Madagascar: DIANA – Threatened honey resources

Varroa disease has appeared in Madagascar since 2010 and continues to spread on the island. The Diana region is affected.

This highly contagious disease was first identified in October 2019 in the rural municipality of Ambalahonko, Ambanja district. In 2022, all districts of the Diana region are attacked by varroa. Despite the presence of various products available for several years, it is currently observed that the vast majority of hives in the region are infected, at very variable and often very significant levels.

Currently, it remains an important factor among the multifactorial causes mentioned in abnormal mortalities observed and leading to a marked decrease in honey production. However, the honey industry is promising and profitable in the region. There are around six hundred beekeepers in the region, including 25% traditional, 19% semi-improved, 48% in the process of modernization, and 8% modern. The presence of several projects that intervene in the beekeeping sector, especially within protected areas, is an advantage for the region.

And the presence of a honey exporting company called Distrimax in Nosy Be is an opportunity. However, low honey production is observed due to the presence of diseases, enemies of bees.

Concerted Approach

According to Dr. Toky Rakotondrafara, head of the regional service of the regional livestock directorate, varroasis is a disease caused by varroa, a mite that feeds on bee blood.

This parasite feeds by piercing the hemolymph of bees and causes anemia or, worse, death. By attacking both bee brood and adults at the same time, it is located on the backs of bees, with a hematophagous nature. It prevents the survival of bees, whether domestic or wild. Transmission occurs through direct contact by swarming or desertion, movement of infested colonies (transhumance).

An apiary infested with varroa can depopulate within a few months. Not only does varroa weaken the bee, but it also transmits viruses that damage its wings and kill the colonies. A 5% infestation rate of varroa results in a production loss of 5 kg.

In addition to varroasis, in the Diana region, there are also two main bee diseases and enemies. These are the wax moth and the small hive beetle or “Kakabe.”

The wax moth is a night moth that develops inside the hive. Its larva is locally called “Sababaka” or caterpillar. While the second is an insect that lives in the corner of the hive. The females lay eggs in the brood cells and dig tunnels in the honey frame. Colony weakening, desertion, and abandonment by bees of the severely affected hive are the consequences.

Faced with this situation, beekeepers in the region must deal with these diseases that affect bees, reduce their production, and kill colonies.

To have a concerted approach, they met at the Passion Gourmand restaurant yesterday to establish a regional plan for monitoring and coordinated control against bee diseases. This workshop is an essential step in effectively combating these scourges in all apiary sites. To this end, a number of actions have been defined.

“This plan for monitoring and coordinated control against diseases aims to reduce the infestation rate of diseases in hives in the region and to harmonize the approach to control in apiary sites at the regional level,” emphasized the director of development of the governorate, Théogène Belahy.

The work that will be carried out within the framework of a regional plan could constitute the first bricks of a reactive health organization in the face of the various health hazards threatening beekeeping.

Raheriniaina