1.2 Coordonnées des personnes-ressources et des institutions impliquées dans l'évaluation et la documentation de la Technologie

Nom du ou des institutions qui ont facilité la documentation/ l'évaluation de la Technologie (si pertinent)

Centro de Estudios Ambientales de la Orinoquia- Asociación de Becarios de Casanare (ABC) - Colombie

1.3 Conditions relatives à l'utilisation par WOCAT des données documentées

Le compilateur et la(les) personne(s) ressource(s) acceptent les conditions relatives à l'utilisation par WOCAT des données documentées:

Oui

1.4 Déclaration sur la durabilité de la Technologie décrite

Est-ce que la Technologie décrite ici pose problème par rapport à la dégradation des terres, de telle sorte qu'elle ne peut pas être déclarée comme étant une technologie de gestion durable des terres?

Non

2.1 Courte description de la Technologie

Définition de la Technologie:

Native stingless bee keeping (Melipona favosa) protects bees and plants found in forest and savannah ecosystems to produce honey. In contrast to current destructive wild bee honey harvesting, members of the Abril family keep the traditional practice of capturing/rescuing wild nests, and adapt them so that honey can be extracted from the same nest for many years (up to 30 y) without killing the bees.

2.2 Description détaillée de la Technologie

Description:

Native bee honey production in the floodable savannahs of the eastern Colombian Llanos (Orinoco River Basin), relies on stingless bees of the species Melipona favosa. These bees nest inside tree trunks. The main characteristics of the native bee keeping, as currently performed by three generations of the Abril Family, is that it is sustainable, promotes de conservation of native ecosystems, and as far as we know, constitutes the only sustainable and profitable direct use of local biodiversity in the floodable savannahs of the eastern Llanos in Colombia. Its sustainability is due to the adaptations and management of the nests, so that honey can be extracted without damaging the bees. On one hand, they know how to retrieve wild nests, either by rescuing them from rotten trees or the ground, or by cutting the branch with the nest, and then keeping its natural position at all times. Once at their houses, they will study the outside of the nest and listen to the bees inside the nest, with this information they will cut out a part of the tree trunk to create a window. Once opened, they verify the location of the honey and pollen pots and the broods. Then, they will reattach the cut part on to the trunk by using metal wire and sealing the edges with mud. The nest will be hanged with wire in the position it was originally found. Once on site they will check every day for the presence of the sentinel bee and bee activity. Furthermore, they only extract honey during the end of the dry season when bees have enough food reserves. For the extraction, they will reopen the previously cut window, and extract the honey and pollen pots, making sure enough are left behind so that bees can have access to food as well. The mean honey production from each nest is around the 750 ml- 1000 ml. Honey is kept for their own use and sold to some people for a fairly high price (30 dollars per 750 ml). The honey is mainly consumed as a medicinal product, and its low quantity makes it highly sought after. If someone requests it for sight issues, Héctor will extract the honey with a syringe so that it is as clear as possible.
The native bee keeping contributes to protect native bees, as the management of nests can keep them functional for up to 30 years. The Abril family members are well aware of the dependency between honey production and presence of native plants from where bees forage for nectar and pollen. Therefore, they avoid forest clearing and selectively keep shrubs in the grasslands to guarantee food supply for their bees. Also, they plant fruit trees such as guayaba (Psidium guajava) and arazá (Eugenia stipitata), that benefit the bees, which at the same time benefit pollination. Fruit production is mainly used for home use and very seldom they are sold. They also witness the negative impacts that agrochemical airborne dispersion from rice production in the neighbouring farms, have on wild bee populations. So far, their main concern is that they do not know how to multiply the nests.

2.3 Photos de la Technologie

2.4 Vidéos de la Technologie

2.5 Pays/ région/ lieux où la Technologie a été appliquée et qui sont couverts par cette évaluation

2.6 Date de mise en œuvre de la Technologie

Si l'année précise est inconnue, indiquez la date approximative: :

• il y a entre 10-50 ans

2.7 Introduction de la Technologie

Spécifiez comment la Technologie a été introduite: :

• dans le cadre d'un système traditionnel (> 50 ans)

Commentaires (type de projet, etc.) :

Héctor Abril, has been working with this traditional systems since more than 50 years ago. The traditional system consists in creating a window implied o extract honey without damaging the nest. This knowledge has been passed on to his sons and daughter.

3.1 Principal(aux) objectif(s) de la Technologie

• améliorer la production
• préserver l'écosystème
• conserver/ améliorer la biodiversité
• créer un impact économique positif

3.2 Type(s) actuel(s) d'utilisation des terres, là où la Technologie est appliquée

Les divers types d'utilisation des terres au sein du même unité de terrain: :

Non

Commentaires:

The main economic activity of this group of farms is extensive cattle ranching on natural floodable savannhas (242 ha), but they all have bee keeping in their houses. The number 80 refers to the nest quantity. They preserve gallery forests (108 ha) and allow for fallows (28 ha) to develope near the houses for supplying nectar and pollen to the bees.

3.3 Est-ce que l’utilisation des terres a changé en raison de la mise en œuvre de la Technologie ?

Est-ce que l’utilisation des terres a changé en raison de la mise en œuvre de la Technologie ?

• Oui (Veuillez remplir les questions ci-après au regard de l’utilisation des terres avant la mise en œuvre de la Technologie)

Les divers types d'utilisation des terres au sein du même unité de terrain: :

Non

Commentaires:

The fact that their traditional practice allow for them to keep the bee nests in their houses for up to 30 years, means that they had to protect surrounding forests and allow for shrubland recovery nearby the house. Otherwise, they would just either collect honey directly in the field in a single destructive event or bring a couple of nests per year home and then extract honey in a destructive way.

3.4 Approvisionnement en eau

Approvisionnement en eau des terres sur lesquelles est appliquée la Technologie:

• pluvial

Commentaires:

The farms have some windmills for water extraction for the cattle ranching, but these are not used for the natural ecosystems that sustain the bees during the dry season.

3.5 Groupe de GDT auquel appartient la Technologie

• apiculture, aquaculture, élevage de volailles, de lapins, du ver à soie, etc.

3.6 Mesures de GDT constituant la Technologie

Commentaires:

Bee keeping implies supplying the bees nectar and polen demands, thus, for sustaining their bees the Abril family is particularly keen on protecting their gallery forests and allow shrub regeneration. In addition, they are cultivating fruit trees (guayaba- Psidium guajava; arazá- Eugenia stipitata) near the houses, impplying a change in land cover from grazing land to fruit crops.

3.7 Principaux types de dégradation des terres traités par la Technologie

Commentaires:

Forest conservation and shrub recovery and fruit crops aid in the reduction of erosion by water during the wet season, and erosion by wind during the dry season. Forest conservation and shrub recovery and fruit crops reduce areas exposed to cattle trampling. Forest conservation, shrub recovery and fruit crops are likely important to protect soil fauna, to enhance the survival of bees and many other animal and plant species. A high density of pollinators is also important for natural vegetation and fruitting crop

3.8 Prévention, réduction de la dégradation ou réhabilitation des terres dégradées

Spécifiez l'objectif de la Technologie au regard de la dégradation des terres:

• prévenir la dégradation des terres

Commentaires:

On the one hand, they actively preserve the riparian forests because of their awareness of the relation between bee survival and honey production with forest cover. This reduces land degradation. On the other hand, surrounding their houses where they keep the bees they have planted trees and allowed for fallow areas to offer pollen and nectar to their bees, restoring land that has been previously used for cattle ranching

4.1 Dessin technique de la Technologie

4.2 Informations générales sur le calcul des intrants et des coûts

Spécifiez la manière dont les coûts et les intrants ont été calculés:

• par entité de la Technologie

Indiquez la monnaie utilisée pour le calcul des coûts:

• dollars américains

4.3 Activités de mise en place/ d'établissement

	Activité	Calendrier des activités (saisonnier)
1.	Wild nest recue or extraction and transport to the house	Depends on the finding, but it is preferred in the dry season where more floral resources are available
2.	Opening of a window in the nest	A couple of days after being collected/recued
3.	Locating the nest under housing	Just after the window opening

4.4 Coûts et intrants nécessaires à la mise en place

	Spécifiez les intrants	Unité	Quantité	Coûts par unité	Coût total par intrant	% des coût supporté par les exploitants des terres
Main d'œuvre	Two people for wild nest recue or extraction and transport to the house	day	2,0	15,0	30,0	100,0
Main d'œuvre	Opening of a window in the nest	day	0,5	15,0	7,5	100,0
Main d'œuvre	Housing construction (two people)	day	2,0	15,0	30,0	100,0
Main d'œuvre						100,0
Equipements	Saw	unit	1,0	20,0	20,0	100,0
Equipements	Chissel	unit	1,0	10,0	10,0	100,0
Equipements	hammer	unit	1,0	8,0	8,0	100,0
Equipements	Metal wire	kilo	0,5	11,0	5,5	100,0
Equipements	Ax	unit	1,0	20,0	20,0	100,0
Matériaux de construction	boles minimum 15 cm diamater and 2 m of height	boles	4,0	8,0	32,0	100,0
Matériaux de construction	wood support 4 m long	unit	4,0	6,0	24,0	100,0
Matériaux de construction	Roof laminas (3 m)	laminas	3,0	18,0	54,0	100,0
Matériaux de construction	Nails	box	2,0	9,0	18,0	100,0
Coût total de mise en place de la Technologie					259,0
Coût total de mise en place de la Technologie en dollars américains (USD)					259,0

Commentaires:

The construction of a bee nest house can hold up to 30 bee nests.

4.5 Activités d'entretien/ récurrentes

	Activité	Calendrier/ fréquence
1.	Checking the bee nests	daily
2.	Harvesting honey	yearly
3.	Seedling collection	monthly
4.	tree nursery care	daily
5.	planting trees	monthly

4.6 Coûts et intrants nécessaires aux activités d'entretien/ récurrentes (par an)

	Spécifiez les intrants	Unité	Quantité	Coûts par unité	Coût total par intrant	% des coût supporté par les exploitants des terres
Main d'œuvre	Daily check per bee nest	day	0,005	15,0	0,07	100,0
Main d'œuvre	honey harvest per bee nest (2 people)	day	1,0	15,0	15,0	100,0
Main d'œuvre	Seedling collection	month	2,0	15,0	30,0	100,0
Main d'œuvre	Planting of fruitting trees	month	2,0	15,0	30,0	100,0
Equipements	Chissel	unit	1,0	10,0	10,0	100,0
Equipements	Broom	unit	1,0	3,0	3,0	100,0
Equipements	Hammer	unit	1,0	8,0	8,0	100,0
Equipements	Syringe	unit	1,0	0,2	0,2	100,0
Equipements	Empty glass bottles (750 ml)	unit	70,0	0,4	28,0	100,0
Equipements	Table	unit	1,0	30,0	30,0	100,0
Equipements	shovel	unit	1,0	20,0	20,0	100,0
Matériel végétal	Bags x 50 units	bag	1,0	5,0	5,0	100,0
Matériel végétal	Soil	sack	4,0	6,0	24,0	100,0
Coût total d'entretien de la Technologie					203,27
Coût total d'entretien de la Technologie en dollars américains (USD)					203,27

4.7 Facteurs les plus importants affectant les coûts

Décrivez les facteurs les plus importants affectant les coûts :

The way they manage the bee productive system is fairly cheap and most materials are already accessible within the farms.

5.1 Climat

5.2 Topographie

Indiquez si la Technologie est spécifiquement appliquée dans des:

• non pertinent

Commentaires et précisions supplémentaires sur la topographie:

This is a low elevation flat area. Overall the floodable savannahs are concave but microtopography has primarily concave areas (bajos) with a lower extent of convex areas (bancos).

5.3 Sols

Si disponible, joignez une description complète du sol ou précisez les informations disponibles, par ex., type de sol, pH/ acidité du sol, capacité d'échange cationique, azote, salinité, etc.

In the seasonally floodable savannhas there are three main soil types: 1) Clayey sediments, 2) fine and coarse alluvial sediments, and 3) lime and sand eolic deposits. Soil description is based on the 1:100.000 scale Casanare soil study, by the National Geographical Institute Agustín Codazzi.

5.4 Disponibilité et qualité de l'eau

La salinité de l'eau est-elle un problème? :

Non

La zone est-elle inondée?

Oui

Régularité:

fréquemment

Commentaires et précisions supplémentaires sur la qualité et la quantité d'eau:

Drinking water is usually provided by ground water year round. During the wet season there is a generalized flood, and during the dry season there is severe drought. Thus, the water table level goes from surface to deeper than 9 m.

5.5 Biodiversité

Commentaires et précisions supplémentaires sur la biodiversité:

Habitats include: Gallery/riparian forest, isolated tree islands (matas de monte), seasonally flooded savannhas, wetlands.
Reported biodiversity for the seasonally floodable savannahs is: 183 spp of mammals, 507 spp of birds, 108 spp of anphibians, 119 spp of reptiles, 567 spp of fish, 1479 spp of plants (Mora-Fernández et al., 2015).

5.6 Caractéristiques des exploitants des terres appliquant la Technologie

Indiquez toute autre caractéristique pertinente des exploitants des terres:

All the land user's reported here are family members.

5.7 Superficie moyenne des terres utilisées par les exploitants des terres appliquant la Technologie

5.8 Propriété foncière, droits d’utilisation des terres et de l'eau

Propriété foncière:

• individu, sans titre de propriété

Droits d’utilisation des terres:

• individuel

Droits d’utilisation de l’eau:

• individuel

Est-ce que les droits d'utilisation des terres sont fondés sur un système juridique traditionnel?

Oui

Précisez:

They are in the process of gaining rights, given the farms have been theirs for more than 50 years.

5.9 Accès aux services et aux infrastructures

Commentaires:

These farms are in fairly remote area with poor access roads, there is a rural school but for the other services people have to travel for at least 2 hours by car to the closest urban center.

6.1 Impacts sur site que la Technologie a montrés

Impacts socio-économiques

Production

Revenus et coûts

Impacts socioculturels

Impacts écologiques

Biodiversité: végétale, animale

Précisez l'évaluation des impacts sur site (sous forme de mesures):

Measurements are qualitative estimates

6.2 Impacts hors site que la Technologie a montrés

Précisez l'évaluation des impacts extérieurs (sous forme de mesures):

Measurements are qualitative estimates

6.3 Exposition et sensibilité de la Technologie aux changements progressifs et aux évènements extrêmes/catastrophes liés au climat (telles que perçues par les exploitants des terres)

Extrêmes climatiques (catastrophes)

Catastrophes biologiques

	Comment la Technologie fait-elle face à cela?
maladies épidémiques	pas bien

6.4 Analyse coûts-bénéfices

Quels sont les bénéfices comparativement aux coûts de mise en place (du point de vue des exploitants des terres)?

Quels sont les bénéfices comparativement aux coûts d'entretien récurrents (du point de vue des exploitants des terres)?

Commentaires:

Honey harvesting is only possible once per year so for the short term it takes some time before retrieving income. However, once the nests are re-established at home the maintenance is fairly easy. The rareness and uniqueness of the product sells well in the local market. The external markets are not aware of such a product.

6.5 Adoption de la Technologie

• cas isolés/ expérimentaux

Si disponible, quantifiez (nombre de ménages et/ou superficie couverte):

5

De tous ceux qui ont adopté la Technologie, combien d'entre eux l'ont fait spontanément, à savoir sans recevoir aucune incitation matérielle, ou aucune rémunération? :

• 91-100%

Commentaires:

Talking with other local people we found that the traditional practice is very rare, mainly because it used to be the only source for sweeteners, but with the arrival of sugar cane and sugar, people stopped the practice, and for new generations the tradicional way is almost forgotten. This is highly menacing because when people find a wild nest they only destructively extract the honey affecting wild bee populations.

6.6 Adaptation

La Technologie a-t-elle été récemment modifiée pour s'adapter à l'évolution des conditions?

Non

6.7 Points forts/ avantages/ possibilités de la Technologie

Points forts/ avantages/ possibilités du point de vue de l'exploitant des terres
The medicinal properties attributed to the product make it highly sought after.
Having the nests at home, and passing on the traditional practice to new generations is very important, because they find very interesting to know about bee behaviour and pollination function for fruitting trees.
Costs are fairly low, and despite production is synchronized the demand of the product is higher that the production, so it is a welcome income to the family household assets.

Points forts/ avantages/ possibilités du point de vue du compilateur ou d'une autre personne ressource clé
Their practice is non destructive and bee population is enhanced in the houses, it is very likely that bees will find new wild nesting sites. In this regard bee nests at houses are a source of individuals for wild populations, given that there are trees and forests nearby.
This practice and their knwoledge on bee behaviour and biology motivates people to conserve forests and trees and allow for fallows surrounding their houses.
Negative effects on their bee populations derived from land use change int heir surroundings and application of agrochemicals by neighboring rice crops serve as an indicator for them to know if those practices are deteriorating their environment.

6.8 Faiblesses/ inconvénients/ risques de la Technologie et moyens de les surmonter

Faiblesses/ inconvénients/ risques du point de vue de l’exploitant des terres	Comment peuvent-ils être surmontés?
Despite the long term survival of captured wil bee nests, they still rely on collecting wild nests. Which in time they feel are more scarcee	For them it is crucial to learn how to split their "domesticated" nests so they can increase production without depending on wild nests.
The expansion of rice crops in the area is a major threat	Public policy and law inforcement in aerial agrochemical application is urgent. Also, the transition from usual rice crop management to a more enrionmental management is required.
New generations are less likely to adopt traditional practices, endengering the persistence of this knowledge in time	The recognition of this traditional productive system is fundamental.

Faiblesses/ inconvénients/ risques du point de vue du compilateur ou d'une autre personne ressource clé	Comment peuvent-ils être surmontés?
A one time per year harvesting of the product could potentially be increased to expand this sustainable practice	Restoration of key dietary elements surrounding their houses and an increase in connectivity with remaingin forest patches could potentially increase honey production
We agree that the loss of this practice is inminent if it is not protected as a cultural heritage	Knwoledge transfer to new generations and the recovery of this productive system, once "domesticated" bee nest can be divided or multiplied.

7.1 Méthodes/ sources d'information

7.3 Liens vers les informations pertinentes en ligne

Titre/ description:

Diversidad de abejas sin aguijón (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) utilizadas en meliponicultura en Colombia. Nates-Parra, G. and Rosso-Londoño, J.M. (2013).

URL:

https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/3190/319029232001.pdf

7.4 Observations d'ordre général

It is a bit too long but feasible to fill in.