight elastic band at the opening.
(iv) Gumboots – These are used to protect the legs. They should be the same light coloured materials as the coverall.
(v) A smoker – It is an equipment used to emit smoke when puffed. It should be lit on the side.
Other equipment used during hive inspection include:
(a) Hive tool: This is an iron bar about 25 cm long with a sharp straight end and bent on the other end. The sharp end is used for separating the top bars, cutting the honey combs and scrapping propolis. The bend side is used as a hammer.
(b) Bee brush. This brush is made of sisal fibres and a handle. It is used to brush off honey bees from the honey combs back to the hive.
(c) Queen excluder – This is an equipment which is used to restrict the queen within the brood area. It prevents the queen from laying eggs on certain top bars which are left for honey. This makes sure that the brood are not destroyed during honey harvesting. Queen excluder is made up of wire mesh size 4 mm × 4 mm which is large enough to allow the worker bees to pass through but prevent the queen. The mesh is mounted on wooden frame with the top frames the same size as the top bars. When in use, it replaces one of the top bars.
(d) A feeder box – This box is made up of water proof cardboard with entrances on both sides. The cardboards are double and joined onto a frame on the two sides and bottom such that the hollow space created is where sugar syrup is put. The top frame of the feeder box is the same size as the top bars. When in use, it replaces one top bar.
(e) Catcher box – It is an equipment made to resemble the hive, though smaller in size. It is used to trap the bees from any other place and bring them to the apiary.
After the correct tool, equipment and protective clothing are prepared, the following procedure is used when harvesting honey:
1. Collect all the tools and equipment required.
2. Put on the protective clothing.
3. Light a smoker.
4. Quietly approach the hive from the back or sides, standing in front of the hive entrance will obstruct the bees. This irritates them and makes them defensive.
5. Smoke the entrance and the sides of the hive lightly. This makes the bees to move inside the hive and start eating the honey.
6. Open the hive cover quickly and smoke through the top bars. Puff about four times and return the cover for 2 minutes. Avoid oversmoking because it produces a smoky smell in the honey.
7. Now remove the cover and then each top bar, one after the other by separating them with a hive tool.
8. Inspect for pests, diseases and capped combs.
9. Brush the bees from the capped combs only and cut the comb into the honey container. Combs with brood and pollen should not be removed.
10. When all the ready combs are harvested, replace the lid and then back to its position. Clean all the broken combs around the area before leaving and return the hive to its normal position.
11. Carry the equipment, tools and the container of honey to the store and processing respectively.
Group activity
Construct a langstroth hive, place it next to the top bar hive then carry out the following activities:
(i) Find out the differences between the structure of the top bar hive and the langstroth hive.
(ii) Find out how the honey is harvested from the langstroth hive.
(iii) Harvest honey from the langstroth hive and the top bar hive. Compare the quantities of honey harvested.
Unit Summary
Aquaculture is the art and science of rearing fish in artificial ponds. It is a growing business in Rwanda because of the need to provide affordable animal proteins in human diet. Fish are reared in combination with other animals such as chicken, pigs and other small animals to reduce the cost of production.
However, monoculture in fish production is also used. The common species of fish reared include Limnothrissa miodon, Clarias spp, tilapia, Limnothrissa haplochromis and Carp spp. However, there are other fish species that are also becoming important.
These fish species can be distinguished through their anatomical characteristics. When rearing fish in ponds, proper selection of suitable species is important. Other criteria to consider include adaptability to undrainable pond environment and of most important, have fast growth rate with easy breeding.
Bee-keeping is as important as keeping other livestock. The turnover to capital invested is easy and fast. They provide food, medicine, income, employment and cater for cultural practices. Bees are easy to keep especially where the environment is suitable and with the correct equipment.
Some of the equipment required for bee-keeping include the hive. Most types of hives are cheap and easy to construct, use and maintain. When a beekeeper is able to differentiate between the three castes of bees, the management becomes easy.
Honey harvesting is a skill that require knowledge of the bee behaviour, otherwise bees produce honey with minimum effort from the farmer, all you have to do is provide conducive environment and feed them during the periods of scarcity.
Key terms
1. Pisciculture – Rearing of fish in artificial ponds.
2. Aquaponics – A system that combines the raising of aquatic organisms and growing of plants in the same water.
3. Barbels – A slender external whisker-like tactile organ on the jaw or other part of the head of certain fishes.
4. Benthic fauna – The community of organisms that live on or in the bottom of a waterbody.
5. Cannibalism – It is eating the flesh of another animal of its own kind.
6. Castes – A system of dividing organisms into classes or social groups.
7. Concave – Having an outline or a surface that curves inwards.
8. Detritus feeder or detritus eater – Is an organism such as bacterium, fungus or insects that feed on dead plants or animal matter.
9. Forage plants – These are flowering plants from which bees collect nectar, pollen, gums and resins.
10. Gums – A viscous secretion of some trees and shrubs that harden or dry but soluble in water.
11. Herbivorous – Feeding on plants.
12. Langstroth hive – A hive that is named after Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth who invented and designed it.
13. Macrophytes – An aquatic plant which can be seen with the naked eyes.
14. Monoculture – An agricultural practice of rearing a single species of livestock.
15. Nectar – A sugary fluid secreted by plants in the flowers collected by bees to make honey.
16. Omnivorous – An organism that feeds on both plants and animals.
17. Palatable – Pleasant or agreeable to taste.
18. Pheromone – A chemical substance produced by an insect, for example, the queen bee that affect the behaviour of others of its species.
19. Plankton – Microscopic aquatic organisms floating in water that provide food source for other larger organisms.
20. Pollen – Fine powdery substance produced by the anthers in the flower and collected by bees as feed for young ones.
21. Pollution – The transfer of pollen grains from the anthers to the stigma.
22. Polyculture – An agricultural practice of rearing more than one species of animal at the same time.
23. Resins – A sticky organic exudate from certain trees and plants such as cider, fir and pines.
24. Sub-terminal – Situated or occurring near but not precisely at the end.
25. Turnover to capital – The rate at which an investment is able to bring back money invested and profit.
End of Unit 5 Assessment
1. Outline the importance of honey bees.
2. Make a comparison between the queen bee and the worker bee.
3. Describe the qualities of good quality honey.
4. (a) List four insect pests that attack honey bees.
(b) Outline how the above insect pests of honey can be controlled.
5. Describe the precautions taken when handling honey bees.
6. Analyse the anatomical characteristics of the clarias fish.
7. Study the illustration below carefully and then answer the questions that follow:
(a) Name the parts labelled A, B, C and D.
(b) Give two reasons for suspending the hives on the posts with wires.
8. Explain the procedure of harvesting honey from a Top Bar Hive.
9. The following equipment is used in harvesting honey from the top bar hive. Study it carefully and then answer the questions that follow:
(a) Identify the equipment.
(b) What is the use of the equipment during honey harvesting?