New Bees & Old World Shenanigans

“History isn’t just a story of bad people doing bad things.

It’s quite as much a story of people trying to do good things.

But somehow, something goes wrong.”

~C.S. Lewis

This post seeks to highlight the history of the bees in the New World to fully understand how the bee keeping industry changed over the course of time in Trinidad and Tobago. Data used to build this post was collected from published literature and  from interviews of people involved in the bee keeping industry in Trinidad and Tobago.

Social honey-storing bees have existed in most of the tropical and temperate regions, even before the existence of human beings and their use of these creatures.^[1] Stingless bees (Meliponinae) were and still are indigenous to the tropics of all continents, with over hundreds of species in existence.^[1] However, true honey bees (Apinae) only existed in the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia). Prior to the 17^th century, European honey bees (Apis mellifera) did not exist in the New World (the Americas, Australia and New Zealand).^[4]

Meliponiculture, also known as stingless bee beekeeping, was very widespread in the American tropics before the introduction of the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) by Spanish settlers in the 1600’s.^[4], [5] Archeological data and historical accounts indicate the importance of stingless bees in the Maya and Aztec cultures of Meso-America. Presently, meliponiculture is still common in this region.^[5] Excavated remains of beekeeping found in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala ^[4] provide evidence that the Mayan civilization, which started around 300 BC ^[1], carried out meliponiculture. The honey and waxy material called cerumen, produced by a species called the Xunan-Kab meaning “royal or noble lady bee” (Melipona beecheii) was used in sacred ceremonies by the Mayans. Even today, in Catholic churches in Puebla, Mexico, it is possible to see wax objects offered to God. The honey was also used as medicine, as a sweetener, for mead, and also for paying taxes to the Aztecs and Inca.^[3]

According to David Rostant, founder of TrinBago Stingless Beekeepers Network, “In Mexico, the Mayans also kept colonies of Scaptotrigona mexicana in clay pots stacked on top each other, with small holes at the top of the pot. When ready to harvest the honey, they would lift the pots and scrap the broodcomb at the bottom of the pots to collect the honey there. Then, they would simply replace the pots back onto each other.”

See here ^[4]

Detailed field studies made in the 1900s also suggested that three different indigenous peoples: the Guayaki, Mataco and Kayapó in the tropics of South America, all acquired intimate knowledge relating to the domestication of the stingless bees in their areas.^[1]

See here ^[1]

Not many Caribbean islands had stingless bees, but in 1492, Columbus noted ‘a variety of wild honey’ as one of the natural assets of Cuba, and on a later voyage, he obtained wax on the island of Hispaniola, which is now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic. So Amerindian peoples on both these islands harvested honey and wax from stingless bees, most likely from the species Melipona beecheii.^{[1], [2]}

Honey bees were introduced to the New World when colonists brought with them hives of Apis bees from northern Europe, to both the North American mainland and the Caribbean islands in the 1600s, and later to South America in the 1800s ^[1], when the invention of movable-frame hives ^[11] made transport and management of the bee hive easier.^[4] In 1688/89, bees were taken from France to St. Kitts and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.^[4] The first colonies of honey bees (Apis mellifera) in South America arrived in Rio de Janeiro from Portugal in 1839.^[2]

According to David Rostant, “When the Spanish settlers began to colonize the New World, one of the things they did was tax the indigenous people for honey and wax (cerumen). The wax was in high demand by the Catholic Church because it was used for making candles. However, the stingless bee wax was not of high quality because it is not pure wax; instead it is a wax/plant resin mixture. This caused the wax to smoke when burned. Since the Spanish weren’t getting good wax from these stingless bees, they began to import the European honey bees.”

“Killer bees” origins

During the 1950’s, honey production in Brazil was not performing optimally with just the European honey bees. So the government sought help to find a species of honey bees that was more productive in the tropics. In 1956, a Brazilian geneticist named Dr. Warwick Estevam Kerr was commissioned to interbreed a species of African honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata) imported from central South Africa, with a subspecies of the European honey bees (Apis mellifera), to create a hybrid that yielded greater honey production and was adapted to the warmer climate.^[9] Dr. Kerr was well aware that these African bees were more defensive in nature than their European counterparts, so he took precautions during his experiments. He fitted the experimental hives with special screens called queen excluders to prevent the queens from escaping a protected apiary near the city of Rio Claro, in Brazil.^{[10], [12]} 

However, the story goes that one day in 1957, a visiting beekeeper from the area removed all the queen excluders. At once, 26 African honey bee queens, along with their drones escaped the apiary in small swarms.^[10]

It was this accidental release that forever changed the history of beekeeping in the Americas and eventually the Caribbean.

These 26 females mated with the existing local European honey bees giving birth to a new hybrid known today as the “Africanized honey bees.” They have since spread throughout South, Central and even North America.^[10]

Africanized bees are also called “Killer bees.” However, this is a grave misconception. In Latin America, they are called abejas bravas, “brave bees” since it is in their nature to fiercely defend their colony.^[13]

Even though aggressive in nature, they do not go hunting for humans to kill. In the 1960s, the Brazilian military called these bees, in Portuguese, albelhas assassinas, “assassin bees” because tiny swarms of these bees would infiltrate a European honey bee hive, eventually kill the queen, and replace her with their own African queen. Somewhere along the way, the word for “assassin” was translated into “killer.”^{[13], [14]}

The first mention of the words “killer bees” in the U.S.A. was in Time Magazine (Issue: Sept 24^th, 1965) that picked up one of these military press releases. Since then, the name has been repeated and firmly established. Hollywood later immortalized this name by producing several horror-type films depicting titles such as: The Savage Bees, The Swarm and of course…Killer Bees.^[13]

Trinidad and Tobago ‘Beeginnings’

According to Gladstone Solomon, a Tobagonian beekeeper for over 30 years and manager of an apiary for the Tobago Apicultural Society (TAS) ,the first government apiary was established at the Royal Botanical Gardens, St. Clair, in 1902, utilizing Italian bees. It was also reported that Government Paymaster, Jimmy Fraser, reared bees at a private apiary in Scarborough, Tobago, in 1918.^[7]

During the colonial days, honey grew into a thriving business. Honey was exported between 1914 and 1958, with exports reaching a high of 71,177 lbs in 1947.^[7]

The Beekeeping and Bee Products Act (Act 28 of 1935, amended by Act 7 of 1949), is the legislation still used today.^{[6], [7]} It is an act to regulate and control beekeeping, the importation or exportation of bees, bee products and bee supplies, and to prevent the introduction and spread of bee diseases. Under this act, the first two apiaries in Trinidad, Nos. 1 and 2, located in Diego Martin and Cocorite respectively, were registered to a W. M. Dickson on January 30^th, 1937. The first apiary in Tobago, No. 212, located in Scarborough was registered to a veterinary surgeon, Dr. Timothy Des Iles on September 28^th, 1938.^[7]

The first established colonies of Africanized honey bees were found at the Southern tip of Trinidad, in July 1979. Evidence suggests that a succession of swarms arrived from Venezuela for extended periods thereafter.^[7]

The distance between Venezuela and Trinidad at the closest points is about 3 miles. My personal theories are that a nest might have been present on a piece of floating vegetation carried by the currents of the Orinoco river in Venezuela, towards the south of Trinidad… Or they flew from east Venezuela, rested mid-way on Soldado Rock, and then continued on their flight path towards Trinidad.

The arrival of the Africanized bees led to a serious decline in the number of beekeepers because they were not equipped to handle the high swarm frequency and extreme defensive nature of Africanized bees. The number of European bee colonies also decreased because the Africanized bees soon displaced them once they invaded the area.^[7]

Within a few years, all European honey bees in Trinidad became approximately 100% “Africanized,” irreversibly changing beekeeping in Trinidad as it was previously known.

This, also coupled with the dismantling of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Apiaries Unit, and consequent reduction in governmental support led to over 50% of registered beekeepers in Trinidad in 1978 quitting beekeeping by 1984. There was a steady decline in the number of new apiaries registered over the period, from 263 in the 1970’s, 229 in the 1980’s, 154 in the 1990’s, and to 78 in 2010.^[7]

Estimates for intermittent years between 1978 and 2008 revealed a steady reduction in the number of beekeepers in Trinidad from 407 to 300, and fluctuating but declining number of colonies from 7,060 to 6,000, over the 30-year period.^[7]

Quite surprising is the fact that still today, Tobago remains free of Africanized bees, given its proximity to Trinidad (about 20 miles northeast of Trinidad), inter-island air and sea traffic, and the innate migratory tendencies of these bees.^[7] The distance to Tobago may just be too far for these creatures to fly non-stop. Therefore, the honey produced in Tobago is exclusively from the European honey bee species. ^[6] There are currently about 16 beekeepers and 450 colonies in Tobago.^[7]

As of May 31^st, 2010, 1,534 apiaries were registered in Trinidad and Tobago.^[7] It must be noted that the majority of beekeepers today are not the same ones who were operating in the 1970’s. Over half of them have been replaced by new beekeepers trained in the management of Africanized honeybees. Also, the old apiary sites have been relocated to areas further away from the public and livestock farms.^[8]

In our next post, we will explore more about the eco-system services bees provide in an interview with my friend, and PhD candidate Lena Dempewolf, and the reality that exists here in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean.

References:

1. Crane, E. (1998). “Amerindian honey hunting and hive beekeeping”. Acta Americana 6 (1): 5-18.
2. Crane, E. (2001). “Amerindian uses of honey, wax and brood from nests of stingless bees”. Acta Americana 9 (1): 5-15.
3. Cortopassi-Laurino M., Imperatriz-Fonseca V.L., Roubik D.W., Dollin A., Heard T., Aguilar I.B., Eardley C., Nogueira-Neto P. (2006). “Global meliponiculture: challenges and opportunities”. Apidologie 37, 275–292.
4. Crane, E. (1992). “The World’s Beekeeping-Past and Present”. Chapter from: The hive and the honey bee. Chap. 1, pgs. 1-22. ed. J.M. Graham rev. ed.
5. Sommeijer, M.J. and de Bruijin, L.L.M. (1988). “Melipona trinitatis and Melipona favosa, the only two species of the genus Melipona in Trinidad”.
6. Budhu, S. and Dr. Permanand, R. (May 2014). “The Development of the Honey Industry in Trinidad and Tobago”. Economic Development Board.
7. Solomon, G. (16 November 2010). “Beekeeping in Trinidad and Tobago: 1901 to 2010”.
8. Mohamed, H. (16-20 September 2002). “Trinidad”. Proceedings of the Third Caribbean Beekeeping Congress in Kingston, Jamaica.
9. Osterloff, E. (29, January 2018).”Killer bees: a deadly swarm”. Natural History Museum.
10. Mesa, E. (24 September 2014). “The Cranky Honey bees of South America”. The Permaculture Research Institute.
11. Horn, T. (11 April 2008). “Honey Bees: A History”. New York Times Blog.
12. White, W. (16 September 1991). “The Bees from Rio Claro”. The New Yorker, pg. 36.
13. Beesource: Book excerpts from Thread: Etymology of the term, ‘albelhas assassinas’ (killer bees).McNamee, G. (1996). A Desert Bestiary-Folklore, Literature and Ecological Thought from the World’s Dry Places, pgs. 12-14.Adams, J. R. (1992). Insect Potpourri: Adventures in Entomology, pgs. 154-155.
14. Hale, T. (4 June 2017).“Killer bees were created by scientists in an experiment that went wrong”.

Photographer & Editor: A. Peter

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