Monday, September 26, 2022

Complete information about beekeeping Apiculture

Complete information about beekeeping Apiculture


Humans have started benefiting from animals since the beginning of time by living with them in nature. For this, he had to sacrifice the lives of these creatures to get many products. Honey is a healthy nutritional substance, it has been given the status of a medicine in Ayurveda. It is used as a basis for the treatment of many diseases.


What is apiculture?

 Apiculture From an industrial point of view, the artificial rearing of bees by modern scientific methods and obtaining the products produced by them, namely honey and wax, is called bee keeping or apiculture.



There are 4 species of bees that produce honey


1. Apis dorsata (Apisxtorwara)

It is known as Sarang or Bombura bee. It is about 20 mm of the largest size of the above four nets. This is why it is also called giant honey bee. It produces more honey than all the other four species. It builds nests up to 0.90 x 1.50 m in size on top of trees, in the walls of old buildings or in caves.


More than one hive is found in the same place. It moves to the mountains in June-July and returns to the plains in winter. 15-40 kg from one hive. Honey can be obtained up to Their nature is angry and they attack when provoked. It is not possible to follow them due to their migratory tendency and angry nature.


2. Apis indica

It is found all over India and is called the Indian Mona fly. It is slightly smaller than sarang, about 15 mm long. It likes to live in dark places. It makes more than one hive of one-foot size in the same place. Its roofs are made on wells, earthen pots, hollow parts of bushes and trees and walls of buildings. About 34 kg from one hive. Honey is obtained. It is a quiet bee, so it can be easily tamed.


3. Apis florea –

This hornet is known as the honey bee. It is slightly smaller (8 mm) than Apis indica. Its roof is about 15-24 cm. Aap k hote hai. Only 250 grams of honey is obtained from one hive. Its honey is the sweetest. It is a non-stinging bee of timid nature. Its hives can be broken easily.


4. Apis mellifera –

This is a European bee. It is similar to the Indian Mona, but 9-10 times more honey is obtained from its comb than the Mona. Its honey is also commercially good. It is also timid in nature and can be tamed easily. Its Italian variety is cultivated in Europe and America.


Methods of beekeeping


Obtaining honey is the main objective of beekeeping. Man has been getting honey since ancient times. There are two main methods of beekeeping


1. Old indigenous method

In ancient times, in order to get honey, a person used to wrap a thick cloth on the whole body under a beehive and wash it by burning thorns or garbage or grass. Flies used to fly from there because of the smoke. The rest Honey was obtained by killing bees and breaking the hive. In this method, honey is separated from the hive by squeezing it.


During this time, the larvae, pupae and their eggs present in the hive are also destroyed and the remains of their bodies were also mixed in the honey. The honey thus obtained was not pure. Gradually, people started using pots, boxes, and sticks, so that bees started making hives in them, but it was not necessary that bees made hives there. This method was converted into a scientific method and artificial roofs were invented.


2. Modern scientific method

In the modern method, artificial roofs are used which can be lifted from one place and moved by machine. To obtain honey, they are not broken, but the same hive is used again and again, so that the bees do not have to change their place again and again, there is no waste of labor in making the hive, and the impurities in the honey or their body parts etc. didn't happen These roofs are maintained by caretakers,


Therefore, they are picked up in adverse weather and kept in a safe place. There is no danger of destruction of hives by monkeys, mice, ants or beetles. All these benefits of modern method are not found in ancient method. 

Beekeeping equipment


Modern methods of beekeeping require some tools for apiculture which are as follows


Artificial bee hive or box

Comb foundation

Honey extracting apparatus

Uncapping knife

Miscellaneous apparatus


Beekeeping and beekeeping

Bees are caught during swarming for rearing in artificial hives. For this, honey is put inside a net like a hat and kept in the way of their coming and going. Attracted by the honey, the bees sit in the hat. At dusk, they are left in the nursery section of the artificial hive. They are given artificial food (2/3 sugar + 1/3 part water) for a few days. Even if there is a lack of flowers in the environment, they are given this artificial food.


A new artificial hive can be started by bringing a queen bee and some workers from a natural hive. The queen bee in the hive is replaced every year, the old queen bee is thrown out of the hive, otherwise there is an adverse effect on the industry. After catching the new queen fly, apply some honey from the same hive on its body and put it in the baby section, which is accepted by the workers. Artificial canopies are placed in open fields or gardens at appropriate places in the shade.


Selection of bees for beekeeping


Choosing the right breed of bees is important for running a good apiary. It should include the following qualities:


1. A bee should have a gentle temperament.


2. It should be able to form a strong colony.


3. It should have the ability to protect itself from enemies.


4. Its workers should be hardworking and energetic.


5. Amik are those who collect nectar and pollen from the flowers of different species of plants.


6. It should have the ability to collect or store a large amount of honey.


7. This caste is one that is able to build a hive at the desired location easily. The effort of scientists is to genetically prepare such a species which is mild in nature and produces more honey. For this, hybridization with bees of different species is being used. Apis indica is the best species selected for beekeeping apiculture industries in India. It is a hard-working, soft-natured fly that has the ability to produce large numbers of workers and form colonies.


8. If food is available, the industry should be increased by keeping more than one artificial hive at the same place.


9. Inspection of artificial beehives - Honey collection, comb foundation, frame etc. should be inspected regularly during hives. If necessary, the number of frames should be increased.


10. Artificial beehives should be protected from predators and parasites, including wax moths, wasps, black ants, king crows and honey bees.


11. The colony in the artificial hive should be kept clean and healthy, otherwise the bees may get infectious diseases due to which the honey made will be of poor quality and infected nature.


12. Honey is easy to transport to proper places, so the apiary should be near the road.


Benefits of beekeeping


Beekeeping is two important products of apiculture


(1) Honey and (2) Beeswax


1. Honey

Shramik Makarand pickers keep it safe in their crops. There are some chemical changes due to the mixing of saliva. Sucrose sugar is converted into dextrose and levulose. Some elements (digestive enzymes) are added to it by bees and the amount of water is reduced. The worker returns it to the hive and takes it out of the mouth and fills the cells. Worker bees blow off this watery part of the honey by rapidly shaking their wings. Thus the nectar matures and turns into honey.


The workers put a wax cap on the honey brackets and close them. Honey, white or yellowish black-brown colored dark sweet taste. Its aroma depends on the flowers from which the nectar has been collected. To prepare 1 kg of honey, bees have to make about 100,000 rounds of flowers and each round is about 1.5 to 2 kilometers, i.e. a journey of 1.5 to 2 lakh kilometers. has to be decided


2. Bees wax

Bee-wax is a residual or by-product (by-product) but a beneficial substance obtained from bee-keeping. It is secreted by glands located in the abdomen of the worker bee. This secretion takes the shape of scales, which are separated from the body by the spines of the gulf (tarsi) and are extended towards the mouth. It is chewed in the mouth to make combs like plastic. This wax is separated from the hive.


Wax is used as a base substance in the industries of making cosmetic products. Beeswax is used in the manufacture of cold cream, shaving cream, ointment, candles, paint, polish, carbon paper etc. It is also used as a lubricant.


Enemies and diseases of bees

Acherontia styx (Acherontia styx) ants are the main enemies of honey, which make tunnels in the hive and steal the honey by sucking it. Galleria mellonella (Galleria mellonella) lays its eggs in the hive from which the larvae hatch and suck honey and eat wax. Because of their fear, the bees leave the hive and run away. Some other ants and wasps are also enemies of bees that prey on them. To protect from enemies, the door of the hive should be kept small.


Diseases like paralysis and dysentery also sometimes occur in bees. Such hives should be treated by sprinkling sulfur powder and killing the affected bees and cleaning by melting the wax.


Parasitic spider Aearapis woodi (Aearapis woodi) causes acarine disease. This disease was found in 1956 in Himachal Pradesh among guinea fowls. It has also caused damage in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. It is possible to treat them.

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