Adaptation of Apis cerana to top-bar bee hives

Abstract

The traditional beekeeping of Apis cerana to produce honey is being practiced in the rural communities in Sarawak using traditional hives adopted originated with simple structures or containers either enclosed cylindrical logs or boxes made of wood and bark with combs fixed on the internal surface which are technically described as fixed-comb hives. The introduction of a modern technology using the modified Langstroth beehive box design with movable combs in the 1990s has not been widely successful due to the intensive management demand which is not suitable to the rural farmers who practice diversified farming. The potential of a top-bar beehive box design as a transitional method of beekeeping to farmers who still keep bees using the traditional method was investigated. A comparative study on the establishment of Apis cerana between the modified Langstroth beehive box design and the top-bar beehive box design conducted conclusively revealed that top-bar hives could be used in beekeeping of Apis cerana. It was also indicated that top-bar beehive design is not inferior to the advance technology of the modified Langstroth beehive box design. Top-bar beehive design did not encounter absconding of the bee colonies and incidence of wax moth infestation which were the major constraint of the modified Langstroth beehive box design. The quality of the honey harvested from top-bar beehive was of higher quality that the honey extracted from the modified Langstroth beehive box design.