PowerPoint presentation regarding the role played by honey bees in the agriculture sector and their usefulness in the medicine industry.

1. ROLE OF HONEYBEES IN
AGRICULTURE AND MEDICINE

2. TAXONOMIC HIERARCHY
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Arthopoda
Class : Insecta
Order : Hymenoptera
Family : Apidae
Genus : Apis
Species : mellifera, florea, dorsata, cerena

3. TYPES OF HONEYBEES
1. Apis florea ( Little bee )
2. Apis dorsata ( Giant rock bee)
3. Apis cerena indica (Indian /Asiatic bee)
4. Apis mellifera ( European / Italian bee)
5. Melipona/Trigona irridipennis (Dammer /stingless bee)

4. Apis florea
 Smallest.
 Constructs single small comb on bushes and corners of roof.
 They are seen only in plains.
 Produce 0.5 -1kg honey/year.
 sweetest one.
Apis dorsata
 Largest
 Constructs large single comb .
 ferocious and cannot be domesticated.
 Produce 35-40kg honey/year.

5. Apis cerena indica
 Found in both forests and plains
 Domesticated species
 Smaller than rock bee but larger than little bee.
 Builds many parallel combs.
 Produce 8-10kg per colony/year.
 More prone to absconding and swarming.
 susceptible to wax moth.
Apis mellifera
 Darling of bee keeping.
 It is originated in Italy.
 Introduced in India in 1962 by Prof.A.S.Atwal.
 Produce 45-101 kg / year.
 Less prone to swarming.

6. Dammer bee
 Very tiny with Vestigial sting.
 It inhabits crevices of walls and hollow trunks of trees.
 Comb is made of dark material cerumen.
 Produce 400-500gm honey/year.

7. Honeybees – Tinymiracleworkers
 Honey bees play a major role in pollination.
 It is estimated that bees pollinate around 1/3rd of food we eat.
 Total area of bee dependant crops in India is around 50 million hectare.
Effects of pollination on crops
 It increases yield in terms of seed yield and fruit yield in many crops.
 It improves quality of fruits and seeds.
 Bee pollination increases oil content of seeds in sunflower.
 Bee pollination is a must in some self incompatible crops for seed set.

8. Crops benefitedby bee pollination
 Fruits and nuts: Almond, apple, apricot, peach, strawberry, citrus and litchi
 Vegetable and Vegetable seed crops: Cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, coriander, cucumber, melon,
onion, pumpkin, radish and turnip.
 Oil seed crops: Sunflower, niger, rape seed, mustard, safflower, gingelly.
 Forage seed crops: Lucerne, clover.
Yieldincrease due to beepollination
Crop Per cent yield
increase
Mustard
Sunflower
Cotton
Lucerne
Onion
Apple
43
32-48
17-19
112
93
44

9. Pollination by bees- casestudies with selectedcrops
1. Sunflower. In sunflower, yield increases even up to 600 per cent due to bee pollination. Oil
content increases by 6.5 per cent in seeds.
2. Cucurbitaceous vegetables: Due to bee pollination fruit set increases up to 30 to 100 per
cent.
3. Alfalfa or lucerne: When bee sits on a keel petal, stamina column strikes against standard
petal resulting in shattering of pollen. This is called tripping. Seed set occurs only if bee sits to
trips the flowers.
4. Coriander: In coriander yield increases up to 187 per cent due to pollination.
5. Cardamom: It is an important commercial crop depending on bees for pollination. Here
yield increases up to 21 to 37 per cent.
6. Gingelly: bee pollination causes 25 per cent increase in yield.
7. Apple: In apple seed set occurs only if it is pollinated by bees. Fruit is formed only around
the seeds. If improper seed set occurs fruit shape is lopsided resulting in decreased market
value

10. Bee products
 Honey
 Beewax
 Bee venom
 Bee pollen
 Royal jelly
 Propolis
 Bee bread
 Mead

11. MEDICINAL AND OTHER USES
Honey:
 used as a laxative ,a blood purifier.
 Preventive agent against cold,cough,fever,ulcers & burns.
 carrier in many ayurvedic and undani medicinal preparations.
Bee wax:
 Used in making candles, cosmetics ,
shoe polish ,capsules.

12. Bee venom:
 used to treat rheumatism ,endoarthritis ,necrosis etc..
 lowers blood pressure and decreases cholesterol
Bee pollen:
 Antivirial and Antibacterial.
 lowers cholesterol.
 Stabilise and strengthen capillaries.

13. Royal jelly:
 It contains hydroxydecenoic acid ,which exhibits antibiotic activity.
 Act as antioxidant.
 Promotes tissue growth,muscle and cell regeneration.
Propolis:
 Anti allergic and Antibacterial properties.
 used to treat cuts ,wounds.( healing properties).

14. Bee bread:
 treat anaemia hepitatis, insomnia.
 Control stress ,failing memory,cholesterol
and digestive tract disorder.
Mead:
 Used in beverages.

15. ID no-CAWA/2016-
[11-20]