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- Indira Gandhi'
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~ OAPI-Oll
Indira Gandhi
~, National Open University
~ School of Agriculture
Introduction to
Beekeeping
Block
1
INTRODUCTION TO BEES AND
BEEKEEPING
Unit 1
An Overview of Beekeeping History 5
Unit 2
Species Diversity and Social Organization 15
Unit 3
Structure of Honey Bee 30
Unit 4
Starting of Beekeeping 40
PROGRAMME DESIGN COMMITTEE
Shri R. R. Aggarwal Prof. Neera Kapoor
S.C.F.17, Sector-S . School of Sciences, fGNOU
Bahadurgarh -124 504 (Haryana) New Delhi-I 10 068
MATERIAL PRODUCTION
Mr. Rajiv Girdhar Ms. Rajshree Saini
Section Officer (Publications) (ProofReader)
SOA, IGNOU, New Delhi SOA, IGNOU, New Delhi
November, 2009
© Indira Gandhi National Open University. 2009
ISBN: 978-81-266-4284-7
All rights reserved. 0 part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other
means, without permission in writing from the Copyright holder.
Further information on the Indira Gandhi National Open University courses may be obtained from the
University s office at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-I! 0068 or the official website of IGNOU at www.ignou.ac.in.
Printed and published on behalf of Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi by Director,
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OAPI-Ol1 INTRODUCTION TO
BEEKEEPING
The beekeeping is now becoming an important agrobased profession. It may be
described as an art and skill of keeping the bees and managing them in movable
frame hives for hobby and fascination, production of honey and other bee products
and for crop pollination service. Beekeeping was revolutionized after the invention
of movable frame bee hive by L.L.Langstroth in 1851. Commercial beekeeping in
India was started in 1910 in Southern region of the country when, Rev. Father
Newton devised a movable frame hive suitable for Asiatic hive bee, Apis cerana.
This hive was named after him as 'Newton Hive'. After independence, Khadi and
Village Industries Commission (KVIC) took up the work of beekeeping and
established Central Bee Research and Training Institute (CBRTI) at Pune
(Maharashtra) in 1962.
Many new products such as royal jelly, propalis and honey bee venom are being
taken in beekeeping. These products are high value products.
Each Unit has a questions section and important key words. For further reading,
suitable references has also been given.
BLOCK 1 INTRODUCTION TO BEES AND
BEEKEEPING
The beekeeping is now emerging an important agro based enterprise. It is still a
poorly organized sector in our country. The honey production has been initiated
since time immemorial. The stupa ofMuzaffurpur in Bihar depicts the significanceof
honey.In differentmythological literatures,the significanceof the honey can be traced.
In our country, the research on this honey bee rearing and honey production has
started recently. Now due to introduction of high yielding species of European bee
and easy in management have led the spread on this business. Now the Govt. of
India has set up Bee Board which give fund for carrying out different beekeeping
related activities.
Unit 1 deals with the Overview of Beekeeping History. After explaining the
history of the beekeeping in the world and India, the scenario and status of honey
production has been described. Different avenues of the beekeeping profession
have also been depicted in this unit.
Unit 2 is about Species Diversity and Social Organizations. This unit explains
the nature and characteristicsof different species ofhoney bee. The roles and functions
of the different casts of honey bee are also described in this unit. The life cycle and
foraging behavior of honey bee are also explained.
Unit 3 covers Structure of Honey Bee. In this unit, the body structure of the
honey bees have been explained. This unit also covers the internal organs of the
honey bee. This unit deals the different systems of the honey bee body.
Unit 4 is about Starting of Beekeeping. Different approaches to be adopted for
the honey bee rearing and honey production have been described in this unit.
UNIT 1 AN OVERVIEW OF BEEKEEPING
HISTORY
Structure
1.0 Aims and Objectives
1;1 Introduction
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Before going into the history of Beekeeping, first let us understand the concept
of Beekeeping. The beekeeping is an art and skill of maintaining the bees in
modem movable frame hives for hobby or fascination, production of hive products
(honey, beeswax, etc.) and for pollination services. Apiculture is synonym of the
beekeeping. It has been derived from Latin word apiscultura. Apis means
"bee" and cultura denotes "cultivation through education." It is a high
profit enterprise. It can be taken up both as subsidiary industry as well as a whole
time profession. Beekeeping has an edge o,:er the other agro-based subsidiary
enterprises as it involves low initial expenditure and does not need elaborate
infrastructure. It does not interfere with other agricultural activities and provides
handsome income. It plays a great role in agricultural diversification by producing
various kinds of bee products and pollination of crop. We can manage some hive
at our backyard. Thus, at any stage we may sell the honey and earn some amount
for our livelihood.
-,
The advent of honey had been correlated with the appearance of flowering plants
on the earth about 90 million years ago. The significance of the beekeeping has
5
been depicted in different
Introduction to Bees
and Beekeeping 1.2 HISTORY OF BEEKEEPING -WORLD
It is not clear when man started
beekeeping, but there is
archaeological evidences that about
4,000 years ago, the Egyptians
kept bees in clay pots and used not
only for honey, but also for propolis
and wax. In fact, the honeybee was
the symbol of Lower Egypt. Still
many rock and cave paintings are
available across the world depicting
the honey bee in different shapes.
Fig. 1.1: Wooden log hive
. In ancient Greece and Rome, apiculture was a common practice.
The philosopher Aristotle in his book "Historia Animalum" talked about
honeybees' floral fidelity, division of labour within the colony and winter
feeding. He also described some
brood disease. Hippocrates, the
Father of Medicine, depicts the
nutritionaland pharmaceuticalvalue
of honey. Greek athletes used
honey as an energy burst. The
Roman poet, Virgil, explained the
proper way to install apiaries. The
writer, Varro, who was called by
the Romans "the most learned of
all the Romans," discussed the
business and profit opportunities
derived from apiculture. The
primitive man used to hunt the
naturally existing honey bee
colonies. Gradually, he learned to
keep them in primitive type of bee
Fig. 1.2: Primitive log hives
hives made up of locally available
material such as hollowed wooden logs, earthen pots, baskets, skeps, wicker
hives and hollow parts of walls (Fig 1.1).
Commercial beekeeping started during the second half of the 19th century. In 1851,
L. L. Langstroth discovered the concept of 'bee space' (3/8 inch space is kept
by the bees between two adjacent combs as their passage for free movement all
around the combs). Based on this concept, modern age 'Langstroth bee hive'
with movable parallel frames/combs was developed (Fig. 1.2) L.L.Langstroth is
known as Father of Modern Beekeeping. There was an invention of comb
foundation mill by Johannes Mehring (German), honey extractor by Franz von
Hrushka (Austrian), Bee Smoker and Uncapping Knife by Mosses Quinby
(American), Bee Escape by E.c. Porter (American) and Continuous Comb
Foundation Roller Mill by CB. Weed (American).
6
An Overview of
1.3 HISTORY OF BEEKEEPING-INDIA Beekeeping History
Bees and honey were known to human being in India since time immemorial
astheir references are mentioned in epics, on murals, sculptures, etc. Vaishali
Stupas in Muzaffarpur (Bihar) were built in commemoration of offering of
honey to Lord Buddha by king of monkeys and his people whenever Lord
Buddha visited the place. Several references of bees have been made in the
oldest scripture of India, the Rig Veda. In our country, first attempt to keep
honey bees in movable frame hive was made in early 1880s in pre-partition
Bengal and Punjab. Commercial beekeeping in India started in 1910 in South
when Rev. Newton devised a movable frame hive suitable for Asiatic hive
bee, Apis cerana. This hive was named after him as 'Newton Hive'. This
hive is still popular for keeping the indigenous hive bee, Apis cerana.
During 1911-17, Newton also trained a large number of beekeepers in
Southern India. The Royal Commission on Agriculture (1928) recommended
development of beekeeping as a cottage industry in India. The All India
Beekeepers' Association (AlBA) was established in 1938-39. This association
started publishing the Indian Bee Journal (lBJ). During 1880, high yielding
European bees, Apis mellifera, were introduced in our country. A sizable quantity
of this species was imported from 1920 to 1951 in the states of Maharashtra,
Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab and Kashmir but none
succeeded to establish this exotic honey bee species in the country.
Let us compare the features of Apis mellifera and Apis cerana. Their
characteristics are given in the following table:
Fecundity (rate of egg laying per day) 800-1,500 eggs 300-800 eggs
Convinced with the performance of Apis mellifora in the Punjab, H.P. and Haryana
and due to the outbreak of Thai Sacbrood Viral Disease causing large scale
mortality of Apis cerana colonies during late 1970s to early 1980s in the states,
practicing Apis cerana beekeepers of many other states expressed desire to
adopt Apis mellifera. Due to this, ICAR in 1986 decided to extend this species
from Punjab to other states. Now, this exotic honey bee (Apis mellifera) has
been spread to almost whole of the country.
Presently, it is estimated that there-are about 14lakh hive bee colonies (6.73 lakh
of Apis mellifera and 7.30 lakh of Apis cerana in the country.
Keeping in view the area, topography and population of India, the current
beekeeping situation in the country is not very encouraging. On the basis of
available FAO statistics on honey production, India is at No. 5 in the world.
China is producing about 40% of the total world honey production and is at the
top in honey production in the world followed by the USA, Argentina and Turkey.
Within India, Punjab is leading in honey production. At present, Punjab with only
1.5 per cent of India's geographic area is contributing more than 25 per cent of
the National Apiary Honey. Ludhiana has emerged as the hub of beekeeping in
the country. The Punjab has not only witnessed Amber (Sweet) Revolution but
also brought India on the map of honey exporting countries of the world. A big
chunk of melliferous honey from Punjab is being exported to USA and Germany,
The climatic suitability and availability of abundant floral avenues are the major
reasons behind the higher productivity of honey in the state.
The technologies for mass production of queen bees, bee breeding, production
of more valuable bee products other than honey, such as royal jelly, bee venom,
propolis, pollen and bees wax etc. are available. The adoption of such technologies
would generate specialized human resources and bring about diversification of
apiculture in the country. These bee products are in great demand in the western
countries and can fetch handsome foreign exchange.
9
Introduction to Bees
and Beekeeping 1.5 IMPORTANCE AND SCOPE OF
BEEKEEPING
Beekeeping is an ideal subsidiary or whole time occupation. It fits well in
diversification of agriculture. Besides adding to the farm income through production
of honey, beekeeping also leads to the generation of other sources of income and
employment opportunities including the development of several allied industries.
We may visualize the different industries having alliance with honey production
through Fig.1.4.
DEVELOPMENT
OF TRAINING
AND FINANCING
DIRECT AND
INDIRECT PRODUCTION AND
EMPLOYMENT IN LOCAL SALE OF
BEEKEEPING AND BEE PRODUCTS
AND THEIR
MULTIPLICATION
CUSTOM SERVICE AND SALE OF :
FOR: BEE PEDIGREE
MANAGEMENT, BEE QUEEN BEES,
POLLINATION AND NUCLEUS
FABRICATION COLONIES AND
AND SALE OF
BEEKEEPING
EQUIPMENT,
DEVELOPMENT OF
BOTTLING AND
PACKAGING
Out of all the species reported so far, four are of major economic importance
of which two viz. Apis mellifera and Apis cerana are hive (domesticated)
species. Apis mellifera is recommended for commercial beekeeping in the
areas having higher beekeeping potential. According to an estimate, the country
requires nearly 737 lakh bee colonies for pollination of only 12 important crops.
So there is a great potential and scope of beekeeping in the country. Rock bee,
Apis dorsata and little bee, Apis florea are also hunted for honey in the
country by tribal honey hunters. Still honey from wild honey bee species forms
a major churik of total honey production in the country. Rock bee honey is
squeezed from its combs particularly in southern peninsular states and little bee
honey is conserved and exploited particularly in Gujarat. Further, stingless honey
bee (Trigona iridepennis) is also used for its exquisite and rare honey in
10 Kerala and Tamil Nadu states.
An Overview of
1.5.1 Suitability of Beekeeping as an Agro-based Enterprise Beekeeping History
We have discussed above about the benefits of beekeeping above many times.
To reinforce you, the following points highlight the suitability of beekeeping on an
Agro-Based enterprise:
i) Beekeeping does not need any special land or elaborate structure.
ii) It does not compete with other agricultural enterprises for the resources.
iii) It does not require heavy initial investment also the recurring expenditure is
negligible.
.'iv) It does not require continuous labour and heavy physical work. Thus, it is
very ideal as a part-time occupation, especially for women and children.
v) Beekeeping requires simple equipments which can be fabricated in rural
areas. Thus, beekeeping generates new employment opportunities.
vi) Honey itself is a very hygienic food, tonic and medicine and makes the diet
more balanced.
vii) Beekeeping is a multiple source of income. Beeswax is the second product
which has great commercial and industrial value. Sale of queen bees and
nucleus colonies by division of parent colonies are other sources of income.
Production of other special bee-products like royal jelly, bee venom, pollen
and propolis can further add in the income.
viii) Above all, pollination by bees improves the quantity and quality of the crop
produce and benefits the community as a whole rather than only the individual
beekeepers. Thus, a beekeeper can further increase his income by renting
out his bee colonies for pollination service.
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3) What is the name of bee hive used for Asiatic hive bee and who
developed it, when and where?
Gatoria, US.; Singh, Y. and Jhajj, H.S. 1988. Beekeeping in the Changing
Agricultural Scenario for Rural Uplift, pp. 14-39. In : R. C. Mishra (ed),
Perspectives in Indian Apiculture. Agro Botanica, Bikaner, India, 412 pp. '
Gatoria, o.S.; Mishra, R.C. and Chhuneja, P.K. 2002. Increasing high
Productivity through diversification of beekeeping. In : Proc. National Honey
. Festival-Cum-Beekeeping Conference - 2002. National Bee Board, New Delhi,
pp. 1-27.
Mishra, R.C. and Sihag, R.C. 1987. Apicultural Research in India. ICAR, New
Delhi, 120 pp.
Mishra, R.C. 1995. Honey Bees and Their Management, ICAR, New Delhi,
India, 168 pp.
Shende, S.U and Phadke, R.P. 1993. Beekeeping in India: History, present-
status and future. In : Proc. First National Conference on Beekeeping (June
29, 1993), Chandigarh, pp. 9-2l.
Singh, S. 1962. Beekeeping in India, ICAR, New Delhi, India, 214 pp.
13
Introduction to Bees
and Beekeeping 1.9 .MODEL ANSWERS
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
1) Beekeeping is the art and skill of keeping the bees and managing them in
modem movable frame hives for hobby and fascination, production of honey,
beeswax, etc. and for crop pollination.
2) L.L.Langstroth developed the present day movable frame bee hive in l850s
in USA.
3) The name of bee hive used for Asiatic hive bee is Newton hive which was
developed by Father Newton in 1910 in South India.
14
UNIT 2 SPECIES DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL
ORGANIZATION
Structure
2.0 Aims and Objectives
2.1 Introduction
• characteristics and types of bees (bee species, castes and their differentiation),
their life cycle; and
2.1 INTRODUCTION
You have studied the development of beekeeping from hunting to the commercial
rearing in the previous unit. Now, we shall study about the features of different
species of the honey bee in this unit. We shall also describe different kind of
15
Introduction to Bees activities of the bee species which is performed for the honey production. All the
and Beekeeping
matter in the universe is divided into living and non-living things. The living things
are included in - Plant and Animal Kingdoms. The plants and animals are
further classified into five different categories by Linnaeus - a well known naturalist
Subsequently, various scientists added more categories. The position of honey
bees (Apis species) in general system of hierarchy is as given below:
Kingdom Animal
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Hymnoptera
Family Apidae
Genus Apis
Thus, the bees belong to the largest group of animais known as insects and are
put under the order Hymenoptera which refers to the insects with membranous
wings coupling during flight with each other on either side; by means of a sort of
hooks on the front margin of hind wing and a thick fold on the rear margin of fore
wing. Order Hymenoptera contains more than 1,30,000 species of insects in the
world. Bees, as a group, are closely related to ants and wasps. They have
branched hairs on the head and thorax and their hind tarsi are modified for
pollen collection.
• Complete metamorphosis.
ii) Halictidae (Mining bees): These bees also nest in burrows at ground level
or in the tree barks.
iii) Andrenidae (Mining bees): These bees also nest in burrow in the ground
or in tree barks.
iv) Megachilidae (Leaf cutting bees): They nest in the ground or dead-
wood. Their burrows are bedded with circular pieces cut from the plant
leaves.
v) Apidae (Bumble bees, honey bees, stingless bees): These are the bees
with well developed social system of different castes and division oflabour
and live in colonies.
vi) Anthophoridae (Carpenter bees): These bees nest as parasites in the nest
of other bees or in wood, bamboo stems, soft stems of other plants, etc.
The honey which is produced and you consume comes from many species of the
bees having varied productivity levels. We shall examine the features of the different
bee species available in the nature in this unit. This will help you to identify the
appropriate bee species for the honey production.
Honey bees have developed highly social behaviour in founding and building
their nests, communicating among themselves, brood care, producing different
castes and division of labour. Honey bees have high degree of adaptability and
can live where human can. There are four species of true honey bees as
depicted in the Fig. 2.1 (i - iv). Out of these species, rock/giant honey bee (Apis
dorsata Fabricius) and small little honey bee (Apis florea Fabricius) are wild in
nature. They construct single comb at places where they get diffused light. On the
contrary, Asiatic honey bee (Apis cerana Fabricius) and European honey bee
(Apis mellifera Linnaeus) are hive species that construct a series of parallel
combs inside the enclosures! captivities or wooden hives. The wild bees are in the
habit of shifting from place to place (absconding). The giant honey bees (Apis
dorsatai are good honey collectors but because of their furious in nature, they
are not amenable by an ordinary beekeeper. Asiatic honey bee (Apis cerana) is
gentle but has strong swarming and absconding tendencies. This species is also
seriously affected by wax moth and prone to Thai sacbrood (TSB) disease. Its
average honey yield in the plains is very low. The European honey bee (Apis
mellifera) has prolific queen bees, less swarming tendency, little absconding instinct,
gentle temperament, relatively resistant to wax moth and immune to TSB disease
and has better honey collecting capacity. All the four honey bee species can be
differentiated on the basis of the following morphological and behavioral
characteristics (Table 2.1).
17
Introduction to Bees Table 2.1: Characteristics of Different Honey Bee Species
and Beekeeping
6. Nature and Wild bee, hostile Wild bee, Hive bee, Hive bee,
temperament docile docile docile
We may have a glance of the figures of the four species of the honey bees
with the help of the following figures:
Worker Bee
This is very important caste in the beekeeping. It is sexually abortive
(sterile) female and is the smallest individual as compared to the other two castes.
There individuals are present in several thousands in a colony. They perform all
important functions for the well being of the colony such as nest building, food
gathering, brood care, defense of the colony, attending the queen bee, keeping the
hive warm and hygienic, and gathering resins and water as per the need in the
colony.
Queen Bee
It is sexually matured female in a normal colony. It is bigger in size than the
worker bee, also a female. Queen bee has longer abdomen, distended and
extending well beyond the wings. It is for the reproduction and maintaining bee
population. She mates with drone(s) during nuptial flight outside the colony in the
air and later remains confined to the hive to lay eggs throughout her life. Thus, it
is the mother of the colony, but it lacks motherly instinct to look after the offspring.
It has a sting which it uses for killing rival queen bees.
Drone
It is a functional male, developed from unfertilized egg, and is larger and darker
than the worker bee. Its compound eyes are very large and fused at the vertex
(top) of the head. It has no sting or wax glands. Its hind legs are also not modified
for pollen collection. It takes part in the nuptial flight of the queen bee for mating.
It dies after successful mating with the' queen. These are present in honey bee
colonies during the specific (breeding) seasons.
Worker bee, queen bee and drone can easily be differentiated on the basis of
morphological characteristics (Fig. 2.3) as listed in Table 2.2. 19
Introduction to Bees
and Beekeeping
5. Compound Small and well apart Small and well Large kidney
eyes apart shaped,
meeting at
vertex
2) To which order do the bees belong? What are its important characteristics?
20
Species Diversity and
3) . Enlist the four important species of honey bees. Which of these are hive Social Organization
(domesticated) bee species?
4) How would you differentiate queen bee, worker'bee and drone on the basis
of their head, eyes and abdominal characteristics?
Compound
Eyes
Abdomen
o Egg,
ii}: Larva,
Let us discuss these developmental stages have been briefly discussed below.
i) Egg: Egg is pearly white in colour and slightly curved. Eggs are laid in the
brood cells singly and vertically with the thin end attached to the bottom of
the cell. The fertilized eggs develop into worker bees or queen bee and the
unfertilized eggs develop into drones. Morphologically both fertilized and
unfertilized eggs are similar but worker eggs are laid in smaller brood cells
whereas drone eggs are laid in large sized cells. By the third day, after
passing through gradual inclinations, the egg lies flat on the bottom of the cell
and egg shell gets dissolved facilitating hatching.
ii) Larva: Growing larva sheds its skin many times before it is full grown. All
the larvae are fed royal jelly for the first three days. Thereafter, worker and
drone larvae are reared on glandular secretions mixed with pollen and honey
but queen bee larva, which is also raised from fertilized egg is fed on (royal
jelly) throughout its development period. Larva is legless and lies coiled in
its cell throughout this stage.
21
Introduction to Bees ill) Pupa: When larva is fully grown, its cell is sealed. Larva, after a brief
and Beekeeping
prepupal period, spins thin silken cocoon around it and undergoes gradual
distinct changes. The sealing in the case of worker bee is almost plane
where as in the case of drones, the cappings (seals) are raised, roundishl
dome shaped. The queen pupal cell is elongated and projects outward from
the comb surface and hangs downwards and is shaped like a peanut. All the
characters of adulthood appear during this stage.
Egg.
Pupa Larva
I I
----->-- 1,------------,
_ Adult
iv) Imago (Adult stage): After the pupal development the insect transforms
into adult. Then, the adult bee emerges out of the sealed cells.
Queen 3 5 7 15 16 Within 3 Up to
days 3 years
Drone 3 7 12 22 24 In 14 One
days season
a) For the first three weeks of the life/worker bees perform indoor duties like
cleaning and polishing (saliva smearing) of cells, production of royal jelly,
feeding / nursing the larvae and queen bee, comb construction, comb cleaning
for storing pollen and honey, ripening the honey, producing bees wax, using
propolis inside the hive to plug cracks and crevices and guarding at the hive
entrance.
b) Bees older than three weeks perform outdoor duties and act as foragers.
They collect nectar, pollen, water and propolis. There is, however, flexibility
in the working of honey bees. If due to some reason, a specific working
class is unable to perform a particular function, bees of other age group can
take up its work.
23
Introduction to Bees
and Beekeeping 2.9 BEE BEHAVIOUR
2.9.1 Mating Behaviour
Queen bee may mate with one or many drones during its mating flight and further,
it may even make multiple mating flights before it starts laying eggs. For mating,
queen bee flies out of the hive and flies very fast with several drones following
it and mating occur in air. The sex organs of the drone get detached inside the
queen bee during mating and the drone dies. The following drone removes the
broken sex organ of the previous drone before mating. Queen bee returns with
the sex organ (mating sign) of the last drone which is removed by the worker bees
of the colony.
In-house bees also regulate the brood-nest temperature during winter by converging
and covering the brood and producing metabolic heat, and during summer, by
expanding and fanning with wings. Brood is also protected from various diseases
by quicker removal of the infected! dead brood from the colony to prevent further
spread to the healthy brood.
Honey bees also exhibit floral fidelity/floral constancy. Floral fidelity means that
the foragers will keep on visiting the flowers of a particular crop foraging either
for nectar or for pollen or for both till the particular kind of flowers remain
available. This kind of behaviour makes them more dependable pollinator.
Sun
Compass
Angle
The direction of the food source is indicated by the angle which a scout bee
makes with the line of gravity (straight up) during tail waggle dance. Dance with
the straight run directed upwards on the comb indicates food direction towards
the sun from the hive and if the straight run of the tail waggle dance is directed
downwards, it indicates that the food source is in opposite direction to that
towards the sun from the hive. If the scout bee moves straight up during straight
run of tail waggle dance without any angle with the gravity, it means food is
exactly in line towards the sun while bee moving straight down without any angle
with the gravity indicates the food source just opposite to the direction of the sun.
Any angle to the line of gravity during the straight run of the dance means that the
food source is at that angle with the line of hive to the sun's direction.
25
Introduction to Bees
and Beekeeping Check Your Progress Exercise 2
Note: 0 Answer the following questions in the given space.
ii) Compare your answers, with those given at the end of the unit
1) How would you differentiate between worker and drone eggs laid by queen
bee?
2) How would you differentiate among the sealed brood cells of worker bee,
drone and queen bee?
3) What is the duration oflife cycle from egg to adult in case of worker bee,
drone and queen bee?
5) How do the bees communicate distance of food source from their hive?
6) How db the scout bees communicate direction of new food source to their
hive mates?
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
26
Species Diversity am
2.10 LET US SUM UP Social Organtzattoi
The bees belong to class insecta and order Hymenoptera. This order includes the
insects with membranous wings, coupling during flight. They have chewing or
chewing and lapping type of mouth parts and undergo complete metamorphosis.
Bees have two major groups i.e. solitary bees and social bees. They have branched
hair on head and thorax and their hind legs are modified for pollen collection. Of
the nine bee families, Apidae family includes honey bees which exhibit well
developed social system of different castes and division of labour and live in
colonies. There are four species of true honey bees (Apis spp). Out of these, the
rock/giant honey bee (Apis dorsata) and small/little honey bee (Apisjlorea) are
wild in nature. They construct single comb at places which receives diffused light.
On the contrary, Asiatic honey bee (Apis cerana) and European honey bee
(Apis melliferai are hive species which construct a series of parallel combs inside
the enclosures or wooden hives. All the four honey bee species can be differentiated
on the basis of morphological and behavioural characteristics. A colony of honey
bees has three castes i. e. queen bee, worker bee and drone. These castes can
easily be differentiated on the basis of morphological characteristics.
Virgin queen bee (gyne) mates with several drones. Drones die following mating.
Mated queen can lay two types of eggs - fertilize and unfertilized. Fertilized eggs
produce either worker bees or queen bees and unfertilized eggs produce only
drones. Honey bee passes through four developmental stages which are egg,
larva, pupa and adult. Queen worker and drone take 16, 21 and 24 days,
respectively to complete their life cycle (i.e. till their emergence). They bees are
highly social insects which live in a well organized colony. They are capable of
multiplying their colonies and establishing new nests; providing a high degree of
brood care; communicating among themselves about the distance, direction and
potential of a flora and presence of queen bee etc.; giving birth to different castes
which perform differentduties on the basis of division oflabour. Except reproduction,
worker bees perform all other functions depending upon their age for the well- •
being of the colony. For the first three weeks of their life, worker bees perform
indoor duties, and older than three weeks perform outdoor duties and act as
foragers. Honey bees exhibit well developed behavior of mating, during foraging
and for communication among them.
Development The stages of the life which comes after certain time.
Stages
Forager The caste of honey bees collects the nectar. They are
also called searcher.
Solitary and The bee species living in isolation called solitary and
Social Bees those which live in a well organized society called,
social bee. 2
Introduction to Bees
md Beekeeping 2.12 FURTHER REFERENCES
The following books may be used for further reading on the subject.
Abrol, D.P. 1997. Bees and Beekeeping in India, Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana,
India.
Eckert, J.E. and Shaw, ER. 1960. Beekeeping, The Mac Millan Co., New York,
USA
Grahm, Joe M. 1992. Hive and the Honey Bee, Dadant & Sons, Hamilton,
Illinois, USA, 1324 pp. -
Mishra, R.C. 1995. Honey Bees and Their Management in India, ICAR, New
Delhi, India, 168 pp.
Root, AI.; Root, E.H.; Root, H.H. 1975. The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture,
A. I. Root Co. Medina, Ohio, USA
Singh, S. 1962. Beekeeping in India, ICAR, New Delhi, India, 214 pp.
ill) Antennae with 10 or more segments and generally longer than head.
3) Four species of honey bees are: Apis dorsata, Apis florea, Apis mellifera
and Apis cerana. The latter two are hive bee species.
I
Species Diversity and
Check Your Progress Exercise 2
Social Organization
1) Worker bees develop from fertilized eggs whereas drones deve op from
unfertilized eggs. Morphologically both worker eggs (fertilized) and drone
eggs (unfertilized) are similar but worker eggs are laid in smaller brood cells,
whereas drone eggs are laid in large sized brood cells.
2) During pupal stage comb cells are sealed. The sealing in the case of workers
is almost plane whereas in case of drones, the cappings are raised, round
and dome shaped. The queen pupal cell (queen cell) is elongated and projects
outwards and downwards from the comb surface like a peanut.
3) Total duration of life cycle of worker bee is 21 days, for drone, it is 24 days
and for queen bee, it is 15 days.
4) Except reproduction, worker bees perform all other functions depending
upon their age for the well-being of the colony, as given below:
a) For the first three weeks of the life, worker bees perform indoor duties
like cleaning and polishing (saliva smearing) of cells, production of royal
jelly, feeding! nursing the larvae and queen bee, comb construction,
comb cleaning for storing pollen and honey, ripening the honey, producing
bees wax, using propolis inside the hive to plug cracks and crevices and
guarding at the hive entrance.
b) Worker bees older than three weeks perform outdoor duties and act
as foragers. They collect nectar, pollen, water and propolis from the
field.
5) Distance of the food source from comb! hive is communicated through different
dances. Scout bees on their return into the hive perform different kinds of
dance on the coinb depending upon the distance of the food source from the
hive and other bees observe these dances and are then recruited to that bee
flora (the food source). Round dance indicates nearness of the food source
while tail waggle dance (side-wise movement of the abdomen) indicates
different distances depending upon the intensity of the tail wagging and the
number of circuits (half dance circles) of the scout bees per unit time. In the
tail waggle dance, bee first makes a straight run while wagging its tail and
then turns to one direction and makes a semi-circle and reaches at the
starting point, and then again makes a straight run while wagging its tail and
this time turns to the opposite direction and makes a semicircle and reaches
again at the starting point. Each half circle is known as a circuit. In between,
there is sickle dance to indicate medium distance.
6) The direction of the food source is indicated by the angle which a 'scout bee
makes with the line of gravity (straight up) during tail waggle dance. Dance
with the straight run directed upwards on the comb indicates food direction
towards the sun from the hive and if the straight run of the tail waggle dance
is directed downwards, it indicates that the food source is in opposite direction
to that towards the sun from the hive. If the scout bee moves straight up
during straight run of tail waggle dance without any angle with the gravity; it
means food is exactly in line towards the sun while bee moving straight down
without any angle with the gravity indicates the food source just opposite to
the direction of the sun. Any angle to the line of gravity during the straight
run of the dance means that the food source is at that angle with the line of
hive to the sun's direction.
29
UNIT 3 STRUCTURE OF HONEY BEE
Structure
3.0 Aims and Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The body of the honey bee is divided into three distinct regions - head (H),
thorax (Th) and abdomen (Ab) as depicted in the Fig.3.l. Head" bears
the sensory (Ant-antennae), and vision (E, compound eyes and O,oee'llil
simple eyes), feeding organs (mouth parts), and inside encloses a brain.
Thorax bears three pairs of legs (LI L2 L3) and two pairs of wings (VV2'VV3)·
The thorax, is a locomotory centre. Abdomen is mainly concerned with
metabolic activities and is the seat of the reproduction as well. Various
morphological features of the honey bee have been briefly discussed in-the
next section ..
30
Structure of Honey Bee
3.2.2 Thorax
This is the second region of the honey bee body. It comprises of three
segments (Th -1, 2, 3,) the frontal (prothorax), middle (mesothorax) and
posterior (metathorax) thoracic segments (Fig. 3.1) . Every segment bears a
pair of leg (L, L 2' L3). Mesothorax and metathorax also have a pair of wings
(W2' W3) each. The first abdominal segment (I) is fused with the metathorax
and is termed as propodeum. Wings are transparent, simple in shape and
venation. The fore wing is much larger than the hind wing. During flight,
two wings on each side are coupled together by a row of many hooks called
hamuli arising from the anterior margin of the hind wing and the thickened
fold on the posterior margin of the fore wing. The three pairs of legs are
structurally and functionally modified to perform various functions, especially
in worker bees for example, the fore legs are modified for antenna cleaning,
the middle legs for pollen brushing and the hind legs for pollen collection.
3.2.3 Abdomen
The first abdominal segment (I) is fused with the metathorax, called the
propodeum. The second abdominal segment (11) is greatly constricted
anteriorly at its union with the propodeum. This constricted segment is called
petiole. The petiole gives freedom to the abdomen movement. The remaining
abdominal segments (Ill-VII) are collectively called as gaster. The gaster
consists of six exposed segments in the females and seven in the drones and
the remaining are concealed and/or considerably modified into external
reproductive organsl genitalia. The abdomen also houses different types of
glands and spiracles (sp). Four pairs of wax glands are present in the anterior
part of the ventral (lower) side of 4th to T" abdominal segments (sterna). The
glands secrete wax on to the wax mirrors/ plates and later on it hardens as
wax scales on the outer surface of the wax mirrors/plates. From there, the
wax scales are removed by the bee with the help of a spine on the middle
leg, grasped by the mandibles and masticate (chewed) for the comb
construction.
32
associated poison gland. The sting is housed in the tip of abdomen. During Structure of Honey Bee
stinging, the bee arches its body and thrusts the sting shaft perpendicularly
into the victim's body. The sting being barbed, when stung, cannot be
withdrawn from the tight human skin, hence the bee has to tear it away. The
queen bee also has a sting which is used only against rival queens. The sting
of the queen is not-barbed; hence, after stinging the rival queen, it is retracted
without tearing it off the queen's body. The drone bees are sting less.
,
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
Note: i) Answer the following questions in the given blank space.
ii) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the
unit.
1) Name the important body regions of honey bee.
2) Which type of mouth parts the honey bees have? Explain the
specifications of this types of mouth parts.
5) Where are the scent glands and poison glands situated in honey bee?
33
Introduction to Bees
rnd Beekeeping 3.3 ANATOMY OF HONEY BEE
Under this section, there will be a description about the internal organs of
the honey bee. Though honey bees have all the systems and characteristics
of a typical insect but there are some modifications or say specializations in
the body parts for their specific requirements. Let us explain the features of
different internal organs of a bee.
intestine
rectum
antenna sting
nail
pharynx
The reproductive system of the female includes a pair of ovaries, paired lateral
oviducts and a median common oviduct. There are more than hundreds ovarioles
per ovary are in case of queen bee whereas this is seldom more than five in the
case of worker bee. The common oviduct opens into the vagina which opens at
the base of the sting. A sperm receptacle called the spermatheca (sperms'
storage sac) opens by a short duct into the vagina in the case of queen bee. When
a queen bee mates with several drones, the sperms of all the drones are stored
in spermatheca. Later on it is used for fertilizing the ova as and when required.
.... ~ " , .
36
5) What is the role of mal pig hian tubules in the honey bee's system? Structure of Honey Bee
Appendages All the attachments to the body of the honey bee are
called appendages. It is comprised of legs, antenna,
hairs and other such parts which are on the body
surface.
Locomotor Organs The organs concerned with the movement are called
locomotor organs such as legs.
Sensory Organs The organs concerned with the sensing are called
sensory organs. These are attached to the antenna of
the honey bee.
37
Introduction to Bees
and Beekeeping 3.6 FURTHER REFERENCES
The following books or journals may be used for further reading.
Dade, H.A.1962. Anatomy and Dissection of the Honey Bee, IBRA, UK, 178
pp.
Grahm, Joe M. 1992. Hive and the Honey Bee, pp. 103-169. Dadant & Sons,
Hamilton, Illinois, USA, 1324 pp.
Mishra, R.e. 1995. Honey Bees and Their Management, ICAR, New Delhi,
India, 168 pp.
Root, A.I.; Root, E.H. and Root, H.H. 1975. The ABC and XYZ of Bee
Culture. A. I. Root Co. Medina, Ohio, USA.
Singh, S. 1962. Beekeeping in India, ICAR, New Delhi, India, 214 pp.
Snodgrass, R. E. 1925Anatomy and Physiology of the Honey Bee. Me Graw
Hill Book Co., New York & London, 327 pp.
Snodgrass, R. E. 1956. Anatomy of the Honey Bee, Comstock Publishing
Associates, Ithaca, USA, 334 pp. '
Winston, M.L. 1991. The Biology of the Honey Bee. Harvard University
Press, 281 pp.
38
4) Secretion of hypo pharyngeal glands is used by the worker (nurse) bee to Structure of Honey Bee
produce royal jelly.
6) When a queen bee mates with several drones, the sperms of all the
drones are stored in spermatheca and are used later on for fertilizing the
ova/eggs as and when required.
39
UNIT 4 STARTING OF BEEKEEPING
Structure
4.0 Aims and Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous units, we have studied the history of beekeeping, diversity in bee
species and structure of honey bee body. In this unit shall study how anyone can
start beekeeping? The primitive man used to hunt the naturally existing (feral)
honey bee colonies. Gradually, he learned to hive (domesticate) them in primitive
type of bee hives made up oflocally available material such as hollowed wooden
logsvearthen vessels, baskets, skeps, wicker hives and hollows in the walls.
Beekeeping industry was revolutionized during the second half of the 19th century,
40
\
when, L.L.Langstroth discovered the concept of 'bee space' in 1951. Based on Starting of Beekeeping
this concept, modem age 'Langstroth bee hive' with movable parallel combs was
developed. This was followed by the inventions of wax comb foundations and
comb foundation mill, honey extractor, bee smoker, queen excluder (to keep
away queen), bee escape, etc., which increased the efficiency of the bee
management operations. Since then, there had been a lot of improvement in the
apiary equipments.
ive Tool
"- - ~
Uncapping Knife
Queen Excluder
Feeder
Bee Brush
I
Cone"~cape Queen Cell
Protector
i
Smoker Swarm Catching
Bee Escape
Basket
Top Cover
Inner Cover
Super
Queen Excluder I
i
Brood Chamber
Bottom Board
42
4.2.11 Honey Extractor Starting of Beekeeping
It is used to extract honey from uncapped combs with least damage to the raised
wax combs. Two to four frames tangential honey extractors or multi-frame (4-8
frame) radial honey extractors are available in the country. While tangential
extractors need reversing of combs for extraction of honey from other side of the
comb, radial extractors require rotation in the opposite direction for the extraction.
4.2.13 Feeder
This equipment is required for feeding of the bees during lean period. It is an
ordinary one litre tin, wide mouth bottle having two-three narrow holes in lid
placed on bottom board and inverted on twigs or division board. Sugar syrup
feeding can also be done through polythene bags or in raised empty combs.
Division board feeder is a frame sized feeder with a rectangular receptacle; for
filling sugar syrup and it has a wooden bar serving as float, sitting on which the
bees can pick-up the feed.
ii) /Compare your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
43
Introduction to Bees 3) What is queen excluder and what is its utility?
and Beekeeping
3) It does not require continuous labour and heavy physical work. Thus, it
is very ideal as a part-time occupation, especially for women and children.
5) Honey itself is a very hygienic food, tonic and medicine and makes the
diet more balanced.
7) Above all, pollination by bees improves the quantity and quality of the crop
produce and benefits the community as a whole rather than only the individual
beekeepers. Thus, a beekeeper can further increase his income by renting
out his honey bee colonies for pollination service.
Thus, beekeeping enterprise is suitable for people from all walks of life as a
hobby, subsidiary occupation for supplementing income or as a whole time job
for self employment. After investing once on honey bees, hives and equiprnents
(non-recurringexpenditure), regular/annual (recurring) expenditure is very negligible
which can even be further reduced with better management practices. One can
easily maintain about 100 honey bee colonies and can earn quite a handsome
income between Rs. 50,000 to 2,00,000 per annum.
ill) Availability of Honey Bee Species for Hiving: Two species of honey
bees, Asiatic honey bee (Apis cerana) and European honey bee (Apis
mellifera) are suitable for hiving (domestication). Apis cerana is a frugal!
spend thrifty bee species and can do well even in the marginal areas
having low beekeeping potential. It also requires less investment. Apis
mellifera is, however, a high yielding honey bee and is most suitable for
areas having high beekeeping potential. Beekeeping with Apis mellifera
is ideally suited for commercial beekeeping especially in plains where
due to the high summer temperature, Apis cerana does not thrive well.
45
Introduction to Bees v) Suitable Area, Bee Flora and Floral Calendar: For establishing an apiary
and Beekeeping
in a new area, one must analyse the beekeeping potential of that area with
respect to climatic suitability and bee floral availability (Table 4.1). A calendar
of bee flora and period of their flowering should be prepared before initiating
the establishment of beekeeping. You may take help of the following table
Table 4.1: Major Bee Floral Plants and Climatic Conditions of Different Regions
of the Country
• Northern Hill Region: Severe winter, pleasant summer, harsh monsoon (Acacia
i.e. Phlahi / khair; Brassica, Buck wheat, Citrus, Jamun, Plectranthus, Robinia,
Shisham, Soapnut, Sunflower, Temperate fruit trees, Toon, etc.)
One must also know whether the bee forage crop is a source of nectar, pollen
or both? How long, is its flowering duration? How much is the acreage
under that particular bee flora? Is the bee flora of major, medium, minor or
poor utility to honey bees? How long is the dearth period in a particular
locality? All this information will help the beekeeper to exploit the bee flora
to the maximum and to plan colonies migrations to other area, in advance,
if required. Nine plant spp. that constitute the major bee flora in the northern
plains, their blooming period and utility to bees are depicted below (Table 4.2).
Besides these, many other plants spp, such as maize, bazra, temperate fruit
plants, litchi, Citrus, cucurbits, shisham, khair, ber, avenue / forest trees and
some weed 'plant species also provide pollen, nectar or both to bees. Intensive
vegetable growing areas and cotton belt can also be exploited for beekeeping
provided management operations to save honey bees from insecticidal hazards
are adopted.
Table 4.2: Calendar of Bee Flora in the Northern Plains, their Period of Availability
and Utility to Honey Bees
ix) Number of Honey Bee Colonies to be procured: The de~irable unit for
a beginner to start with should normally consist of 5 to 10 but never more
than 25 colonies. Due to lack of experience, the loss may be heavy if the
beginner starts with greater number of honey bee colonies, whereas too less
number of colonies' has greater risk of failure owing to insufficient inter-
colony help, whenever required.
xi) Placement of the Bee Colonies: After arriving at the destination, the bee
hives should be placed in rows at least 10 feet apart with 6-8 feet distance
between the two adjacent hives to provide ample room for colony manipulation
and to minimize chances of drifting and robbing menaces. The hive entrance
should face towards south-east direction and preferably be away from a
common passage. After placing the hive at suitable site, their entrance gates
should be opened. Because of the disturbance during transit, the honey bees
usually are in a disturbed state. Hence, do not open and examine the migrated
colonies for a day. On the second day, open the colony for routine check-
up and follow the management operations as per the seasonal requirement!
condition of the colonies.
(December - January)
Harsh Period For Bees
• Winter protection
• Supplementary feeding
(February - April
• Migration to raya/ Brassica
growingbeJt Best Season for Bees
• Migration to eucalyptus/
berseem growing area
• Strengthening colonies • Provision of space
• Division of colonies • Strengthening colonies
• Honey extraction • Division of colonies
• Shifting colonies under • Queen rearing
sun • Control of bee diseases
and enemies
(May-June)
(July - September)
Harsh Period for Bees
Most Harsh Period
3) Which seasons are better suited for starting beekeeping and why?
Abrol, D.P. 1997. Bees and Beekeeping in India, Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana,
India, 450 pp.
Eckert, J.E. and Shaw, F.R. 1960. Beekeeping, The Mac Millan Co., New
York, USA
Grahm, Joe M. 1992. Hive ana the Honey Bee, Dadant & Sons, Hamilton,
Illinois, USA, 1324 pp.
Mishra, R.C. 1995. Honey Bees and Their Management in India, ICAR,
New Delhi. 168 pp.
Root, A.I.; Root E.H. and Root H.H. 1975. The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture,
A. I. Root Co. Medina, Ohio, USA.
5) Queen cages are small captivities used for transporting/mailing the queen
bees or introducing queen bee in a queenless colony. Wooden made
Benton type queen cages and plastic made hair roller type queen cage are
common in India.
• It does not require any special land or elaborate sheds and structures.
• It also does not require continuous labour and heavy physical work.
• Honey itself is a very hygienic food, tonic and medicine and makes
the diet more balanced.
3) Suitable seasons for starting beekeeping coincide with the mild climatic
conditions and availability of bee flora in plenty. Generally, spring
(February-April) and post-monsoon (October-November) seasons are
the best periods to start beekeeping. These are the seasons when colonies
would rear drones.
• A nucleus colony on four or five frame bee strength with a young, newly
mated and quality queen bee is ideal for the purchase.
51
Introduction to Bees • Ensure that the colonies being purchased must be free from bee diseases
and Beekeeping
and parasites.
5) While placing the honey bee colonies at the selected site, following points
should be considered:
• After placing the hives at suitable site, their gates should be opened.
• As the bees would be under the disturbed state during transit, so after
opening gates, do not examine the migrated colonies for a day.
• There should be a clear space behind the hives for the working convenience
of the beekeeper.
52
OAPI-Ol1 INTRODUCTIONTO
BEEKEEPING
Block 1 Introduction to Bees and Beekeeping
Unit 1 An Overview of Beekeeping History
Unit 2 Species Diversity and Social Organization
Unit 3 Structure of Honey Bee
Unit 4 Starting of Beekeeping
'Block 2 Bee Flora and Pollination
Unit 1 Bee Flora
Unit 2 Bee Pollination