welcome 1- introduction 2- different spp of honey bees and their characteristics 3-bee keeping and its history 4-methods of bee keeping 5-appliances for bee keeping 6-bee pasturage 7-products of bee keeping( enlisted) 8-diseases and pests of honey bees 9- how bee keeping a supporting business to indian farming 10- success story of bee keeping 11-scopes of bee keeping

1. WELCOME

2. BEE KEEPING –
SUPPORTING BUSINESS TO
INDIAN FARMING
PRESENTED BY-
LEKSHMI.A
Msc, 2ndYEAR
College of
Agriculture

3. INTRODUCTION
 Honey bees are social insect belonging to order
Hymenoptera , family Apidae and genus Apis.
 About 20,000 species of bees are present in the
world. Only 8 spp are recognized as ‘Honey bees’
by entomologist.
 Out of the 8 spp of Apis ,7 spp such as Apis cerana
, Apis florea, Apis dorsata , Apis mellifera, Apis
labriosa, Apis andreniformis, Apis koshchevnikovi
are found in india.

4. DIFFERENT SPP OF HONEY BEES
Five important species of honey bees are as follows.
1. The Rock bee, Apis dorsata (Apidae).
2. The Indian hive bee, Apis cerana indica (Apidae).
3. The little bee, Apis florea (Apidae).
4. The European / Italianbee, Apis mellifera (Apidae).
5. Dammer bee / Stingless bee ,Melipona
irridipennis (Meliporidae).

5. 1> 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. They
produce about 36 Kg honey per comb per year.
These bees are the largest among the bees
described.

6. 2>Indian 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. They are native of
India/Asia.

7. 3>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 produce about half a kilo of honey per year per hive.
They are not rearable as they frequently change their place.
The size of the bees is smallest among four Apis species
described and smaller than Indian bee. They distribute only in
plains and not in hills above 450 MSL.

8. 4>European bee/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.
 The average production per colony is 25-40 kg. They
have been imported from European countries (Italy).
They are less prone to swarming and absconding.

9. 5>Dammer bee/ Stingless bee
(Melipona irridipennis)
 Besides true honey bees, two species of stingless or dammer
bees, viz. 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. But the honey yield per hive per year is
only 100 gms.

10. What is bee keeping ?
Bee keeping/Apiculture (derived from
latin word ‘Apis’- Bees) is the
maintenance of honey bee colonies,
commonly in hives by humans.
A Bee keeper/Apiarist keeps bees in
order to collect their honey and other
products that the hive produces
(including beeswax, propolis , pollen,
and royal jelly), to pollinate crops, or to
produce bees for sale to other
beekeepers.
A location where bees are kept is called
an apiary or "bee yard."

11. History of bee keeping
 Depictions of humans collecting honey from wild
bees date to 10,000 years ago.
 Beekeeping in pottery vessels began about 9,000
years ago in North Africa.
 Domestication is shown in Egyptian art from
around 4,500 years ago.
 Simple hives and smoke were used and honey was
stored in jars, some of which were found in the
tombs of pharaohs such as Tutankhamun .
 It wasn't until the 18th century that European
understanding of the colonies and biology of bees
allowed the construction of the moveable comb
hive so that honey could be harvested without
destroying the entire colony.

12. Contd……..
 Scientific work on beekeeping in our country was
started in 1907.
 The first attempt was made by Reverend Newton in
kerala when he developed a specifically designed
hive and started training rural people during 1911-
17 to harvest honey from bee keeping.
 The design became popularly known as ‘Newton
hive’.

13. METHODS OF BEE
KEEPING
 The ultimate aim of bee keeping is to get more and
more honey in pure form
 The old method commonly used by old apiculture
is very crude, cruel and of unplanned type.
 This old method is called as Indigenous method.

14. INDIGENOUS METHOD
1>HIVE: Two types of hives are used in
indigenous method of bee keeping e.g. wall
or fixed hive and movable hive.
(a)WALL OR FIXED HIVE:
 It is purely natural type of comb because
the bees themselves prepare the hives at
any space on the wall or trees.
 There is an opening on one side through
which bees comes out of the hive.

15. (b) MOVABLE HIVE:
 It comprises of hollow logs, empty boxes
and earthhen pots etc, placed in verandas
of houses.
 There exist 2 holes one is for entrance and
the other for exit of bees.
 The swarmed bees usually come to the box
on their own accord.
 Some bee keepers used to take clusters of
the swarms from a tree and keep them in
the hive.

16. 2>EXTRACTION OF HONEY
For honey extraction , burning fire is
brought near the bee hive at the night as
a result of which bees are either killed or
they escape off.
Further the hive full of honey is being
removed,cut into pieces and squeezed to
get honey.
Sometimes smoking is done so that the
bees may escape from their hive.

17. DRAWBACKS OF INDIGENOUS
METHOD
 The indigenous method of bee keeping
suffers from a number of drawbacks due to
which it is not recommended by present
day panel.
 These drawbacks are:
(a) Honey becomes impure because at the
time of squeezing , the pollen cells, honey
cells and larvae are also extracted.
(b) The colony becomes weak due to killing of
eggs and larvae at the time of squeezing
(c) Formation of new hive by the escaped
bees requires extra energy that affect the
yield.

18. Contd……..
(d)The hazards created by climatic factor
cannot be controlled.
(e)The honey robbers like rat, ant, wasp, and
monkey may affect the hive easily.
(f)The activities of bees cannot be controlled.

19. 2> MODERN METHOD
The drawbacks of indigenous method
had led to the development of modern
methods.
It has opened a new era for the
cottage industry in india and has also
given an opportunity for lakhs of
unemployed.
Langstroth hives containing 10 frames
(44.4x23cm) has been used as a
standard hive in Himachal pradesh ,
J&K, and Punjab.

20. APPLIANCES FOR MODERN
BEE KEEPING
They are divided into 5 types:
(a)Typical Movable hive
(b)Queen Excluder
(c)Honey Extractor
(d)Uncapping Knife
(e)Other Equipments

21. Typical moveable hive

22. Parts of Typical movable
hive
(a) STAND:
Basal part of hive
It is adjusted to bottom board and it
makes a slope so that rain water
comes quickly.
(b) BOTTOM BOARD:
Situated above the stand and forms
the proper base . It has 2 gate , one
gate is for entrance and other is for
exit.

23. Contd……..
(c) BROOD CHAMBER:
 Most important part provided with 5-10
frames.
 In each frame wax sheet is held at vertical
position where bees start making walls and
cells.
 Every sheet of wax is known as COMB
FOUNDATION, which attracts the bees for
the comb preparation on both the sides .It
helps in obtaining a regular strong worker
brood cell which can be used repeatedly.

24. Contd……
(d) SUPER: It is without cover and the base
 It provide in many frames containing comb
foundation to provide additional space for
expansion of the hive.
(e) INNER COVER: wooden piece used
for covering of the super, has many
holes for proper ventilation.
(f) TOP COVER: Plain and sloping zinc
sheet fitted on inner cover. It protect the
colony from rain.

25. 2> QUEEN EXCLUDER:
Consists of wire quaze, extans guards
and drone traps.
Workers can pass through it but
queen cannot.

26. 3> HONEY EXTRACTOR:
 It function on principle of centrifugal force.
 By centrifugation , pure honey is thrown out
without any damage to the comb

27. 4> UNCAPPING KNIFE:
 Honey filled combs are sealed by wax
which is removed by heated uncapping
knife.

28. 5> OTHER EQUIPMENTS:
Some materials like protective
garments , gloves, net veil, bee net,
brush etc are required for easy and
well planned handling of bees.

29. BEE PASTURAGE
 Bees collect nectar and pollen from plants.
Nectar is the raw material for honey
preparation & pollen is a rich food for the
bees.
 The plant which are visited by bees only for
nectar are : Tamarind (Tamarindus indicus),
Neem (Azadirachta indica), Eucalyptus
spp., pungam(Pongamia pinnata) etc.
 The plant which supply pollen to the bees
are : Sorghum( a rich source), maize,
roses,citrus, apple ,peach,plum, guava,
mango, coconut etc.
 Cotton supply both nectar and pollen to the
bees. Out of these cotton is a very rich
source.

30. PRODUCTS OF BEE KEEPING
Different products of bee keeping are:
1> Honey
2> Bee pollen
3> Royal jelly
4> Bee wax
5> Propolis
6> Organic honey
7> Mead/ Honey wine
8> Bee bread
9> Bee venom

31. DISEASES & PESTS
OF
HONEY BEES

32. Protozoan diseases - Nosema and
Amoebic diseases
Bacterial diseases - American and
European
foul brood
Fungal diseases - Chalk brood, &
stone
brood
Viral diseases - Thai sac brood,
Acute &
chronic bee paralysis
Diseases caused by – Acarosis and
Varroasis
mites

33. VARROA MITE (VARROASIS)
 CAUSAL AGENT: Asiatic varroa mite
(Varroa destructor)
 SYMPTOMS :
 Varroa reproduce on honey bee pupae and
feed on bee hemolymph.
 Varroa infestation can cause irreversible
damage to honey bees that can lead to honey
bee colony losses.
 Varroa are also known to carry vector bee
viruses that are particularly damaging the bees.

34. LIFE CYCLE

35.  STAGE OF INFECTION: Larval stage
 SITE OF INFECTION : Body and body
fluid i.e. haemolymph
MANAGEMENT :
 Apivar: It is effective against varroa mites. It
is in the form of a rigid polymer strip
impregnated with amitraz.
 Apistan (Fluvalvinate) and Checkmite+ : It
is chemical (miticides) impregnated strips
that look like bookmarks.
 Use of 65% formic acid.
 Use of drone comb to capture the mites.
 Powdered sugar dusting to control the
mites.

36. PESTICIDES HAVING ILL-EFFECT ON
HONEY BEES
 Unfortunately, it seems like our civilization has
declared war on native bees.
 Many pesticides are harmful to bee population.
 A/c to research , 2 pesticides commonly used by
farmers today could affect bees brain . The two
pesticides namely , neonicotinoids and coumaphos
target bees brains thus making it a slow learner &
make it forget floral scents.
 Scientific studies indicates that bees that feed on
neonicotiniod contaminated pollen and nectar,
forage less and produces fewer offsprings.
 Coumaphos is a compound that is used in honey
bee hives to kill a parasite called, Varroa mite that
commonly attacks honey bees.

37. HOW BEE KEEPING A SUPPORTING
BUSSINESS TO INDIAN FARMING ?
 Our farmers not only grow food grains in the field
but they are contributing very much in the
development of the country by doing other works
associated with farming .Bee keeping is one such
activity.
 Bee keeping is an agro-based activity which is
being undertaken by farmers/landless labours in
rural area as an integrated farming practice.
 Bee keeping supplements income & employment
generation and nutritional intake of rural
population.
 Honey bees have been offering services to the
society through ensured pollination in cross
pollinated crops as well as by providing honey and
a variety of bee hive products.

38. Contd........
 Value of additional yield from pollination services
by honey bees alone is abt 15-20 times more than
the value of all hive products put together.
 The potential benefits due to bee pollination in the
form of increase in yield of various crops varies
from 5-33150%.
 Unemployed youth can start this business with
minimal funds ( Rs 1-2 lakh).
 Income from 100 Bee colonies is around Rs2.50-
3.00 lakh per annum.
 Export of honey products attracts foreign
exchange.
Hence bee keeping may be adopted as an enterprise
by anyone after getting training on the subject.

39. BENEFITS OF BEE
KEEPING
There are many benefits of bee keeping
(a) To provide self employment to rural and forest
based populations.
(b) Production of honey, pollen, wax, venom, and
royal jelly.
(c) To provide employment to rural educated youth in
collection , processing and marketing of bee
products.
(d)To increase the yield by cross pollination of
several agriculture and horticulture crops and
(e) To improve their quality.

40. SUCCESS STORY
OF BEE KEEPING

41. STORY OF BHARAT BHAI

42.  Bharat bhai from Valsad Dist of Gujarat has
adopted bee keeping.
 Today he is youngest master trainer at the age of
25.
 He initially cultivated only rain-fed crops such as
rice nachini (ragi) and black gram.
 After being trained in bee keeping , he understood
the role of bees played as pollinators and their
resulting impact on increasing farm yields.
 As a result of honey and the increased farm yield.
 His income has jumped by 40% in just one year

43. ‘BEE MAN OF MAHARASHTRA’
 Shrikant Gajbhiye is the founder of Bee The
change , which offers free bee keeping
training to farmers and forest populations in
Maharashtra.
 He argues that when bees are kept along
sides farming activities , production
increases b/w 20-200 per cent besides , of
course getting to sell honey in the market.
 In the last few months, ‘Bee The Change’
has trained more than 500 farmers and
forest populations and currently network
counts 50 trainees.

44. Contd…..
 Bees are an investment with high
returns ; the crop yield increases and
products becomes healthier.

45. SCOPE OF BEE KEEPING
 India has vast potential for bee keeping.
 The diversity in flora and fauna provide more
opportunities for the development of bee keeping
industry.
 Bee keeping is one of the trust area and flagship
programmes of ministry of agriculture and farmers
welfare.
 Presently about 30lakhs bee colonies in India are
producing 94500 mt of honey (2016-17 estimate)
including honey from wild honey bees and
providing employment to about 3 lakh people.

46. Contd.......
 Punjab is the largest producer of honey in
our country.
 In the south, kerala is well known for rubber
honey(honey collected from rubber
plantations).
 While, coorg in Karnataka is one of the
largest honey producing dist.
 One of the most vital development recently
has been the apiary promotion programme
being undertaken by Khadi and Village
Industries Commission (KVIC).

47. CONCLUSON:
 By giving correct training to the bee
keepers we can increase the production of
honey in the future years.
 Most of the production of honey is from
forest area hence by providing sufficient
price to the tribal people we can increase
production of honey.
 By providing correct packaging material and
proper labeling for honey based products
by LAMPS we can attract more customers.

48. ‘If the bees disappear from the surface
of earth , man would have no more than
4 year to live . No more bees, no more
pollinations, no more plants, no more
animals and no more man’
-Anonymous

49. Thank you