Sader promotes genetic improvement of bees to mitigate ‘Africanization’

The Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader) promotes selection and genetic improvement actions to reduce the negative effects of the Africanization of European bees and increase the productivity of the beekeeping sector in the country.

The process of Africanization consists of the establishment of the dominant characteristics of the African bee (Apis mellifera scutellata). about local bee colonies that reduce honey production and other derivatives of this productive sector, among other effects, Sader detailed.

Africanization is considered a socioeconomic and public health problem faced by beekeeping, a sector dedicated to the breeding and care of these insects and through which products such as honey, royal jelly, propolis, wax and pollen are obtained, he noted.

As it is a genetic problem, Sader indicated, control must be constant so that the genes of African women are not greater than those that express production characteristics.

With defensive behavior, swarming (reproduction), Evasion and pillage of Africanized bees increase production costs by up to 30 percentdue to the annual change of queen bees, purchase of protective equipment, specific management and relocation of apiaries, among others.

He explained that this situation also increases the number of incidents due to bee stings in people or animals and, therefore, causes discomfort in the population and encourages the destruction of apiaries and abandonment of the activity.

Since the arrival of Africanized bees to Mexico in 1986, the average yield per hive decreased approximately 25 percent and national honey production was reduced by 34 percent 10 years after their introduction.

Following the damage caused by this species in South America and in order to protect the social and economic value of national beekeeping, the National Program for the Control of the African Bee (PNPCAA) was established in 1984, through a presidential decree, and includes four phases: prevention, containment, control and improvement.

On the other hand, the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that, under the supervision of the General Coordination of Livestock, There are 40 hatcheries in the country dedicated to the production of commercial queen bees and producers of bee nuclei. and three more of parent queen bees, which implement selection and genetic improvement programs and carry out certification processes every six months.

With this infrastructure, an annual production of more than 200 thousand queen bees is estimated, selected with favorable characteristics of docility, production and disease control, which promote the healthy coexistence of productive beekeeping with Africanized bees.

Mexico reported more than 58 thousand tons of honey in 2023

At the end of last year, Mexico recorded the production of more than 58 thousand tons of honey, which generated 2.3 million hives.

Among the main honey producing entities are Yucatán, Campeche, Jalisco, Chiapas and Veracruz, where beekeeping is an important source of income and jobs.