PRACTICUM
TOPIC:
TO STUDY THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
APICULTURE IN OUR
LIFE
INTRODUCTION
For many
people, thoughts of bee are often dominated by swarms of small
yellow and black “bugs” that live in hives, make honey, and attack with a painful
sting. This, however, is far from the true nature of some of the most
important organisms on earth. In bees
order Hymenoptera include four species, they are Apis cerana indica, Apis
florae, Apis mellifera all belongs to the family apidae. The bee called dammer
bees belongs to the family Meliporidae. The practice of maintaining honey bee colonies is termed beekeeping or
apiculture. The first scientific method
of beekeeping was developed by L.L.Langstroth in 1851. Langstroth is
revered as the “father of American
apiculture”. Only about 1% are commercial beekeepers that rely on bees for their livelihood and provide most of the nation’s pollination
services.Honey bees can be used for
large- scale honey production because they
stockpile honey for an entire colony.Modern hives can be moved in order
for the bees to pollinate some areas and
focus on honey production in others. Areas where production hives are set up are called
apiaries.
NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE
Honey
production is frequently promoted as a poor- poor income generation activity. It is accessible to rural
community, has low or labour. But while apiculture presents an opportunity for
many farmers, it is important to ensure a significant livelihood from selling
honey. Income generation is important for any agricultural activity what
farmers need is a remunerative income (not minimum income) for their produce,
and honeybee rearing fits the slot too well. It has been proven to increase a farmers income by
50-60 per cent under favourable conditions. Honey bees are one of the important
well- recognized social insects . Being rich source of honey, these insects as
exploited and tamed for the benefit of
man. Honey bees are indicators of health of their surrounding system. The role
of apiculture is very significant in the upliftment of economy and for
providing employment mainly to rural population settled in hilly and forest
areas.
STATEMENT OF
THE STUDY
The
present investigation aims to study the significance of Apiculture in our life.
The study is thus entitled as “study the significance of
apiculture”.
OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
1. To identify
different species of honey bees.
2. To identify
different methods used in apiculture.
3. To identify
the economic uses of apiculture.
METHODOLOGY
The present
investigation aim to
study the significance
of apiculture in
our life. The
methodology adopted was
documentary analysis.
PROCEDURE ADOPTED
For
collecting data necessary for to study
the significance of apiculture in our life documentary analysis was employed.
It was followed by analysis of text books, magazine, net sources and also
discussed with the experts.
DATA
COLLECTION
Apiculture
( latin : apis =bee; English: culture= rearing) is the raising and caring of honey
bees for commercial or agricultural purpose. It
involves the scientific management of bees in beehives to harvest
various products from honey bees. An apiary
is a place where beehives of honey bees are kept. A person who keeps
honey bees is known as beekeeper.
Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly,
apiculturists.
Honey bees belong to the class insect of order Hymenoptera. They belong to
two families, apidae and meloponidae.
Of
these, only four species are of commercial importance in beeking. These are the
apis cerana indica, apis dorsata, apis florae and apis mellifera. The
dammer bee consisting of melipona
irridipennis also gather honey but these
ae of very low commercial importance.
1. APIS
DORSATA
Apis
dorsata is found all over india in sub- mountainous regions up to an altitude
of 2700m. This species is commonly
called rock bee or gaint bee. They are the largest bees with a body length of
about 20nm. They bulid single large vertical comb of about 1.5 to 2m wide and
0.6 to 1.2 m long. The comb is generally suspended from rocks, branches of tall
trees such as banyan, mango etc. or roof of high rise buildings, etc. They are
migratory bees. These bees are ferocious and their poison is fatal. This is wild species, which has not been
domesticated.
2. APIS
CERANA INDICA
Apis cerana indica is a subspecies of
honeybee, popularly known as Indian bees or asian bees. This species found in india, Pakistan, Nepal,
Burma, Bangladesh, srilanka, Thailand and mainland asia. They are medium sized
bees. They build parallel combs in dark places such as old buildings, forests,
broken posts, tree hollows etc.These can be easily domesticated. It is one of
the most important pollinating agents for coconut palms. They have the habit of
swarming, robbing and absconding. They are often attacked by enemies such as wax moths.
3. APIS MELLIFERA
Apis mellifera is a sub species of honey bee, popularly known as European bees or Italian bees. They are medium sized, gentle bees. They are bigger than all other honey bees except apis
dorsata . They make several parallel comps in the open on tall trees or similar
safe locations .This species can be easily domasticated. It is gentle in
behavior and can easily be handled. It has good honey gathering qualities and can protect. Itself from most enemies.
They have been imported from European countries. They are less prone to swarming and absconding .
4. APIS FLOREA
Apis florae is a subspecies of honeybee popularly
called little bees. They are very small bees. They make a single, small,
irregular- shaped and vertical comb of the size of a palm. The comb is
suspended from the branches of small trees, roof of buildings, caves, etc. They do not sting . The size of the bees is smallest among four apis
species described. The honey from little bee, however, is highly valued and is used in many ayurvedic
preparations.
5. DAMMAR BEE
They are black in colour and hence called
black honey bees. It is found in india in abundance. These belongs to two genera – melipona and trigona. It is stingless bees . These
bees are much smaller than the true honey bees and build irregular combs of wax
and resinous substances in crevices and hollow
treetrunks. These can be domesticated. The honey yield is very low. These stingless bees are
important pollinators of various food
crops.
BEEKEEPING
METHODS
INDIGENOUS METHOD
The indigenous method of the beekeeping rely on the native
species of honey bees that occur in natural habitat. These are
adopted mostly by villagers as a means of their livelihood utilizing the
locally available resources . Two types of hives are used in indigenous method of beekeeping.
1. WALL OR
FIXED TYPE
This
is a traditional method of beekeeping. During
the construction of their houses, the village folk make rectangular
recesses of varying dimensions on the wall to
keep honey bees. The wall hive is a cavity left in the wall when the
house is under construction. On the inside it is covered usually with wood or
stone and plastered with mud. The dimension of the hive varies with the thickness of the wall. The back of the
recess is closed on the inside of the
house with a wooden plank. It is temporarily fixed to the wall with mud and
cow- dung. The honey is harvested by removing this wooden plank.
2. MODERN
BEEHIVES (MOVABLE HIVES)
Modern beehives are constructed
scientifically following pre- designed models. The type of hive used will depend on materials
available in the area. Wooden hives are
used by most beekeepers. In the construction of all movable beehives, special
emphasis is given for the bee space. For
most beehives, this bee space is 0.96cm. If the space is less, the bees will
not be able to pass through, and they will seat it up with propolis. If the
space is wider than the bee space, the bees will build honey comps in it.
Neither of these conditions is good for
the beekeeper.
The use of movable- frame wooden hives is the most advanced from of beeking . A
movable- frame hive consist of a hive body or brood chamber that provides space for bees and
brood. In this chamber the queen lays eggs, the brood is reared, and honey is
stored for consumption by the colony .The hive body is placed on a bottom board where the hive entrance is
located . For surplus honey production, a shallow super is placed above the
brood chamber. An inner cover is placed
over the super. A hive cover or top cover is placed on top of the hive to
protect it from rain and wind . The hive is placed on a stand made of either
wood or iron to keep its bottom dry. Bowls of water are placed under each leg to prevent ants entering the hive.
ECONOMIC USE
OF BEE PRODUCT
Honey
bees are one of the important well- recognized social insects. Honey bees provide
a wide range of benefits to human. Honey
has been traditionally used in various diet preparation, medicines, cosmetics,
ointments, candles and house-hold bee-
wax items, besides, ayurvedic drug preparations.The propolis of the bee hive is used in lipbalms and tonics , where as
royal jelly is used to strengthen the human body, for improving appetite,
preventing aging of skin, leukaemia and for the treatment of other cancers.
Bees are very vital in food
production and overall agricultural production in that they assist in plants
pollination. Pollination is a vital aspect in
the reproduction of flowering plants. Its has been proved that yield of
crops are higher in farms where bees ae cultivated.
Beekeeping requires low investments
and hence can practiced by small farmers. It provides ample scope for self-
employment and offers a subsidiary occupation along with other agricultural
activities. It can thus serve as an additional income
generating activity that would help in
improving the economy, especially in the rural areas.
CONCLUSION
Beekeeping
is more rapidly done in present as it is commercially beneficial . Honey is
healthy can be used in medicines. This study defined different species of honey
bees, methods of beekeeping and economic uses. Honeybee can be used as an important input to maximize
agricultural production. Pollination support through beekeeping is an important component under national
horticulture mission programme of the ministry of agriculture, government of
india. Honey bees are indicators of health of their surrounding ecosystem. The role of apiculture
is very significant in the
upliftment of economy and for providing
employment mainly to rural population settled in hilly and forest areas.
REFERENCE
1. Vermi culture – Apiculture - K. VIJAYAKUMARAN NAIR.
PUBLISHED BY ACADEMICA AT 2013
Submitted by
Aswathy M.S.
Roll No: 6
Natural science
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