Apimondia 2015 Abstract book (South Korea)
.pdfoccupied hives of pest invasion and in fencing around the apiaries. Pests are managed following cultural practices with occasional use of non-toxic chemicals. Beekeepers also help to improve hive occupation by supplying bees with water during drought periods and by planting forage plants in vicinity of apiaries.
BRP-025
Top bar hive propolis collector for commercial propolis harvesting in top bar hives
Abraham Addo-Ansah Allotey
Forestry commission Ghana/ allotey honey bee farms, Ghana
This innovation sought to design and develop Top Bar Hive (TBH) Propolis Collector (PC) For pure propolis to be harvested commercially in the TBHs two innovations were designed and developed as follows. PC-1; A space of 40 x 2.5 x 2cm was cut out from the central axis of a Top Bar (TB) piece of wood/plastic of dimensions 48 x 3.2 x2 cm. A 3mm thick plastic sheet with 2 mm perforated diameter holes was fixed over the created TB space. PC-2; To increase the surface area for collection of more propolis, the propolis collector width dimensions were increased downwards by two installments of 40* 10*2.5 cm with a base cover similar to PC-1 in dimensions In service the cover of the TBH is slightly lifted with a piece of wood wedge for air and light entry to stimulate bees to collect propolis to fill holes which cut out light and air from hives. The developed PCs were used to replace a TB. By the use of PC-1&2 commercial grade propolis collection from the TBH were made possible as against the current situation of scrapping propolis from the TBs by pre arranging the TBs to create space for air and light entry. The PCs could be adopted to collect propolis from the log and grass hives. Export of propolis from Africa which was virtually not in existence could be promoted as well as research into African grade propolis medicinal usage.
490
Author Index