Beekeeping Technology
Transcript of Beekeeping Technology
B y D R . J A M E S T E W
Woosler, Ohio
T H E B U R M E S E B E E K E E P I N G
PROJECT
A T T H E A G R I C U L T U R A L
T E C H N I C A L I N S T I T U T E
T H E A G R I C U L T U R A L Technical In -
s t i t u r e h a s recent ly had the p r i v i l e d g e of
w o r k i n g w i t h t h e G o v e r nm e n t o f B u r m a
and the
U.S . D epa r tmen t
of
Sta te .
A s ix
m o n t h
i n s t r u c t i o n a l p r o g r a m w as in i t ia led
in M arch , 1980 , t h a t
w as des i gned to in-
s t r u c t B u r m a n s t u d e n t s in f u n d a m e n t a l
an d
advanced aspects
of
A p i c u l t u r e .
T he
'basic i n s t r u c t i o n a l p rog ram cons i s t s of
classwork , p rac t ical appl ica t ions and
t o u r s o f selected b ee ope ra t ions in the
m i d w e s l e r n and sou the rn pa r t s o f t he
U.S . The B u rm ese gove rnm en t is ac ti ve ly
a t t e m p t i n g t o dev e lop t he n a t i o n ' s n a t u r a l
resources in many r e spec t s ; one of w h i c h
is
beekeeping.
B u r m a i s par t of the Golden Tr iang le ,
(Bu rma , Tha i l and ,
an d Laos) . This is an
area t h a t i s considered to b e a major p ro-
d u c e r o f o p i u m w h i c h p e r m e a t e s m a n y
nations including t he
United
Sta te s .
Since
Burma's basic re son for training beekeepers...
t he ear ly
1970's, t h e B u r m e s e G o v e r n m e n t
ha s been engaged in e f f o r t s to s u p r e s s il -
licit d r u g t r a f f i c in i ts po r t ion of the
t r i a n g l e .
U n d e r
the
t e r m s
of a
1974
ag reem en t , t he Uni t ed S tat e s ha s p rov ided
the B u r m e s e G o v e r n m e n t o v e r $ 30 mil l ion
in a n t i -n a r c o t ic s e q u i p m e n t ( p r i m a r i l y
h e l i c o p t e r s and
f i x e d - w i n g e d
a i r c r a f t ) .
B e c a u s e m u c h of the G o l d e n Triangle
o p i u m i s s m u g g l ed i n t o t he Uni ted S ta t e s
a s he ro in , Bu rmese u se o f t h i s e q u i p m e n t
in narcot ics suppress ion i s of d i rec t
benef i t to the Uni ted S ta t e s . Su rp r i s ing l y ,
the op ium popp y p roduce r i s no t rea l ly
v e r y well paid for his ef for t s . The per
cap i t a income o f Bu rma i s
$100.00.
If a
prod ucer could be g iv en any other m eans
of earning a l i ve l ihood , poppy p roduc t ion
w o u l d decline.
Thi s is
B u r m a ' s b a s ic
reason f or t ra inin g beekeepers a long w i t h
m a n y o t h er e d u c a t i o n a l p r o g r a m s
p r e s e n t l y u n d e r w a y .
Since t he beekeep ing in s t r uc t iona l p ro -
g ram is u n i q u e in the U n i t e d S t a t e s ,
s e v er al B u r m a n d i g n i t a r i e s v i s i t ed t he
W o o s te r c a m p u s d u r i n g J u n e 1980. They
were accompan ied by Mr . Geo rge She r r y ,
D e p u t y C h i e f of M i s s i o n of the
U n i t e d
S t a t e s E m b a s s y , R a n g o o n , a n d M r . J o h n
Ly le , U n i t e d S ta t e s Depa r tmen t o f S t a t e .
U
O hn K y i , D e p u t y M i n is t e r of H o m e and
Rel ig ious Affai r s , i s the highes t Burmese
of f ic ia l ever received
by the
Uni ted Sta te s .
T h e B u r m a n s t u d e n t s , u n d e r t h e w a t c h f u l
eye of three di f fe rent t e lev i s ion cameras ,
as
wel l
as r epo r t e r s , worked bees for
t he
B u r m a g u e s t s . O t he r b e e k e ep i n g t o u r s
and
d e m o n s t r a t i o n s w e r e also c o n d u c t e d .
T he
en t i r e vi s i t
w a s a
r e w a r d i n g
ex -
per ience for the bee p r o g r a m . T he
Bu rmese s t uden t p rog ram has gone ve r y
wel l at A T I . I t is hoped t ha t t r a i n i n g
received b y t h e B u r m e s e s t u d e n t s w p l play
a p a r t in the u l t i m a t e d e v e l o p m e n t of a
s t r o n g , p r o d u c t i v e b ee k e e p in g i n d u s t r y i n
B u r m a . D
D r . James T ew t a l k s w i t h U O h n K y i , D e p u t y
M i n i s t e r
of H o m e and R e l ig i o u s A f f a i r s . ( B u r m a )
A U G U S T
1980
, - -
;v - ' ' . • ' ' -
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