Abstract
Honey bee (Apis mellifera) has a thousand years of history in this part of Asia. The native honey bee race is considered to be A. mellifera syriaca. This subspecies was generally replaced by a more docile subspecies A. mellifera ligustica, but members of other subspecies are also occasionally introduced. Only about parts of the country area are suitable for honey bees due to very limited vegetation arid conditions in the southern part of the country. The majority of the colonies are concentrated at the center and north of the country reaching density of more than 14 colonies per square kilometers. To supplement bee forage, Eucalyptus trees are planted intensively around the country. Local beekeepers practice modern methods of beekeeping using Langstroth hive boxes. All professional beekeepers usually treat their colonies preventively against Varroa destructor mites and foulbrood diseases. Many beekeepers also treat preventively against Nosema disease. Despite regular management, Varroa and viruses remain a major obstacle for successful beekeeping.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Alaux C, Brunet J-L, Dussaubat C et al (2010) Interactions between Nosema microspores and a neonicotinoid weaken honeybees (Apis mellifera). Environ Microbiol 12:774–782
Arien Y, Dag A, Zarchin S et al (2015) Omega-3 deficiency impairs honey bee learning. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:15761–15766
Boncristiani HF, Evans JD, Chen Y et al (2013) In vitro infection of pupae with Israeli acute paralysis virus suggests disturbance of transcriptional homeostasis in honey bees (Apis mellifera). PLoS One 8:e73429
Brodschneider R, Crailsheim K (2010) Nutrition and health in honey bees. Apidologie 41:278–294
Chen YP, Siede R (2007) Honey bee viruses. Adv Virus Res 70:33–80
Dag A (2008) Bee pollination of crop plants under environmental conditions unique to enclosures. J Apic Res 47:162–165
De Miranda JR, Cordoni G, Budge G (2009) The acute bee paralysis virus, Kashmir bee virus, Israeli acute paralysis virus complex. J Invertebr Pathol 103(Suppl):S30–S47
Evans JD, Schwarz RS (2011) Bees brought to their knees: microbes affecting honey bee health. Trends Microbiol 19:614–620
Genersch E, Aubert M (2010) Emerging and re-emerging viruses of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) Vet Res 41:54
Haddad N, De Miranda JR, Bataena A (2008) Discovery of Apis florea in Aqaba, Jordan. J Apic Res 47:173–174
Hou C, Rivkin H, Slabezki Y et al (2014) Dynamics of the presence of Israeli acute paralysis virus in honey bee colonies with colony collapse disorder. Virus 6:2012–2027
Leat N, Ball B, Govan V, Davison S (2000) Analysis of the complete genome sequence of black queen-cell virus, a picorna-like virus of honey bees. J Gen Virol 81:2111–2119
Mazar A, Panitz-Chohen N (2007) It is the land of honey: beekeeping at Tel Rehov. East Archaeol 70:202–219
Mazzei M, Carrozza ML, Luisi E et al (2014) Infectivity of DWV associated to flower pollen: experimental evidence of a horizontal transmission route. Martin SJ, editor. PLoS One 9:e113448
Nazzi F, Pennacchio F (2014) Disentangling multiple interactions in the hive ecosystem. Trends Parasitol 30:556–561
Pisanty G, Mandelik Y (2016) Profiling crop pollinators: life history traits predict habitat use and crop visitation by Mediterranean wild bees. Ecol Appl 25:742–752
Pisanty G, Klein A-M, Mandelik Y (2014) Do wild bees complement honeybee pollination of confection sunflowers in Israel? Apidologie 45:235–247
Pisanty G, Afik O, Wajnberg E et al (2016) Watermelon pollinators exhibit complementarity in both visitation rate and single-visit pollination efficiency. J Appl Ecol 53:360–370
Ribière M, Olivier V, Blanchard P (2010) Chronic bee paralysis: a disease and a virus like no other? J Invertebr Pathol 103(Suppl):S120–S131
Runckel C, Flenniken ML, Engel JC et al (2011) Temporal analysis of the honey bee microbiome reveals four novel viruses and seasonal prevalence of known viruses, Nosema, and Crithidia. PLoS One 6:e20656
Ryabov EV, Wood GR, Fannon JM et al (2014) A virulent strain of deformed wing virus (DWV) of honeybees (Apis mellifera) prevails after Varroa destructor-mediated, or in vitro, transmission. PLoS Pathog 10:e1004230
Singh R, Levitt AL, Rajotte EG et al (2010) RNA viruses in hymenopteran pollinators: evidence of inter-taxa virus transmission via pollen and potential impact on non-Apis hymenopteran species. PLoS One 5:e14357
Soroker V, Hetzroni A, Yakobson B et al (2011) Evaluation of colony losses in Israel in relation to the incidence of pathogens and pests. Apidologie 42:192–199
Soroker V, Avni D, Slabezki Y et al (2012) Colony losses and their potential causes in Israel. Proceedings of the 19° Congreso Internacional De Actualización Apícola, Oxaca, Mexico, 2012
Soroker V, Sarig S, Slavetsky Y et al (2017) Leakage of agrochemicals from agriculture to environment: an impact on honeybees. Ecol Environ Hebr 2:16–23
Acknowledgements
The authors thank very much Dr. Eitan Eilon and Mr. Moshe Peer for teaching us about history and culture of beekeeping in the region. To Inna Goldenberg for the figure preparation and assistance in data collection and to all the beekeepers for devoting their time to complete questionnaires providing the data about current practices and colony loss data. NC was supported by a Grant of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Agriculture number 131-1723.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Soroker, V., Yossi, S., Chejanovsky, N. (2018). Apiculture in Israel. In: Chantawannakul, P., Williams, G., Neumann, P. (eds) Asian Beekeeping in the 21st Century. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8222-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8222-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-8221-4
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-8222-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)