“Apiculture is the scientific method of rearing honeybees. “ The word 'apiculture' comes from the Latin word 'apis' meaning bee. So, apiculture or beekeeping is the care and management of honey bees for the production of honey and the wax.

1. PRESENTED BY
DR.M. GAYATHRI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY
BON SECOURS COLLEGEFOR WOMEN
THANJAVUR

2. Apismellifera
 Twenty‐four different races. None native to US. Social insects with
divisionoflaboramong different“castes”
 Eggs, brood,Workers, Drones,Queen
 Egglaying,nestmaintenance,defense,foraging accordingtocaste
 The most important commercial pollinating insect Most fruit
production dependent on this insect Pollinate 3.5 million acres worth
$14.6billionperyear
 Studiesshow thatevery$1 spenton bees returns $25 togrower

3. Workers
20‐60,000 sterilefemales in a healthy colony Lifespanof4‐6weeks
insummerand4‐5monthsinwinter Division oflaborbyageandneedsof
colonyleadstothree behavioralworkertypes

4. Workers
 Nurse bees (1‐12days)grooming, feedingbrood,cellcleaning
 House bees (10‐20 days) cleaning, building comb, storing
pollen/nectar,guarding hive,controlling temp,undertakers
 Field bees (20‐40 days) collectingpollen/nectar/water

5. Drones
Fertile males not involved in nest maintenance activities Mature 2
weeks after emerge and hang out in mating swarms Are forced out
of hives in late fall to conserve food resources Die after mating
with virginfemales

6. Queen
The only fertile female in the colony Can lay up to 1,500 eggs a
day during height of season! Produces many pheromones that
elicit a response from other bees within the colony Lifespan of
2‐5years

7. DEVELOPMENT
Egg—larva1—larva2—larva3—pupa—adult
(3types)

8. DEVELOPMENT
EGG
Fertilized
(female)
Unfertilized
(male)
ONLYRoyal
Jelly (queen)
during first 3 days aslarva.
SOME RoyalJelly
(worker)
drone

9.  Time to develop varies bycaste
 All castes take about 3 days as egg and 6 days as larva Pupal stage varies
from7‐15daysdepending on thecaste
 Totaltime:Queen (16days),Worker(21days),Drone (24days)
 The hive environment is kept clean and temperature controlled to promote
properdevelopment
 Leave the hive to deposit feces, other contaminants Remove dead and
diseasedbees
DEVELOPMENT

10. Eggs and Larvae
(Brood)
 Eggs arelaidin thebottomof cellsby queen Larvaec‐shaped inside cellsthen
cappedatmaturity
 Pupaedevelopfrommaturelarvaethenmoltintoadults

11.  Use smelland visiontofindflowers.
 Hairy bodiescovered inpollenas theysloppilyfillcorbicula
and honeystomach
 Structure of flower is adapted to these activities Moving
pollenfromanthertostigmaresultsinpollination
POLLINATION

12. STORAGE
 Pollenisbroughtbacktothehiveand storedinhoneycomb The
main protein source forbrood
 Nectarisprocessed intohoney and storedinhoneycomb Source
ofcarbohydratesforbrood andadultbees

13. HONEY
 Housebeestakenectarfromforagersand placeinhoneycomb Secretions
from hypopharyngeal glands added to nectar Enzyme invertase changes
sucrose tofructose/glucose
 Wing fanning evaporateswater

14. FORAGING
 Neednectarfrom2millionflowerstoproduce1gallonofhoney Visit a wide varietyof
plants and over 130 differentcrops Onebeemakes12 ormoretripsperdayandvisits
severaltthousandflowers
 Factorsinsideandoutsidethehiveaffectactivity
 Outside:temperature,wind,rainfall
 Activitypositivelyrelatedtotemp,negativelyrelatedtowind/rain More foragingoccurs
near90oFthan60oF
 When windy,beesdroptogroundtoforageandavoidtrees Avoid wetflowers,even
fromsprinklers
 Inside:healthof the queen,brood,workers
 Strong colonies with many bees arethe most healthyand active Averagehive has
50,000 bees in various stages of development Colonieswithfewbees focuson brood
rearing,havefewerforagers

15. THANK
YOU