Management of Beneficial Insects

Beneficial insects are insects that support farming through pollination, biological control, scavenging, or other ecosystem services that improve crop productivity and ecological balance.

Managing beneficial insects is important because conserving and multiplying pollinators, predators, and parasitoids can improve crop yield, reduce pest pressure, and support more sustainable farming systems.

Honey bees are major pollinators of many crops, and their activity improves fruit set, seed set, yield, and quality, which is why beekeeping has both agricultural and economic importance.

Apiculture means beekeeping, or the scientific and commercial management of honey bee colonies for pollination services and bee products such as honey, wax, royal jelly, and propolis.

Sericulture is the rearing of silkworms for silk production, and it is included because silkworms are economically valuable beneficial insects with important biological, rearing, and disease-management considerations.

Lac culture is the cultivation and management of lac insects on suitable host plants to produce lac, which is further processed into products such as seed lac, button lac, and shellac.

Predators are beneficial insects that consume many prey individuals during their life, while parasitoids develop on or inside a host insect and eventually kill it, making both important natural enemies in pest management.

Farmers can conserve beneficial insects by reducing unnecessary pesticide use, choosing selective control measures, protecting flowering resources and habitats, and following IPM practices that preserve pollinators and natural enemies.