apiculture

1. 1
INTRODUCTION
Beekeeping is an art and science of maintaining the colonies, commonly
in hives by humans for production of honey and other bee hive products

2. Natural hiving
Management of bee colonies
Multiplication of colonies
Mass queen rearing
Meliponiculture
Conducting Training programmes
Planting of bee foraging plants
OBJECTIVES
Experiential learning about
Species of honey bee

3. TAXANOMIC CLASSIFICATION
Honey bee belongs to
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis

4. There are five species of honey bees which are
commonly found foraging under natural conditions
They are:
Apis dorsata (Rock bee/giant bee)
Apis florea (Little bee/dwarf bee)
Apis cerana (Indian bee)
Apis mellifera (European bee)
Tetragonula iridipennis (stingless bee)

5. Apis dorsata Apis florea Apis cerana
Apis mellifera. Tetragonula iridipennis

6. EGG LARVA
PUPA ADULT
LIFE CYCLE OF HONEY BEE
They are mainly four stages

7. EGG
LARVA
PUPA
ADULT

8. CASTES OF HONEY BEE
THE QUEEN
Only reproductive female
Feeds on royal jelly
Mates once in life cycle
Apis cerana queen can
lay 1300 eggs/day
 Secretes queen
substance (9-oxo-2-
decanoic acid)

9. DRONE
 Haploid males developed
from unfertilized eggs
 It fertilize queen
 Die shortly after mating

10. WORKERS
 They are responsible for
maintenance and
welfare of the colony .
 In a strong colony of A.
cerana there may more
than 30,000 worker bee.
 The life span of the
worker bees are 6
weeks during honey flow
season and 6 month
during off season.

11. Behaviour
• Floral fidelity
• Thoroughness
Adaptation
• Body covered with
branched hairs
• More working
duration
Strength
• Higher population
• High food
requirement
POLLINATION BY HONEY BEES
Melittophily

12. BEE LANGUAGE
ROUND DANCE
o The searcher bee run in circle.
o The distance indicates that the food source is less
than 100 m from the hive.

13. WAGGLE DANCE
 The searcher bee runs for a
short distance in straight
line and then moves in a
semicircle
 This distance indicates that
the food source is located
more than 100 m

14. APICULTURE V/S OTHER OCCUPATION
Light physical
work
Do not require
constant care
Less financial
investment
No need of
separate land,
electricity and any
infrastructure
Doesn’t require
specific place to
keep
It has a
tremendous
scope for
industries

15. NUPTIAL FLIGHT
• Newly emerged queen after 2-3
day takes nuptial flight
accompanied by hundreds of
drones during day.
• The drone which follows her
gets the chance of copulation.
• The seminal fluid is collected
and stored in spermatheca and
used when required
• vt.mp4

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