Volume 1 - Sustainable Meliponiculture with Vernacular Architecture

Synopsis: This literature proposes new ideas and innovations that consider the ultimate Beescape for Meliponaries, with bee comfort at the top of the list of considerations. Thermal comfort is a term of grave concern regarding conservation in Meliponiculture. Often enough, enthusiastic beekeepers are not overly worried about heat dissipation, especially during the summers on the fringes of the tropics. Heat waves in the tropics may leave beekeepers anxious about the stability of the colony’s health and population growth. The existing colonies may see the population dwindling rather than growing. We also look at earth tremors, if not earthquakes, in the ＂ring of fire＂ zone in The Malay Archipelago and Wallacea regions. Flooding threats in Southeast Asia and Typhoons in the Oceanic Philippines are troubling. Recent reports on landslides leave affected beekeepers very distressed.

Addressing these disastrous events and the potential threats is one of the aims of this book. We have scoured the region and examined how different cultures attempt to mitigate their respective regions’ drastic and extreme weather. Out of these examples and data collection, we provide a gallery of designs on relevant bee housing that may impact such mitigation that may apply to the relevant type of disaster frequently faced in each region. The reader is afforded a choice of constructive possibilities depending on the availability of materials, site topography, and geography of their Meliponary location.