Browsing by Author "Kasangaki, Patrice"

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    Important Plants for Honey Production in Four Agro Ecological Zones of Uganda
    (Bee World, 2019) Otim, Agnes S.; Kajobe, Robert; Abila, Patrick P’Odyek; Kasangaki, Patrice; Echodu, Richard
    The diet of honey bees consists of protein-rich pollen and sugar-rich nectar collected separately or synchronously from flowers by foraging worker bees (Kajobe, 2006, 2007). These resources are collected in quantities that exceed colony demands and are stored for dearth periods. The nectar is converted into honey and pollen stored as bee bread (Anderson et al., 2014; Nicolson, 2011). While collecting nectar and pollen, bees deposit pollen from anthers to the stigma resulting in pollination and increased fruit set (Vidal, Jong, Wien, & Morse, 2010). In the USA, Morse and Calderone (2000) estimated the value of crop production achieved through pollination by honey bees alone at $14.6 billion. The value of honey production by bees in Africa is 169,306 tons (faostat.org 2013). Some plants have been observed to be heavily visited by the honey bees while others are less frequently visited (Bendifallah, Louadi, & Doumandji, 2013; Couvillon et al., 2015). Nectar and pollen resource depletion induced by prolonged wet seasons or overheating in the dry seasons is known to cause migration or absconding in African honey bees (Hepburn, 2006; Winston, Otis, & Taylor, 1978).
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    Infestation Levels of Some Pests, Predators and Enemies of Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) in Two Agro-Ecological Zones of Uganda
    (Journal of Biology and Nature, 2018) Chemurot, Moses; Onen, Hudson; Kasangaki, Patrice; Kityo, Robert; Sande, Eric; De Graaf, Dirk C.
    Globally, honeybees are threatened by human-mediated factors like pests, diseases and pesticides. In this study, 370 honeybee colonies were surveyed for selected invertebrate and vertebrate pests in wet and dry seasons (December 2014 to September 2015). Observations were made on human activities, apiary characteristics, landscape and land use type. Counts of selected pests were made by carefully opening, smoking hives before physically searching for the target pests. The pests recorded included; rats (Graphiurus sp.), lizards (Agama sp.), small hive beetle (Aethina tumida), wax moth (Galleria mellonella) and ants (Dorylus sp.). Infestation levels of wax moths were significantly higher in wet season (0.6±2.9) than in the dry season (0.0±0.0) (P < 0.01). In addition, there was a significant negative correlation between wax moth infestation level and elevation (rho = - 0.194, n = 161, P = 0.014). Furthermore, wax moths infestation levels varied significantly across apiaries of different dominant vegetation types (P = 0.001). Old farmlands had significantly higher infestation level of pests wax moths, ant and lizard compared to new farmlands and protected areas (P<0.05). The results support locating apiaries in less disturbed habitats to reduce pest infestation.
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    Viruses Circulating in African Honey Bees in Uganda
    (Bee World, 2019) Otim, Agnes S.; Kajobe, Robert; P’Odyek Abila, Patrick; Kasangaki, Patrice; Echodu, Richard
    Worldwide, honey bees are hosts of more than 20 identified bee viruses (de Miranda, Gauthier, Ribiere, & Chen, 2011); most of them are single stranded RNA viruses belonging to order Picornavirales which has five families, two of which (Iflaviridae and Dicistroviridae) contain the common bee viruses (De Smet et al., 2012). Nine of these bee viruses on the African continent are reviewed by Pirk, Strauss, Yusuf, Démares, and Human (2016). The Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV), Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV) were reported in South Africa (Strauss et al., 2013). In Kenya, Muli et al. (2014) detected ABPV, BQCV and Deformed Wing Virus (DWV). In Benin, Amakpe, De Smet, Brunain, and Ravoet (2015) reported Lake Sinai Virus (LSV), while Onyango et al. (2016) added to Kenya’s bee viruses the Varroa Destructor Virus-1 (VDV-1) and Kakugo Virus. Apis melifera Filamentous Virus (AmFV) in South Africa is reviewed by Allen and Ball (1996). In Uganda, Kajobe et al. (2010a) detected the BQCV and none of the samples screened in their study tested positive for Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV), Sac Brood Virus (SBV), ABPV, DWV, IABP, nor Apis iridescent virus, AIV. Studies of Chemurot (2017) show presence of ABPV, SBV, DWV, LSV and BQCV in bee colonies in eastern and western agro-ecological zones (AEZs) of Uganda.