Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by human.
Bees are accommodated in artificial hives where they live comfortably within easy reach of the bee keeper for examination and extraction of surplus honey, after keeping of sufficient in the combs for the bees.
Honey is a product of bees, which gather sugar containing nectars from flowers. Honey should be processed as soon as possible after removal from the hive.
Honey processing is a sticky operation, in which time and patience are required to achieve the best results. Careful protection against contamination by ants and flying insects is needed at all stages of processing. Bee honey is natural, unrefined food consumed as much in fresh or canned state. It is readily assimilated and is more acceptable to the stomach, particularly in the case of ailing persons, than cane sugar.
It is an antiseptic and is applied to wounds and burns with beneficial results. Honey collection and its marketing in India are still not fully organised. The main uses of honey are in cooking, baking, as a spread on breads and as an addition to various beverages such as tea and as a sweetener in commercial beverages. Honey is the main ingredient in the alcoholic beverages, which is also known as honey wine or honey bear. Honey is also used in medicines.
A number of small scale industries depend upon bees and bee products. Honey and bees products finds use in several industries which are under; Pharmaceuticals, meat packing, bees wax in industries, bee venom, royal jelly, bee nurseries, bee equipment’s and hives etc. There is considerable demand for the honey and other products. Honey is largely used on a small scale as well as at an industrial level.
History of Beekeeping in India, Present Status and Future:
After independence, India launched a massive programme of rapid industrilization with the belief that the benefits would percolate down to the masses. Contrarily only elites got benefited and rural people continued to be poor resulting into movement of the unemployed to the cities.
Although honey and honey bees are known to human beings since time immemorial still beekeeping is not a strictly traditional industry in India. Efforts were made to introduce Apis mellifera the European honeybees in India since 1880. For various reasons these experiments did not meet with success. It was around 1910 that Rev. Father Newton designed a smaller hive suitable for the Indian honeybee Apix cerana indica in Kanyakumari and successfully maintained it in hives.
Mahatma Gandhi realised the importance of beekeeping industry and included it in his rural development programme. Several freedom lighters like Smt. Rama Devi and Manmohan Chaudhary from Orissa, Shri Rajdan from Jammu and Kashmir did pioneering work in the establishment of modern beekeeping in India.
World Scenario in Beekeeping:
Beekeeping is practised over a greater area of the earth surface than perhaps any other single branch of agriculture and on it depends the success of many other branches of agriculture. Honeybee originally belongs to the old world Europe, Africa and Asia and the bees spread to the new world after 1638 in America 1822 in Australia and 1842 to Newzealand.
The Pattern of Beekeeping Today:
In new world beekeeping is generally a means of livelihood and average honey yield in most of the countries ranges from 10 to 20 kg/colony and the average yield in best beekeeping district ranges from 100 kg to 150 kg or even 200 kg, contrary to this in the old world. The beekeeping is a hobby and sideline beekeepers are much higher, each owning 5, 10 or upto 50 hives and getting a harvest of 5kg to 20 kg/hive.
Race of Honeybees:
The most predominant species of hive honeybees in the world is Apis mellifera whose races can be divided into three i.e.,
1. European races
2. Oriental races and.
3. African races.
Dark bees A. mellifera mellifera L:
They are spread throughout Europe north and west of Alps and Central Russia. But in the last decade they lost ground almost everywhere and presently are confines to Spain, France, Poland and Russia.
Italian bees A. mellifera Ligustica Spin:
Its original homeland is Italy (exclusive of Sicily) and is somewhat smaller than, A mellifera mellifera with slender abdomen.
Carniolans. A mellifera carnica (Pollmann):
With original homeland Austrian Alps, this bee is generally quite similar to ligustica. Caucasian A. mellifera caucasica (Gorb)
Original homeland is Central Caucasus. In shape and size it resembles carnica. Besides these important races. Apis mellifera adansoni has also been much talked about these days. In addition to these races of Apis mellifera we have the Asiatic hive bee Apis cerana which closely resembles Apis mellifera in its body structure. There are two other species of genus Apis in southern Asia which are entirely tropical.
Beekeeping in India:
KVIC:
The KVIC or (Khadi & Village Industries Commission) is a statutory body created by an Act of Parliament (No. 61 of 1956 and as amended by Act No. 12 of 1987). It is charged with the planning promotion organisation and implementation of programme for the development of Khadi and other Village Industries in the rural areas.
Apiculture:
Development of Beekeeping Equipments:
It is an important task and CBRTI has designed lots of equipments:
(1) Bee hives ISI (A type B type and C type),
(2) Bee hives stand (folding type and fixed type)
(3) Honey extractor Tangential and radial type
(4) Comb foundation sheets
(5) Comb foundation mill
(6) Travelling bee box
(7) Wasp trap
(8) Lay out of honey house
(9) Lay out of honey processing plant
(10) Solar wax extractor.
The above mentioned equipments have already been standardised by Bureau of Indian Standards (formerly ISI). The following approved, drafts awaiting standardisation are (1) Cylinderical bee packages (2) Honey extractor tangential (3) Beeman’s kit.
Some of these techniques include:
(1) Management of apiaries year round
(2) Supplementary feeding in dearth period
(3) Swarm control
(4) Management for higher yields
(5) Apis mellifera management
(6) Migration both local and distant.
Introduction of exotic bees:
The exotic bee Apis mellifera was initially introduced in Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir on the individual level as well as by Agricultural University Ludhiana. After its successful introduction Apis mellifera bees was popular and it was taken up in Punjab on commercial basis. The KVIC after due experiments in the States of Bihar, U.P., M.P. and Punjab approved introduction of A mellifera in nothern States and approved the pattern of assistance of Apis mellifera under its scheme of beekeeping for the southern northern States.
Entomology:
Achievements include identification, extent of damage and management of pests parasites and predators of bees including green bee, eater wax moth, mites etc. The control of the mites was achieved employing advanced indigenously prepared strips impregnated with insecticides. The most important work includes isolation purification and identification of mandiculate gland pheromone of different bee species, different insecticides to bees were taken.
Bee Pathology:
This includes isolation, fungal identification, etiology and management of different bacterial and viral diseases including EFB, TSBV etc. The hill variety of bees A.C. indica was found to be relatively tolerant to the TSBV which has played havoc on beekeeping industry.
Bee Botany and Melletopalyonology:
This department has collected and classified more than 3000 plants species useful as bee plants. More than 300 species and plants have been given to forest/agricultural department. The polynarium with more than 4000 slides of pollen types of India is unique which serves as a reference task to the scientists from India and abroad.