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Beekeeping in Vietnam

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Asian Beekeeping in the 21st Century

Abstract

There are six honeybee (Apis laboriosa, Apis dorsata, Apis mellifera, Apis cerana, Apis andreniformis, Apis florea), eight stingless bee (Trigona laeviceps, Trigona ventralis, Trigona pagdeni, Trigona gressitti, Trigona fuscobalteata, Trigona carpenteri, Trigona scintillans, Trigona iridipennis), and two bumble bee (Bombus haemorrhoidalis, Bombus breviceps) species known in Vietnam. All of them are native to the country, with the exception of A. mellifera. Today nearly 1,500,000 A. mellifera and A. cerana honeybee hives are managed in Vietnam. These bees, along with A. dorsata, are responsible for the majority of honeybee products produced in the country. Vietnam is the second largest honey exporter in Asia, with a total of ~48,000 tons distributed internationally in 2014. Domestically, honey is also an important commodity. Furthermore, A. cerana plays an important role in poverty alleviation in mountainous and remote areas of Vietnam due to beekeeping development projects sponsored by both government and nongovernmental organizations. Major bee diseases that infect Vietnamese honeybees include Sacbrood disease (SBV), European foulbrood disease (EFB), Nosema, and parasitic mites (Tropilaelaps mercedesae and Varroa destructor). Most of these diseases can be resolved with biocontrol methods.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Mrs. Katrina Klett (Fulbright grantee - 2015) and Dr. David Dodge (The Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology – ARS – USDA) who have spent much time correcting English in the manuscript of this chapter. We are also grateful to Dr. Lilia De Guzman (The Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology – ARS – USDA) for encouraging us to finish this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Tropical Bees and Beekeeping, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Pham Hong Thai & Tran Van Toan

  2. Faculty of Agronomy, Department of Entomology, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Pham Hong Thai

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  1. Pham Hong Thai
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  2. Tran Van Toan
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Correspondence to Pham Hong Thai .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University , Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Panuwan Chantawannakul

  2. Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA

    Geoffrey Williams

  3. Institute of Bee Health, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Peter Neumann

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Thai, P.H., Van Toan, T. (2018). Beekeeping in Vietnam. 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_11

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