Research Guides: ENSP 400: Capstone in Environmental Science and Policy: Conservation Through Beekeeping

Conservation Through Beekeeping

Databases

AGRICOLA
Citations to journal articles, book chapters, monographs, conference proceedings, serials, technical reports, and other materials on a range of agricultural topics.
EconLit
EconLit is a reliable source of citations and abstracts to economic research in over 400 books, journals, dissertations, and working papers. Provides comprehensive information on accounting, capital markets, econometrics, economic forecasting, government regulations, labor economics, monetary theory, urban economics. 1969 - present.
Tip: Do not attempt to search on authors by truncating the first name. Last, F? will often result in zero hits. Try searching on Last or Last, First ISSNs and ISBNs are not searchable in this database.
Scopus
Scopus is an abstract and citation database with over 80 million records and 1.8 billion cited references that date back to 1970. Includes over 27 thousand serial titles and 249 thousand monographs in the social, physical, life and health sciences, as well as over 44 million patent records. More information on using Scopus is available at: https://elsevier.libguides.com/Scopus.
VBIC
VBIC is a collection of online business and economics resources intended to provide research support to the Robert H. Smith School of Business, the Department of Economics, and general users seeking authoritative information on these subject areas. The portal includes major database subscriptions provided by the UMD Libraries and the Smith School of Business. Most of these resources are available to faculty, students and staff through the University of Maryland Libraries. Due to licensing agreements these resources are limited only to current University of Maryland students, staff, and faculty. The databases that are supported by the Smith School of Business, as noted in VBIC, are available only to their students, please contact: researchsupport@rhsmith.umd.edu for any inquiries.
Web of Science Core Collection
The Web of Science Core Collection provides comprehensive coverage of the sciences, social sciences, and arts, and humanities across journals, books and conference proceedings. It indexes more than 5,700 major journals across 164 scientific disciplines. The best database for finding what papers have cited other papers. Cited references can be traced forward in time. Web of Science Training Materials available here: http://wokinfo.com/training_support/training/web-of-science

Other Information

For this project, you will be conducting searches on search engines, like Google, to answer some of your research questions. See the "Search Tips" tab for tips on how to control these searches to get more targeted results.

Search Tips

Use your project scope document to create a list of searchable keywords. Add keywords listed in relevant articles to this list.
Keep track of your search strings. Many databases will show you your search history, and even let you save searches!
If you find relevant references in an article, look them up by title in Google Scholar and read that article for more information. Chain down the literature.
- This goes for news articles too. If they mention a report or scholarly article, try to find that original document. There may be more information in there that is relevant to your research!
Web of Science and Google Scholar will let you see if another article has cited the article you're reading. Chain up the literature.
If you are struggling access an article's full text try using the Reload Button.

Search Engines

Some resources like government reports or data will not be found in the library databases. Instead you'll need to do a search in a search engine, like Google.

Here are some tips to help you limit your search results in Google.

Limit search results to documents authored or funded by the government by using:
site:.gov (documents produced/authored by the government at all levels (federal,state,local) and government-sponsored research)
site:org (organizations/associations / think tanks...)
site:edu (produced / authored / sponsored by educational entities)

food waste composting site:gov
"community garden" regulations site:.gov
"ecosystem services" economics site:.gov
rainwater harvest* site:.gov
"job corps" site:org

Place phrases in quotes
"ecosystem services"
"public health"

For this assignment, you will be creating a research report. A citation manager can help you organize the resources you find and generate citations in the style of your choosing.

Zotero is a free citation management software that you can download and use as a group. Visit this page for more information.

If you just need a few citations, ZoteroBib is a website that will quickly generate citations that you can copy to your clipboard.

Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust. (2024) Annual Report. https://www.chipembele.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Chipembele-Annual-Report-2024-main.pdf

King, L. et al. (2020). Human Elephant Coexistence Toolbox. https://ste-coexistence-toolbox.info/en/toolbox-index/

Kaibni, A. et al. (2025). Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust Conservation Livelihoods Analysis.

Jones, R. (1999). Beekeeping in the tropics. London, UK: Commonwealth Secretariat. ISBN 0-85092-631-9. https://www.thecommonwealth-ilibrary.org/index.php/comsec/catalog/view/804/804/6431

CIFOR-ICRAF. (2008). Forest Livelihood Briefs. Beekeeping in Zambia. https://www.cifor-icraf.org/publications/pdf_files/livebrief/livebrief0801.pdf

van der Kleij, C. & Simukoko, M. (2012). Women Participation in Beekeeping in Zambia Through the Use of Technological Innovation. https://www.snv.org/assets/downloads/f/191310/f94bde7af2/casestudy_womenparticipationinbeekeeping.pdf

Lowore, J., Meaton, J., & Wood, A. (2018). African Forest Honey: an Overlooked NTFP with Potential to Support Livelihoods and Forests. Environmental Management. 62 pp15-28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-018-1015-8

Lowore, J. (2020). Understanding the Livelihood Implications of Reliable Honey Trade in the Miombo Woodlands in Zambia. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 3:28 https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00028/full

Meaton, J., Lowore, J., & Wood, A. (2020). Assessing value chain interentions in Zambian and Ethiopian forest beekeeping systems. Business Strategy & Development 4:2, 159-169. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsd2.136

Ministry of Green Economy and Environment. (n.d.). Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Project: Improving lives through sustainable management of natural resources – Beekeeping training manual. https://ziflp.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Beekeeping-Training-Manual-1.pdf

Background

Beekeeping has been recognized across Africa as a livelihood option with strong potential to support biodiversity conservation. It can reduce reliance on resource-extractive activities, provide income from honey and wax sales, incentivize habitat protection through plant and pollinator conservation, and support non-conflict methods for safeguarding food crops against wildlife crop-raiding.

In Zambia, both traditional methods, such as hollowed-out logs or fallen tree hives, and top bar hive designs are used. Traditional hives are low-cost and locally familiar but can contribute to tree cutting and may yield lower harvest volumes. Top bar hives are often more productive and easier to manage but require higher initial investment and training.
CWET has identified growing community interest in beekeeping, including recent examples of rapid hive colonization using traditional methods. However, it remains unclear which hive type, or combination, offers the best fit for sustainable, conservation-aligned livelihoods in the South Luangwa region.

Questions to Answer

What are the advantages and disadvantages of top bar hives compared to traditional hives in African small-scale beekeeping?
What are the estimated start-up and maintenance costs of each hive type, including locally available materials?
What environmental and conservation implications are associated with each method?
What lessons can be learned from existing beekeeping projects in Zambia’s Northwestern Province and other Southern/Eastern African regions?
How is the honey value chain structured in Zambia, and who are the key stakeholders?
What practical recommendations could help CWET support communities in adopting sustainable, conservation-friendly, and market-ready beekeeping practices?