🐝 Introduction

Introduction

• The practice of rearing honey bees for the procurement of honey is known as bee keeping or apiculture.
• Honey bees and their usefulness are known to man from prehistoric times. Mentions of bees are found in vedas, Ramayan and Quran.
• The modern bee keeping became possible after the discovery of movable frame in hive in 1851 by Rev. L.L. Langshoth.
• Rev. L.L. Langstroth is known as The father of American or Modern Bee Keeping. Created Langstroth Hive.

  

• In India beekeeping was introduced in 1882 in Bengal.
• Newton introduced beekeeping to South India in 1911.
• Father of Modern Beekeeping in India is A.S. Atwal.

Importance of Beekeeping

• Enhances yields & quality of produce of various crops viz., fruits, vegetables, pulses, oil seeds, etc. through pollination support. Therefore don’t compete with other enterprises.
• Helps in sustainable development of Agriculture and Environment.
• Helps in maintaining Bio-diversity.
• There is no exception of beekeeping. It is an important input in Agriculture and serves as low cost technology.
• Increases income of beekeepers/ farmers/ land less labours, etc. through production of honey & other beehive products, viz. Bees wax, Propolis, Pollen, Royal Jelly, Bee venom, comb honey, etc. which have great importance in human life.
• The products of apiculture have a strong market demand and fetch good price.
• Also beekeeping is relatively less time and money consuming and requires very less infrastructure and investment.
• Generates employment. Women Empowerment through Women SHGs.

  

• Serves as a source of livelihood. A beekeeper maintaining 50 bee boxes of A. melifera can earn upto 2-2.5 lakh per annum.
• It helps in prosperity of farmers, healthy people and strong Nation.

  

• No more bee-no more pollination-no more plants-no more animals-no more food and no more life on the earth.

Present Status

• As per the latest data from the National Bee Board, New Delhi, under the Department of Agriculture, the country’s total honey production reported in 2021 - 22 was 1.33 lakh Metric Tonnes (MTs).
• India has also become one of the main honey exporting country.
• The country has exported 74,413.05 MT of Honey world-wide during 2021-22.
• China is the largest producer of honey in the world.
• India is among world’s top 5 honey producers.
• Uttar Pardesh is the largest producer of honey in the world. It accounting for over 30% of the country’s honey production.
• There are total 15.6 lakh bee colonies in India. Out of which 4.24 lakh are in U.P. (NBB 2019)

    - https://nbb.gov.in/
    - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._L._Langstroth
    - The Insects - Structure and Function (4th Edition, 1998) – R.F. Chapman. Cambridge University Press