Honey bees are the social insects and live in a community.

They work together in a well organized colony with well demarcated

‘division of labour’.
They are engaged in a variety of activities and share the resources they collect
from nature.
Beekeeping or Apiculture (derived from Latin word, ‘Apis’ meaning ‘bees’)
is an art and science of rearing and managing honey bees in a box called
“beehive” for production of honey and other products like beeswax, propolis,
bee venom etc.
Beekeeping/ Apiculture is an industry, which provides valuable honey,
beeswax and pollination services of honey bees.
IMPORTANCE OF HONEY BEES
• Honey bees visit flowers of plants and collect nectar and pollen from them.
• Nectar is collected by bees from the nectaries, which are the glands, located
within the flower or on other portions of the plant (extra- floral nectarines).
• Bees sometimes collect ‘honey dew’, a sugary secretion of certain insects
which feed on plant sap.
• Honey produced from honey dew is dark, strong tasting and of inferior
quality.
• Pollen, which is the male reproductive cell bodies produced by anthers of
flowers, is collected and used by honey bees as their source of protein.
• In this process bees serve as agents, who bring the male (pollen) and female
(stigma) parts of flower together, thus promoting the fertilization in plants,
which is known as pollination.
Bee place the nectar and pollen in the cells (small hexagonal divisions) of the
honey comb made of wax, ripen it to turn it into honey and seal it for storage
and future use as food.
Bees use honey as the main source of energy food.
Honey bees are the primary source of pollination for approximately one-
fourth of all crops produced all over the world.
Examples of fruit crops that rely on honey bees are almonds, apples, apricots,
avocados, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, pears,
raspberries, strawberries and watermelons.
.
BEEKEEPING IN INDIA
• Traditional beekeeping in India was mainly forest based as mostly the
tribal farmers were involved in it.
• The farmers have been keeping Indian bee, as it is a good pollinator and
accustomed to the Indian climatic conditions.
• The Sunderban forests in West Bengal are rich in Rock bee and the
organic honey from these forests is in great demand.
• The exotic bee, popularly known as Western bee, was successfully
introduced from Europe during 1960’s in foothills of Himachal Pradesh
and agricultural plains of Punjab.
• It has become popular among commercial beekeeper because of its higher
honey yield. It spreads gradually to Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
• In 1980s, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) was
established for promotion of modern beekeeping through various schemes.
• Beekeeping is now being practiced on a large scale in several States of
India, which include Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and
Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and
Karnataka.
WHO CAN DO BEEKEEPING
Anyone who has undergone education and training in rearing and
management of beekeeping can do beekeeping.
Beekeeping can be a good source of income for anyone, including
farmers, house –makers, retired persons, unemployed persons, girls,
women, differently-abled persons and even students.
There are three types of beekeeper:
1. Commercial beekeepers: People who are doing beekeeping for
production and sale of honey on a commercial scale,
2. Sideliner: People who are doing beekeeping as a side business,
3. Hobbyists: People who have taken up beekeeping as a hobby.
 BENEFITS OF BEEKEEPING
• Beekeeping is the secondary source of income. Because of the following
reasons you may adopt it:
(i) Production of bee hive products: Honey bees are the sole source of
honey and beeswax. The bee hive products namely honey, pollen or bee
bread, royal jelly, bee propolis, bee venom and beeswax can be produced
by bee keeper after adoption of beekeeping for generation of income and
self employment among rural masses of the country.
(ii) Utilization and harvesting of nectar and pollen of highly
nectariferous plants: About 30 – 50 kg honey can be produced and
harvested by one hectare highly nectariferous crop plants occupied area
such as lahi (mustard, litchi, pigeon pea, sunflower, eucalyptus, anola,
ber, jamun, drumstick, karanj etc. The natural floral reward i.e. nectar and
pollen may be utilized for production of bee hive products as food source
otherwise these produce may be wasted in nature.
(iii) Enhancement of yield through bee pollination: If you are associated
with growing crops in your field, beekeeping may give you dual benefit by
enhancing crop production. The transference of pollen during floral visit is
performed by worker bees and consequently stigma of flowers is pollinated
by highly suitable highly feasible and acceptable pollen grains. Services of
bees resulted in enhancement of yield and improvement of seed quality.
About 20-25% yield is increased by bee pollination as compared to the
natural pollination of the various crops.
(iv) Apitherapy for cure of diseases: Bee hive products are used as
medicinal agent. These materials such as honey, royal jelly, propolis and
bee venom can cure more than 50 human diseases. Few are mentioned
below -
(a) Honey : The honey consists of antimicrobial substances. It is useful for
respiratory infection and is beneficial against heart diseases. It is also a
rapid source of energy.

(b) Royal Jelly : This bee hive product is anti- tumourous, antimicrobial and
most nutritious substance, secreted by the young worker bees for feeding of
queen and queen larva. It is used for the treatment of high blood pressure,
arthritis and joint pain.

(c) Propolis : It is beneficial for the treatment of skin diseases as antimicrobial

agent, skin burns, joint pain, throat and dental diseases.

(d) Bee venom : This is the poison that makes bee stings painful. Bee venom
is used to make medicine for curing muscular diseases, arthritis and gout.
(v) Generation of income and self employment as natural agro-based cottage industry:
The potential of generation of income per colony per year is about Rs. 3000 – 4000
annually through honey production and multiplication of bee colony. Only two trained
man power is required for management of apiary of hundred bee colonies.
(vi )Beekeeping does not require farm land. Farmers with small land holding or even
landless can adopt this and become self reliant.
(vii) It does not require heavy physical work. Even women and children can adopt it.
(viii)It encourages rural artisans to undertake the job of manufacturing equipments
required for beekeeping.
(ix) It does not require heavy investment. Inputs are very low as raw material for
production of honey is obtained free from nature so output to input ratio is very high. (x)
It provides proportionately more and immediate return than any other agro based
profession.
(xi) Beekeeping is a clean and hygienic profession, as it does not require daily feeding or
cleaning of litter.
(xii) Beekeeping business contributes significantly to national economy.
LOCATING AN APIARY
You must carefully select the area where you can locate your hives. The
selected site should be close to your house for easy and regular supervision.
There are several factors you should consider while selecting a site to place
beehives. Few are as follows:
Apiary should be located in areas of sufficient sources of nectar and pollen
yielding plants.
Bees usually forage within a 2-3 km radius of their hives, so make sure
there are food sources within that radius.
The site should be dry without dampness. High relative humidity will affect
bee flight and ripening of nectar.
Easy access to an apiary site throughout the year, with a hard path down to
the apiary.
Apiary should be established away from roads and other busy places.
• A flat site is easier to place hives.
• Apiary should not be located in animal grazing areas because beehives may be
toppled.
• The site should receive sun rays in morning and evenings and shade during
hottest part of the day.
• The site should be sheltered from wind, so that foragers don’t struggle to land at
the hive entrance and the roof stays on. A hedge provides good cover against the
wind.
• Clean fresh running water should be available in the apiary or nearby apiaries.
• Dense foliage cover can make hives too wet and cold; however some shade in
the afternoon helps the bees to work less to cool the hive or even dying from heat
exhaustion or collapsing honey combs. Hence, avoid placing hives under dense
foliage.
• Enclose the apiary with a barrier of some sort, such as a hedge or fence to force
the bees to fly in above head height.
• Avoid establishment of apiaries in poor drainage areas and heavy
pesticide use areas.
• Keep the area around the hives clear of tall weeds or grass. Cut grass and
weeds – don’t use spray of any kind.
• The distance between two hives should be atleast 3 meters.
• An apiary should not have more than 25-40 hives. If too many hives are
placed into an apiary the bee colonies compete with each other.
• Facing the hive entrance to the East is the best way to get the most work
out of bees as they usually fly from morning until early afternoon. If the
bees see the sun early, they will start work earlier
 SAFETY MEASURES
It is good to remember that ‘prevention is better than cure’. If you follow
this rule you will be able to avoid most of the hazards that may threaten
your valuable life and of others too.
(i) Protect yourself from Sting of Bee: As a beginner, you should always
wear the overall, bee gloves and rubber boots to protect yourself from the
stings of the bees. You should always use a smoker before opening a
beehive. Smoke has a calming effect on bees and a light puff of smoke at
the entrance hole calms the bees and makes inspecting easier. A bee stings
when you visit a hive during the warm period of the day and disturb them
without smoke. Don’t make any noise when bees are busy. Standing in the
flight path and wearing dark clothes attract bees.
• Do not crush a bee near a hive as the juice from the bee’s body will
attract other bees and you may be attacked by them. The sting of bees
could be fatal. Avoid using after shave lotion and perfumes when
working with bees. Wash your clothes regularly to eliminate the smell.
Consult your doctor before you start beekeeping for allergy to bee
stings, if any. In case you are stung by a bee, remove the sting
immediately by scraping or plucking the sting, as any delay will
increase the quantity of venom injected.
(ii) Avoid burns: You should be careful while using smoke as any negligence
in handling may cause burn injury to you. Extinguish the smoker carefully
after you finish the work. Always keep a handy first aid kit while working
with smoker.
(iii) Use tools carefully: Learn to use the tools as per instructions, as it will
help you in avoiding cuts and bruises while using them.
(iv) Avoid too much exposure to heat: Take necessary precautions while
working on hotter part of the day to avoid heat stroke. Do not expose
yourself continuously to the direct sunlight for long hours. Take breaks to
avoid heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
(v) Avoid stress: Beehives are heavy, therefore you should be careful while
lifting them. Do not stress yourself too much while doing lifting and bending
work. Use correct postures such as bending your knees when lifting.