2. Apiculture - Latin name Apis mellifera,
meaning ‘honey gatherer’.
the vital role all bees play in the pollination
of crops and flowering plants has caused
apiculture to also include the management
and study of non-Apis bees such as
bumblebees and leafcutter bees.
The wasp-like ancestors of bees took
advantage of the food made available by
flowers and began to modify their diet and
physical characteristics. Since then,
flowering plants and bees co-evolved.
This eventually led to a complete
interdependence, meaning that flowering
plants and bees cannot live and reproduce
without each other.
3. Honey Bee - Classification
KINGDOM : ANIMAL
CLASS : INSECT
FAMILY : APIDAE
PHYLUM : ARTHROPOD
ORDER : HYMENOPTERA
GENUS : APIS
SPECIES : APISMELLIFERA
4. TYPES OF HONEY BEE
Honey bee Scientific name Average
yield/colony
The rock bee Apis dorsata 50-80 kg
The Indian hive
bee
Apis cerana indica 200-900 g
The little bee Apis florea 6-8 kg
The European or
Italian bee
Apis mellifera 25-40 kg
Dammer bee or
sting less bee
Melipona
irridipennis
300-400 g
5.
6. Rock bee (Apis dorsata)
They are giant bees found all over India
in sub-mountainous regions up to an
altitude of 2700 m.
They construct single comb in open
about 6 feet long and 3 feet deep .
They shift the place of the colony often.
Rock bees are ferocious and difficult to
rear.
These bees are the largest among the
bees described.
7. Indian hive bee / Asian bee (Apis
cerana indica)
They are the domesticated species, which
construct multiple parallel combs with an average honey
yield of 6-8 kg per colony per year.
These bees are larger than Apis florae but smaller than Apis
mellifera.
They are more prone to swarming and absconding.
8. Little bee (Apis florea)
They build single vertical combs. They also construct comb in
open of the size of palm in branches of bushes, hedges,
buildings, caves, empty cases etc
They are not rearable as they frequently change their place.
smallest among four Apis species described and smaller than
Indian bee.
They are distributed only in plains
9. European or Italian bee (Apis
mellifera)
They are also similar in habits to Indian bees, which build
parallel combs.
They are bigger than all other honeybees except Apis dorsata.
They have been imported from European countries (Italy).
They are less prone to swarming and absconding.
10. Dammer Bee
Melipona and Trigona occur in our country in abundance.
These bees are much smaller than the true honey bees and
build irregular combs of wax and resinous substances in
crevices and hollow tree trunks.
The stingless bees have the importance in the pollination
of various food crops.
They bite their enemies or intruders.
It can be domesticated.
Melipona and Trigona occur in our country in abundance.
These bees are much smaller than the true honey bees and
build irregular combs of wax and resinous substances in
crevices and hollow tree trunks.
The stingless bees have the importance in the pollination
of various food crops.
They bite their enemies or intruders.
It can be domesticated.
11. Melipona & Trigona occur in our country in
abundance.
These bees are much smaller than the true
honey bees and build irregular combs of
wax and resinous substances in crevices
and hollow tree trunks.
The stingless bees have the importance in
the pollination of various food crops.
They bite their enemies or intruders.
It can be domesticated.
12. CASTES
The individuals of bee colony belong to three types of
castes.
The queen is a fertile female. There is only one queen in a
hive and only she can lay eggs.
queens may lay up to 1,500 eggs per day & 250,000 eggs per
year and possibly more than a million in her lifetime.
The queen can live from 2-5 years.
Drones are males. There may be several hundred in a hive.
Their function is to fertilise the queen
The drone lives 40-50 days.
Workers are sterile females. There may be 20,000 to 80,000
in a hive. They do all the work of building the combs,
collecting and storing nectar and pollen, feeding the larvae
and cleaning the hive.
They work hard making honey and stinging .They live from
1-4 months.
13. The workers build three types of wax cell, differing in size or
shape.
The queen lays eggs in each of the cells and the eggs hatch into
larvae.
The workers feed the larvae until they are ready to
pupate and then they put a wax capping over the cell.
After 10-11 days the capping is bitten off and the
adult bee emerges. The eggs laid in the drone cells are
unfertilised and develop into males.
The eggs laid in the worker cells and queen cells
are fertilised but the queen larvae are fed a different
diet from that of the larvae in the worker cells.
The difference in diet causes the workers to be
sterile and the queen to be fertile.
16. Egg
A queen lays soft white eggs in the comb. The egg stage takes
place during days 1 through. The queen lays each egg in a
different cell of the honeycomb.
Larva
In three days, the egg hatches into a larva. Workers feed it bee
milk and bee bread. It spins a cocoon around itself. The larva
stage takes place during days 4 through 9. As soon as the egg
is laid, the larva is growing inside it.
After three days, the egg hatches and a larva crawls out.
As the larva grows, it sheds its skin. It does this five times .
Eight days after hatching, the bee larva is fully grown.
17. Pupa
In the cocoon, the larva turns into a pupa. It now has eyes, wings, and legs.
It looks more like a bee. This stage is during days 10 through 23, depending
on the type of bee it will become. The larva cannot feed anymore and it
starts to change into a pupa
Adult
This is the final stage in a bee's complete metamorphosis. It is full grown.
The bee chews its way out of the cell. It becomes an adult on days 16
through 24, depending on what type of bee it is. After nine days, the pupa
changes colour. It has turned into an adult .When it's about three to four
weeks old, the bee will leave the hive
18. Enemies of bees
Have numerous enemies-bears,monkeys,
skunks,beemartins,man&many other animals.
Their combs are destroyed by termites,ants & wax-moth
caterpillars.
Bees are parasitized by many insects and are subject to
epidemic dieases such as “foul brood”.
19. Economic importance of
honey bee
HONEY
In nature, the bees are able to make honey, but man could not .
The salivary enzyme converts the complex sugar of nectar into
the simple sugar of honey.
Honey makes an important food for man and other animals. It
is a natural antiseptic due to the presence of an anti-bacterial
agent, which also prevents honey from spoiling. It prevents
infection if placed on a wound.
20. Pollination:
The honeybees are probably of greatest importance of agriculture in the
pollination of plants.
BEESWAX
It is secreted in the form of small flakes by five pairs of ventral abdominal
glands. Bees consume 10kg of honey to produce one kg of wax. It is used
extensively in the manufacture of slaves, varnishes, polishes and various
waxes. It is also used for medical purposes.
21.
22. Contents of honey
Sugars like fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, lactose
and other disaccharides and trisaccharides.
Proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino
acids.
Volatile aromatic substances.
Ashes and water etc.
Various ingredients of honey have helped it to become not
only a sweet liquid but also a natural product with high
nutritional and medicinal value.
The medicinal quality, taste, texture, color, aroma of
honey differs according to the geographical area and the
species of plants from which it has been collected.
23. Therapeutic uses of Honey:
1. As it contains sugars which are quickly absorbed by our
digestive system and converted into energy, this can be
used as instant energizer.
2. As it is hygroscopic it speeds up healing, growth of
healing tissue and dries it up.
3. Honey acts as a sedative and is very useful in bed
wetting disorders.
4. Honey is very good antioxident which restores the
damaged skin and gives soft, young looks.
5. Honey has antibacterial properties due to its acidic
nature and enzymically produced hydrogen peroxide.
6. Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood
corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.
24. Therapeutic uses of Honey
1. As it contains sugars which are quickly absorbed by
our digestive system and converted into energy, this
can be used as instant energizer.
2. As it is hygroscopic it speeds up healing, growth of
healing tissue and dries it up.
3. Honey acts as a sedative and is very useful in bed
wetting disorders.
4. Honey is very good antioxident which restores the
damaged skin and gives soft, young looks.
5. Honey has antibacterial properties due to its acidic
nature and enzymically produced hydrogen peroxide.
6. Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood
corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.
25. Conclusion
Beekeeping is a vast scientific subject, related
to agriculture, food, nutrition, industrial
products & environment.
Honey quality can be improved by training
beekeepers to respect hygienic conditions.
The development of beekeeping in tropical
region can be achieved using local methods by
beekeepers who like honeybees.
The rural development can play a vital role as
one of the economic activities.
