Beekeeping in the Tropics

blackhawkfan01 · July 14, 2009, 01:15:52 PM

Greetings to all I have started learning the beautiful art of beekeeping and I live in a Tropical climate (Puerto Rico) where the temperature never drops below 65 and nectar and forage is going on most of the year so the bees never need to be wintered. I was wondering if any one have any experience beekeeping in tropical zones? I have read in most books and the beekeeper has to leave surplus honey for the bees to survive the winter but in tropical zones I imagine you can harvest all year long. I've also heard that pest like fungus are a problem in tropical zones. Any imput will be greatly apreciated.

Kathyp · July 14, 2009, 01:19:07 PM

lucky you!!

can you go into your profile and put your location? as time goes by, it will be helpful to know where you live.

sean · July 14, 2009, 07:11:38 PM

Hi. I am in jamaica and I'm a bee-a-holic. :-D I have been keeping bees for about 3 years now, from what i have learnt beekeeping in the tropics is different in both good and bad ways. I havent had any experience with the fungus you mentioned so i cant say anything on it. Feel free to pm me on anything i can assist with. There is another member from puerto rico but i havent seen anything from her in a while

SlickMick · July 14, 2009, 09:36:04 PM

I'm an Aussie and in a subtropical climate... many of the same benefits and issues I would imagine.
Stay in touch

Mick

orvette1 · July 15, 2009, 01:54:02 AM

I live in Hawaii. We haven't had problems with fungus, just the mite. Do what the books say. You need to keep some of the deeps with honey for the bad spells.

blackhawkfan01 · July 15, 2009, 01:04:52 PM

Quote from: sean on July 14, 2009, 07:11:38 PM
Hi. I am in jamaica and I'm a bee-a-holic. :-D I have been keeping bees for about 3 years now, from what i have learnt beekeeping in the tropics is different in both good and bad ways. I havent had any experience with the fungus you mentioned so i cant say anything on it. Feel free to pm me on anything i can assist with. There is another member from puerto rico but i havent seen anything from her in a while

What breed on bees do you use in Jamaica? What is the biggest problems you have in your type of climate? Do you feed sugar syrup, What times of the year? How many times a year do you harvest? What time of the year does your colonies swarm? I've heard in warm climates bees tend to swarm more than in temperate climate.
Thanks!

sean · July 17, 2009, 06:20:17 PM

As far as i am aware I doubt that we have any distinct breed of bee today, they are all mongrels - Italians, germans, carnolians. We dont import bees so i guess theres a lot of inbreeding. Despite our lack of size we experience a diverse weather conditions, as such some have to feed, some only occasionally(like me). we use brown sugar with no adverse reactions. Dont know about the swarming