Sustainable Apiculture through Queen Rearing Program

Over the past three (3) weeks the Antigua Beekeepers Cooperative (ABC) in collaboration with the Iyanola Apiculture Collective (IAC) from St. Lucia with technical support from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) has been engaging in rearing queens bees. This initiative is the upscaling of a completed project funded under the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme, entitled “To promote the growth and sustainable development of the local pollinators (Apiculture Industry) and local honey through training and production in collaboration with the SVGBA and the Ministry of Agriculture”(2020 -2021).

The main objectives of the project were to promote the growth and sustainable development of the Apiculture Industry through training and production, in collaboration with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Beekeepers Cooperative (SVGBA) and the Ministry of Agriculture. Also, a second objective was to support the development of an Apiculture Industry in Antigua and Barbuda through development of business models for commercial apiaries and capacity building in beekeeping, and development of hive products. The now completed project faced several challenges primarily brought on by the COVID -19 pandemic. Restrictions on movement and imposed curfews triggered implementation delays. In the end, the group embraced the opportunity to make slight adjustments to the project, and built a new and fruitful partnership with the Iyanola Apiculture Collective (IAC) through Mr. Richard Matthias, Master Beekeeper from Saint Lucia.

Through this partnership, the main objectives were still achieved and beekeepers in both Antigua and Barbuda were furnished with tools and equipment, trained in new hive monitoring technology, and benefitted from hands on mentoring and capacity building opportunities for queen rearing and hive management. The team also scoured both islands’ terrain, seeking out suitable sites for queen rearing, and evaluating potential foraging grounds for bees.

In apiculture, timing is everything. The queen rearing practical component had to be rescheduled separately from the previous project. In March, 2023, when schedules aligned, and climatic conditions were favourable, queen rearing was initiated on both Antigua and Barbuda. This is now an upscaled activity from the previous project and forms a crucial part of Objective 2: “Establish and implement apiculture conservation measures for local bees to improve economic values” of a newly funded GEF SGP – UNDP project entitled, “Implementing Innovative Strategies towards improving the Honeybee Population and Health Status to Control the Varroa Mite for Sustainable Beekeeping in Antigua and Barbuda”.

During the queen rearing training, Mr. John Fredrick and Mr. Richard Matthias from IAC, Saint Lucia guided the activities, which were divided into practical and theoretical sessions in both Antigua and Barbuda. Activities commenced in Barbuda with the prepping and setting up of starter colonies to produce queen cells, as well as re-introduction capacity building sessions in queen rearing and hive management practices for the local beekeepers.

A total of Ninety larvae were grafted (90) in three batches, which resulted in 38 queen cells being produce. These will be distributed to the beekeepers in Barbuda. In Antigua, a total of one hundred and twenty-seven (127) larvae were grafted, which resulted in (111) queen cells produced an 87%

success rate will be distributed to the membership of the Cooperative, in Antigua The distributed queens will be monitored and evaluated by senior beekeepers within the Cooperative by collecting relevant data such as temperament, honey production as well as brood production.

Over twenty-five (25) local beekeepers benefited from this project including 15 women. Continuous training using this method of increasing our local honey bee population will be repeated at selective intervals during the year to strengthen the Cooperative as well as increasing the bee population in Antigua and Barbuda.