Beekeeping in Algeria: evaluation of beekeeping practices, trends of management, and challenges

The honey bee plays a very important role in plant biodiversity and the natural and environmental balance. It is considered a biological marker that alerts to the state of the natural environment. In Algeria, Varroa is a major problem in beekeeping, as it is a very serious condition due to the development and handling of the ectoparasitic Varroa mite. Within the framework of the MEDIBEES project - Monitoring of Mediterranean bee subspecies and their resilience to climate change for the sustainable improvement of agroecosystems - a survey was conducted in 2021, with the objective of characterizing and understanding the beekeeping activity and its main problems in Algeria, compared to other countries of the Mediterranean basin. The survey was disseminated in Algeria by e-mail and sent to all beekeeping associations and beekeepers. Visits were also made to beekeepers to obtain the most accurate answers. In this article, only the results obtained for Algeria will be presented. In total, 200 questionnaires were analyzed. The respondents had apiaries in 19 wilayas of the country. The results of this study show the constraints on the development of beekeeping in Algeria in recent years, the drought, the mortality rate was very high, and the presence of pathologies. COVID-19 has had a negative influence on the yield of beekeepers. A very low yield of honey was obtained during these last two years (2019-2020). The survey identified positive trends in beekeeping practices, including regular queen replacement, apiary-level selection, migratory beekeeping, and consistent varroa mite monitoring. The beekeeping associations must be on the field for the organization of the beekeeping sector and the improvement of the current situation, encourage beekeepers to utilize disease-resistant bee breeds, support research on alternative varroa mite control methods and promote the use of natural and organic beekeeping techniques. Key words: Honeybee, survey, Mediterranean bees, beekeeping activity, climate change, resilience, Algeria, varoasis