ABSTRACT
Most of Venezuela's agriculture occurs in the dry tropical forest life zone; this region covers 38% of the country and accounts for about 85% of the national honey production. When harvesting honey many Venezuelan beekeepers remove Africanized bees from honey supers by smoking the supers with large amounts of smoke, then by brushing or shaking out any remaining bees. Beekeepers in Venezuela, like many beekeepers around the world, seldom agree on beekeeping methods. Many Venezuelan beekeepers are trying hybrids from different strains in an attempt to find less defensive and better honey-producing bees. Hybrids produced from the Carniolan subspecies are popular among several of the beekeepers. Most crops in Venezuela prior to Africanization were pollinated by native bees, primarily stingless bees. Honey in Venezuela is used primarily for medicinal purposes and for the baking and candy industries. Most of the honey produced by the commercial beekeepers is sold at wholesale prices to national supermarkets.
