Zewdu Et Al

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Zewdu et al

Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 6 (3), pp. 093-101, March 2016.

 ISSN: 2276-7770  

Research Paper

Manuscript Number: 012016019


(DOI: http://doi.org/10.15580/GJAS.2016.3.012016019)

 

Assessment of
Alien Honeybee Species (Apis florea)
in North West and Northern Ethiopia

 

Zewdu A1*,
Desalegn B1, Amssalu B1, Gebreamlak B2,

Tolera K1

 

1Oromia
Agricultural Research Institute, Holeta Bee Research Center, P.O. Box 22,
Holeta, Ethiopia.

2Tigray Agricultural
Research Institute, Mekelle Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 1132,
Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia.


Abstract:

The dwarf honeybee (or red dwarf
honeybee), Apis florea Fabricius, is
native to Southeast Asia. The general distribution of this species is confined
to warm climates where it performs very well. The study was carried out to
assess the invasion, habitat and its negative effect on local honeybees in
North West and Northern Ethiopia. Districts for the study were purposively
selected. To undertake the assessment, three different techniques, interviewing
local people, observing foraging bees on the field and searching for nests of
the alien species were employed.
Based on the
study results, Metema could be the possible district to which A. florea was first introduced in 2003.
Since then, this alien bee species
has become widely distributed in the lowlands of north Gondar, and central and
northern Tigray up to the Eritrean border. 
Indicating the rapid expansion and effective colonizing ability, they
become well adapted to new hot arid conditions of North West and North Ethiopia
without being affected by the competition from local honeybees, Apis mellifera. This natural expansion
of the species may not have a pronounced negative effect at this time but may
pose some threat to the local ecosystem in the future. Therefore, the rapid
expansion of the A. florea into new
habitats has to be monitored and more detailed research is needed to understand
their ecological impacts in the new ecosystem and potentially possible economic
advantages and disadvantages.

 

Key words: A.florea,
nesting habitat, invasion, Tigray, Amhara.

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