The Present Economic Status of A. M. Adansonii: Summary and Bibliography

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Abstract
Apis mellifera adansonii has received world-wide attention recently, because of its introduction to South America, and the subsequent battle between it and the European bee already established there—and between the protagonists of each. For thousands of years adansonii has flourished in tropical Africa, and honey hunting and beekeeping have provided the inhabitants with a treasured source of food, especially valuable in times of famine. Within the last decade or so governments of a number of countries have been persuaded of the wisdom of developing their potential beekeeping industry, and appointments have been made to this end: Dr. F. G. Smith, followed by G. Ntenga, in Tanzania, J. Linder in Senegal, V. de Portugal Araújo in Angola, Miss P. Papadopoulo in Rhodesia, T. W. Reynolds in Zambia. A similar enterprise may shortly become possible in Kenya; it would be carried out initially by the author of this article, who has already had practical beekeeping experience in Kenya, England and Canada. Those concerned with programmes for developing beekeeping in African countries need to know all they can about the native honeybee, its behaviour, capabilities and management. And in South America A.m. adansonii has already spread from Brazil into Paraguay and Argentina, so this continent is now involved in these problems, and also in those of hybridization of A.m. adansonii with Apis mellifera.