Ag. Ento. 4.3 Management of Beneficial Insects PDF 2018-19

Lecture Note of Fourth Semester UG course (As per fifth Deans Committee Recommendations/syllabus) Ag. Ento. 4.3: Management of Beneficial Insects (1 + 1 = 2) Compiled by Dr. C.U. Shinde an...

Lecture Note of Fourth Semester UG course (As per fifth Deans Committee Recommendations/syllabus) Ag. Ento. 4.3: Management of Beneficial Insects (1 + 1 = 2) Compiled by Dr. C.U. Shinde and Prof. Kapil M. Patel DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY N.M. COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE NAVSARI AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, NAVSARI (GUJARAT) Year: 2018-19 1|Page  COURSE CONTENT (SYLLABUS) Ag. Ento. 4.3 Management of Beneficial Insects Credit: 1 + 1 = 2 THEORY SYLLABUS: Part I: Importance of beneficial Insects, Beekeeping, pollinating plant and their cycle, bee biology, species of honey bees, commercial methods of rearing, equipment used, seasonal management, bee enemies and diseases. Bee pasturage, bee foraging and communication. Division and uniting of honey bee boxes. Toxicity of pesticides to honey bees. Part II: Types of silkworm, voltinism and biology of silkworm. Mulberry/castor cultivation, mulberry varieties and methods of harvesting and preservation of leaves. Rearing and mounting larvae and harvesting of cocoons. Pest and diseases of silkworm and management. Rearing appliances of mulberry silkworm and methods of disinfection. Part III: Species of lac insect, morphology, biology, host plant, lac production – seed lac, button lac, shellac, lac- products. Enemies of lac insects. Part IV: Identification of major parasitoids and predators commonly being used in biological control. Insect orders bearing predators and parasitoids used in pest control and their mass multiplication techniques. Important species of pollinator, weed killers and scavengers with their importance. PRACTICAL SYLLABUS: Honey bee species, castes of bees. Beekeeping appliances and seasonal management, bee enemies and disease. Bee pasturage, bee foraging and communication. Division and uniting of honey bee boxes. Migration of honeybee boxes. Types of silkworm, voltinism and biology of silkworm. Mulberry/castor cultivation, mulberry varieties and methods of harvesting and preservation of leaves. Species of lac insect, host plant identification. Identification of other important pollinators, weed killers and scavengers. Insect orders bearing predators and parasitoids used in pest control and their mass multiplication techniques. Visit to research and training institutions devoted to beekeeping, sericulture, lac culture and natural enemies. SUGGESTED READINGS:  A text book of Applied Entomology, Vol. II by K. P. Srivastava and G. S. Dhaliwal, Kalyani Publisher  Elements of Economic Entomology by B. V. David and V. V. Rammurthy. Namrutha Publications (7th Edition)  Principles of Applied Entomology by K. N. Ragumoorthy, M. R. Srinivasan, V. Balasubramani and N. Natarajan Published by A. E. Publication, Coimbatore  Modern Entomology by D. B. Tembhare, Himalaya Publishing House (ISBN : 978-93- 5051-828-1)  Essentials of Agricultural Entomology by G.S. Dhaliwal, Ram Singh and B.S. Chillar, Kalyani Publisher  Element of Agricultural Entomology by G.S. Dhaliwal (2015). Published by Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi (ISBN: 978-93-272-5134-0). 2|Page  INDEX Sr. No. Topic Page No. 1. Preliminary pages and Course content (syllabus) 1-3 2. Honey bee 4-48 3. Silkworm 49-70 4. Lac insect 71-95 5. Predators and parasitoids used in pest control programme 96-107 6. Mass production of important bio-agents 108-112 7. Other important pollinators, weed killers and scavengers 113-115 8. Relevant photographs 116-127 3|Page  Part- I: Honey bee Importance of honey bees: The field of entomology may; be divided into two major aspects, as fundamental entomology or general entomology and applied entomology or economic entomology. Fundamental Entomology deals with the basic or academic aspects of the Science of Entomology. It includes morphology, anatomy, physiology and taxonomy of the insects. In this case we study the subject for gaining knowledge on Entomology irrespective of whether it is useful or harmful. Applied Entomology or Economic Entomology deals with the usefulness of the Science of Entomology for the benefit of mankind. Applied entomology covers the study of insects which are either beneficial or harmful to human beings. It deals with the ways in which beneficial insects like predators, parasitoids, pollinators or productive insects like honey bees, silkworm and lac insect can be best exploited for our welfare. Applied entomology also studies the methods in which harmful insects or pests can be managed without causing significant damage or loss to us. There are two type of insects (i) Beneficial insects e.g. Honeybee, Silk worm, Lac insect etc. (ii) Harmful insect e.g. Helicoverpa, Spodoptera, Aphid, etc. They are important as they are: (i) Productive insects: A. Products from secretion of insects and forest trees (Industrial Entomology) - Silk (silkworm) (Sericulture) - Bees wax (honey bees) (Apiculture) - Shellac (lac insect) (Lac culture) B. Collect, elaborate and store plant product - Honey (Honey bee) (Apiculture) (ii) Helpful insects: - Aid in pollination (Pollinators) - Parasitoid and predators of injurious insects (Biological control) - Destroy weeds (Weed killers) - Improve soil fertility (Agricultural entomology) - As scavengers - Insects and their products useful in medicine (Cantharidine) - Helpful in solving crimes (Forensic entomology) (iii) 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. 4|Page BEEKEEPING Beekeeping is an art and skill maintaining the bees in modern movable frame hives for hobby or fascination, production of hive products (honey, bee wax etc.) and for pollination services OR the practice of rearing bee is called beekeeping or Apiculture. Apiculture is synonym of the beekeeping and is derived from Latin word „Apiscultura‟. Apis means „bee‟ and cultura means „cultivation through education‟. The place where the hives are maintained is called an Apiary. Beekeeping is a high profit enterprise it can be taken up both as subsidiary industry and as well as whole time profession. Initially in 1953 as many as 230 beekeepers, who maintained around 800 bee colonies in modern bee boxes and were producing 1, 200 Kgs of honey annually. Presently it is estimated that with 25.00 Lakhs of bee colonies, 2.50 Lakhs beekeepers and wild honey collectors‟ harvest around 56, 579 MT of honey in country, which valued Rs. 476.04 crores. The average annual per capita consumption in India is 8.4 g. HISTORY OF BEEKEEPING –WORLD It is not clear when man started beekeeping, but there are 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. 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 nutritional and pharmaceutical value of honey. Greek athletes used honey as an energy burst. Commercial beekeeping started during the second half of the 19th century. In 1851, Rev. 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). Bee space or passage way is the space required between any two frames for the bees to move about conveniently between two combs. Based on this concept, modern age 'Langstroth bee hive' with movable parallel frames/combs was developed by L. L. Langstroth is known as Father of Modern Beekeeping. HISTORY OF BEEKEEPING – INDIA Bees and honey were known to human being in India since time immemorial as their 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. The earliest method of keeping bees was to use hollowed out tree trucks, empty pots or any other suitable receptacles smeared with wax and sweet scented leaves of Cinnamomum iners on the inner surface; these receptacles were kept in jungles to entice (invite) the bees during swarming seasons. When the bees had settled there, these recepticles were carried to and kept in 5|Page desired places. This type of hive is called pot hive and it was in practice in Mysore, Coorg, Malabar, Godavari, Kasmir etc. 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, A. 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, A. 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. STRENGTHENING OF BEE KEEPING RESEARCH AND DEVLOLNMENT IN THE COUNTRY After independence, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Govt. of India took up beekeeping as one of its ventures. Some states like Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh established Departments of Beekeeping under their Ministry of Agriculture/ Industries. Further, considering the importance of applied and basic research in apiculture, KVIC established Central Bee Research and Training Institute (CBRTI) at Pune in 1962. The research in beekeeping started when Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi started funding different projects. Two Beekeeping Research Stations were also established at Nagrota-Bagwan (erstwhile Punjab, now in H.P.) in 1945 and at Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) in 1951. Recently in Gujarat, Department on Entomology, N.M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari has initiated research on honey bee & other pollinators sponsored through ICAR, New Delhi with Project entitled “All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Honey bee and Pollinators from the year 2015-16” SUCESSFUL INTRODUCTION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF Apis mellifera IN INDIA After a long gap of unsuccessful attempts of A. mellifera introduction in our country, Professor A. S. Atwal an Entomologist of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, with his associates, introduced A. mellifera in 1962 at Beekeeping Research Stations of Nagrota-Bagwan (H.P.) by adopting the 'Inter-specific Queen Introduction Technique'. They imported disease free A. mellifera gravid queens along with worker bees. Later the worker bees were burnt and A. mellifera queens were introduced one each into the de-queened colonies of Asiatic hive bee (A. cerana). 6|Page After the adaptation of A. mellifera queens, the workers of Asiatic hive bee (A. cerana) reared the brood. It resulted in gradual replacement of workers of A. cerana who died with the age. Thus, A. mellifera stocks were further strengthened by importing disease free consignments of the gravid queen bees. Convinced with the performance of A. mellifera in the Punjab, H.P. and Haryana and due to the outbreak of Thai Sac brood Viral Disease causing large scale mortality of A. cerana colonies during late 1970s to early 1980s in the states, practicing A. cerana beekeepers of many other states expressed desire to adopt A. mellifera. Due to this, ICAR in 1986 decided to extend this species from Punjab to other states. Now, this exotic honey bee (A. mellifera) has been spread to almost whole of the country. During 1993, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India laid special emphasis on beekeeping and started a National Scheme on the 'Development of Beekeeping for Increasing Crop Productivity'. Under this Scheme, beekeeping research, training and development projects were sanctioned to various State Agriculture Universities (SAUs), State Agriculture Departments, Government and Non-Government organizations (NGOs). Govt. of India established National Bee Board in 2006. 1. Honey bee: Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hymenoptera Family: Apidae Subfamily: Apinae Tribe: Apini Latreille, 1802 Genus: Apis Linnaeus, 1758 Biology/ Life history of Honey bee: Eggs: Eggs are laid by queen and when a colony a colony wants to produces a new queen, the special cell constructed at the lower border of the brood comb. On these cells, singles egg is laid by the queen in each cell which hatched after 3 days. The newly hatched grubs are provided with royal jelly. The grub is fully developed in 5 or 6 days and then queen cell is capped where grub changes in to pupa and after a week adults come out by biting the cap of queen cell. The adult who comes out earlier become the queen daughter and it kills the remaining pupae before their emergence. Nuptial flight: After 2-3 days the queen daughter takes nuptial flight accompanied by hundreds of drones during day. She overtakes drone in flight. The drone which follows her takes the chance of copulation. The male soon dies after copulation and the mated queen return to the comb. It mate only once in her life time. The seminal fluid (male sperms) is collected in a special receptacle (spermatheca) and used when required. 7|Page  Drone honeybee die after copulation…….WHY?? The drone mounts the queen, inserts his endophallus, and ejaculates his semen. During ejaculation, the male falls back and his endophallus is ripped out of his body and remains attached to the queen. Drones mounting later remove the previous drone's endophallus and lose their own through similar matings. The emasculated drones die very quickly with their abdomens burst in this fashion. Oviposition After some times the queen daughter starts eggs laying and called as queen mother. She lays fertilized or unfertilized eggs at her will. Once egg is laid in a cell. The eggs are long, oval and light brown in colour. They hatch in 3-4 days. The queen measures the cell opening with her front legs as she inspects each cell prior to laying her egg. Worker bees develop horizontally in hexagonal cells of approximately 0.2 inch (5 mm) diameter (5 cells/inch). Drones develop in slightly larger horizontal cells. The female queen develops in a vertically-oriented cell. The existing queen herself lays fertilized eggs in special cup-like structures, called queen cups, oriented vertically on the face of the horizontal worker and drone comb or, more usually, at the bottom margin of the comb. 8|Page Grub: From the fertilized eggs, the queen and worker and form the unfertilized eggs drones are born. The grub are cylindrical and light yellow in colour, they fed with the royal jelly for 2-3 days after that they are provided honey and nectar etc. The grub period lasts for 5-6 days. Worker bees are raised in the multipurpose, horizontally arranged cells of the comb. Future workers receive royal jelly only during the first 3 days, compared to future queens, who are fed royal jelly throughout their larval life. The developing queen larva is always surrounded by royal jelly, a special, highly nutritious food produced by head glands of the workers. This feeding scheme, called massive provisioning, is unique to the queen and continues throughout her entire developmental period. Worker bees mix the honey with pollen and feed drone larvae. Future drones receive royal jelly for the first 3 days. After that, they are shifted to progressive feeding as discussed in worker feeding. Pupa: Full grown grub forms a cocoon and pupates insides the cell. The pupates periods lasts 7- 14 days depending upon the type of adult to be produced. The time required for development of different castes of A. mellifera is given below: Adult Eggs Grub Pupa Total Queen 3 days 6.5 days 6.5 days 16 days Worker 3 days 8.0 days 10.0 days 21 days Drone 3 days 9.5 days 11.5 days 24 days 9|Page Total lifespan/biology of honey bee: Caste Development Stage Queen Worker Drone Egg 3 days 3 days 3 days Unsealed stage 5 days 5 days 7 days Cell sealed 8th day 8* day 10lhday Cocoon information 10,hday 11th day 14th day Adult formation 15th day 20,h day 22nd day Adult emergence 16,h day 21s'day 24* day Sexual maturity within 2-3 days - 13 days Adult longevity 3-4 years 6 weeks 2-3 months Honey bees are the only bees to die after stinging …….WHY?? Because when a honey bee stings a person, it cannot pull the barbed stinger back out. It leaves behind not only the stinger, but also part of its abdomen and digestive tract, plus muscles and nerves. This massive abdominal rupture kills the honey bee. HONEY BEE CASTES The honeybee is a social insect and lives in colonies with a highly organized system of division of labour. Many combs are found in a colony in which the members of the same family used to live. Each family consists of three castes: queen (fertile female), drones (males) and workers (sterile females). Each caste has its special function in the colony. The workers are undeveloped females, the drones are known as males and the queen is the fully developed female. Every honey bee colony comprises of 35000 to 70,000 members which includes a queen, 200 – 300 drones and several thousand workers. Sex differentiation in bees A. Queen: The queen, a true mother bee, is the only female that is completely developed sexually from fertilized egg. This is a result of a total diet of royal jelly during a developmental period. It has a long abdomen extending well beyond the apical margins of the wings. In the colony, she is found in the area of the brood nest. A well developed queen is generally two to three times bigger than a worker and measures about 15-20 mm in length. 10 | P a g e Duties of a queen 1. The only individual which lays eggs in a colony (Mother of all bees). 2. Lays upto 2000 eggs/day in Apis mellifera and maintaining a populous colony. 3. Five to Ten days after emergence, she mates with drones in one or more nuptial flights. 4. When her spermatheea is filled with sperms, she will start laying eggs and will not mate any more. 5. She lives for 3 years and when it is weak or unable to lay eggs it is replaced by one of the daughter queen. 6. The secretion from mandibular gland of the queen is called queen‟s substance. 7. The queen substance if present in sufficient quantity performs following functions. a) Prevent swarming and absconding of colonies. b) Prevent development of ovary in workers. c) Colony cohesion is maintained. 8. The queen can lay either fertilized or sterile eggs depending on the requirement. B. Drone: Drones, the functional males of the colony are produced from unfertilized eggs, and are larger and darker than the worker. It is smaller than queen and measures about 15-17 mm in length. Drones are not a permanent member of colony. The queen can control whether or not the egg is fertilized as she lays it. The compound eyes are holoptic i.e. very large and are united at the vertex. The end of the abdomen is blunt and is covered with a tuft of small hairs. Drones cannot sting. As the sting is a modified structure of the female genitalia, drones do not have stings. They also do not have any of the structures necessary to collect nectar and pollen. It dies after successful mating with the queen. Duties of a drone 1. Their important duty is to fertilize the queen. 2. They also help in maintenance of hive temperature. 3. They cannot collect nectar / pollen and they do not possess a sting. C. Workers Workers are sexually sterile female caste and is the smallest in size as compared with the above two castes. On ventral side of the abdomen, wax glands are present. Hind legs are modified for pollen collection. The mandibles are flattened and spoon shaped which are used for molding the wax for comb building. They do the work of the colony and maintain it in good condition. Workers have special structures and organs which are associated with the duties they perform. Duties of a worker 1. Their adult life span of around 6 weeks can be divided into i) First three weeks- house hold duty. ii) Rest of the life- out door duty. i. House hold duty includes a. Build comb with wax secretion from wax glands. b. Feed the young larvae with royal jelly secreted from hypopharyngeal gland. c. Feed older larvae with bee-bread (pollen+ honey) d. Feeding and attending queen. 11 | P a g e e. Feeding drones. f. Cleaning, ventilating and cooling the hive. g. Guarding the hive. h. Evaporating nectar and storing honey. ii. Outdoor duties 1. Collecting nectar, pollen, propolis and water. 2. Ripening honey in honey stomach. Schedule of a worker bee in the hive Days after Task emergence 1–2 Clean cells and warm the brood nest 3–5 Feed older larvae with honey and pollen 6–10 Feed younger larvae with products of the head glands 11–18 Ripen nectar, produce wax and construct comb 19–21 Guard and ventilate the hive, take exercise and orientation flights to learn to fly and locate the hive 22 + Forage for nectar, pollen, water or propolis  Morphological differentiation among different castes of A. mellifera Character Queen bee Drone bee Worker bee Adult Body size Longest Medium Smallest Wings Do not completely Completely cover the Completely cover the cover the abdomen abdomen abdomen Head Triangular and little Roundish Triangular roundish Abdomen Tip of abdomen Long, gradually Tip of abdomen blunt conical and subtly tapering and hairy pointed Compound eyes Large kidney sharped, Small and well apart Small and well apart meeting at vertex Pollen collecting legs Not developed Not developed Well developed Sting Present but without Absent Present with barbs barbs 12 | P a g e DIFFERENT SPECIES OF BEES AND THEIR IMPORTANT CHARACTERS: The honey bees belong to superfamily Apoidea and the family Apidae and the order Hymenoptera. There are six species of Apis viz., Apis cerana, Apis florea, Apis dorsata, A. andreniformis, A. laboriosa and A. koschevnikovi which are indigenous to India and A. mellifera which has been introduced from European countries. The commercialised honey bees in India are two domesticated/hive bees, Apis mellifera Linn. and Apis cerana F. and two well-known wild species, Apis dorsata F. and Apis florea F. They have well developed stings. The Dammer bee or mosquito bee, Trigona iridipennis (Meliponinae) has only a vestigial sting. All five species are social insects living in colonies with remarkable degree of social instincts and division of labour among the different members of the colony. There are five important species of honey bees as follows. Scientific name Common name (1) Apis dorsata : The rock bee (2) Apis cerana indica : The Indian hive bee (3) Apis florea : The little bee (4) Apis mellifera : The European or Italian bee (5) Trigona iridipennis (T. laeviceps) : Danner bee, stingless bee (1) The rock bee or giant bee, Apis dorsata Fabricious 1. It is largest of the honey bees and measuring about 20 mm in length. 2. It construct single comb of huge size in open (About a meter in diameter) 3. The comb is fully exposed and hung from inaccessible branches of trees, along sides of steep rocks in the forest and even from the walls, rafters and other parts of buildings. 4. It produces plenty of honey i.e. 37 Kg honey /comb/year. 5. It represents a major portion of honey sold in our markets. 6. Rock bees are irritable and ferocious in nature and difficult to rear. 7. They shift the place of the colony often. In winter, they migrate to plains and come back to hills during summer season. (2) Indian hive bee/Asian bee, Apis cerana indica Fabricious 1. It is common Indian bee found in both forest as well as in plains throughout country. 2. It is smaller than the rock bee but the larger than the little bee. Bee measures about 15 mm in length. 3. They make multiple parallel combs on trees, cavities, caves in darkness and such other hidden sites, the combs being parallel to the direction of the entrance in the plains and the right angle to the entrance in cold regions. 4. It is mild and capable of being domesticated and is commonly reared in south India. 5. They produce about 2 - 5 Kg of honey/year/colony. 6. A queen can lay 350 – 1000 eggs per day. 7. They are more prone to swarming and absconding. 8. They are native of India/Asia. 13 | P a g e (3) The little bee, Apis florea Fabricious 1. It is known as the little bee since it is smallest of the four species of Apis. Bee measures about 7 mm in length. 2. It is seen only in the plains and not in hills above 450 mt MSL. 3. It does not like darkness therefore forms its comb in the open place e.g. bushes, hedges, buildings, caves, empty cases etc. 4. It builds a single comb which is very small and produces about 0.5 to 1 kg honey/year/hive and so it is not domesticated and reared. 5. A queen can lay 323 – 365 eggs per day. 6. They are not rearable as they frequently change their place. (4) European bee or Italian bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus 1. It is extensively reared in Europe and America. 2. It was introduced in India in the year 1962 by Prof. A. S. Atwal in Nagrota (HP) from European countries (Italy). He is called as “Father of Modern Beekeeping‟ in India. 3. The behaviour and appearance of A. mellifera is similar to A. cerana. 4. It makes its nest in enclosed space (in darkness) in multiple parallel combs and is endowed with all the good qualities of a hive bee, i.e. has a prolific queen, swarms less, gentle tempered so, domesticable, good honey gatherers and can guard its nest against enemies. 5. They yield on an average 45-180Kg honey/hive/year but 6. They are larger than Indian bees but smaller than Rock bees. (5) Dammer bee or stingless bee, Trigona irridipennis Dal. (T. laeviceps) 1. This is the smallest species and differs from other bees in its appearance and habitats. 2. They do not have sting i.e., stingless. 3. They built their comb in hollow walls or tree trunks. 4. They construct their comb with a dark material called “Cerumen” which is a mixture of earth and wax or resin collected from plants as they do not secrete wax to build combs. 5. It is very poor honey gatherers and yields only 60-180 ml/colony/year. 6. Its honey is used in Ayurvedic medicine. Identification/differentiation among different bee species The rock Indian hive Dammer The little bee, Apis bee/Asian bee, European bee bee or Sr. bee, Apis Characteristi dorsata Apis cerana or Italian bee, stingless No florea cs (Giant indica Apis mellifera bee. (Small honey (Asiatic honey Linnaeus honey bee) bee) bee) 1. Body size Largest Smallest Medium Medium Smallest 2. Body colour Head Abdomen Body colour Body golden Body is blackish, orange blackish, yellow, reddish abdomen anteriorly abdomen with profusely hairs brown in reddish- with black & white & black with faint black colour yellow white stripes stripes and yellowish anteriorly posteriorly stripes 14 | P a g e  & black at posteriorly the tip 3. Wings Smoky Transparent Transparent Transparent Transpare nt 4. Proboscis size Largest Smallest Medium Medium Smallest 5. No. of worker 18.75 32.8 to 36.0 21.25 to 25.00 19.3 -- cells/4 linear inches 6. Nature and Wild bee, Wild bee, Can be hived, Can be hived, Can be Temperament hostile relatively docile docile hived, less hostile docile, do not have sting i.e., stingless. 7. Comb Single, Single, small Many parallel Many parallel Built their construction large (5-7‟ (Palm to combs inside combs inside comb in x 2-4‟) quarter plate the the hollow combs, size) combs, enclosure/caviti enclosure/caviti walls or constructe constructed es or in bee es or in bee tree d under in hives hives trunks. the roof bushes/hedge projection s, cotton s, water sticks reservoirs and on trunks of tall trees MAJOR ACTIVITIES OF HONEY BEES: The honey bees remain active generally throughout the year except during severe winter. Following are the main activities of honey bees: 1. Foraging: The field bees get activated in the morning and go out on foraging and collect pollen, nectar, propolis and water, carry them to the hive and make a number of trips till sunset. The bees that go out first to find out new sources of these materials are called searcher bees or scout bees. They return to the hive and communicate the message to young foraging bees by means of definite patterns of dancing. At any time bees collect most of the materials from a single or a few plant species but bees in two different colonies located side by side may visit entirely different sources, mainly due to the differences in discoveries by the scout bees. The bees collect materials from a source till they are exhausted when they may go in search of new areas. The honey bees usually forage within about 100 metres distance from the hive but they can go up to 1.5 km. They are capable of flying at a speed of 25-30 km per hour. The bees are most active in foraging within 15 | P a g e a temperature range of 25-27°C. The bees do not go out for foraging at wind speed of more than 24 km per hour. Nectar is collected by the foragers from the flowers and is stored in the crop where it is mixed with saliva. The invertase contained in the saliva acts upon sucrose of the nectar and converts it to dextrose or levulose. The bee returns to the hive and regurgitates the contents of the stomach into comb cells which are covered by flat airtight cappings. The weight of nectar load varies from 25 to 40 mg. On a given trip, a bee visits and exploits 1-500 flowers and makes, on an average, 10-15 trips in a day. During honey flow when there is abundance of food available, bees work to their full capacity and may make upto 150 trips a day. The pollen is collected and carried to the hive by the bees in the pollen baskets located in their hind tibiae. The bee returns to the hive and the pollen pellets are pushed down to the appropriate cells by means of spine in the middle leg. The weight of pollen load varies from 10 to 30 mg. The workers make about 6,000 trips to collect 0.5-1 g of pollen. The propolis is also carried in the pollen basket by the worker bees. As soon as the collecting bee returns to the hive, another worker unloads the propolis from the former, carries the same in its mandibles to the place requiring cementing and presses it into the crevices in the comb. 2. Combing: The comb of honey bees comprises of several hexagonal cells on both side of mid-rib. The combs are built with beeswax which is secreted by 4 pairs of wax glands located on 3-6 abdominal sterna. The wax secreted in a liquid form, collects in the intersegmental regions, hardens into thin flakes that are picked up by the legs and passed on to the spatulate mandibles for being kneaded and stuck to the top of nesting cavity and extended downwards bit by bit. Several bees hang like a sting to do the job. Usually, the cells meant for honey storage are located uppermost near the point of attachment below which are pollen cells spread in 5 cm wide band, further down are worker brood cells which are followed by the drone and queen cells. The worker cells are the smallest, drone cells larger than the worker cells and queen cells the largest. Worker and drone cells are directed sideways and queen cells vertically with open ends downwards. Cells of the size of worker and drone cells are used for storing honey and pollen. Cells containing unripe honey or developing brood are uncapped; those with fully ripe honey and fully fed grubs are capped, and pollen cells are generally not capped. Freshly built comb is generally white, but becomes dark after some time. 3. Swarming: Swarming is a method of reproduction in which a part of the colony migrates to a new site to make a new colony. During spring and summer when conditions are favourable and food is available in plenty, the bees multiply greatly with the result the comb becomes crowded and the bees begin to make preparations for swarming. At this stage, the queen daughter cells are built at the bottom and when new queen is ready to emerge out, the new queen and a large number of workers which have previously filled the cells with honey, leave the nest to start a new colony. Swarm settles in a suitable place already searched out by the workers for building new comb. In a parent colony the first queen daughter which emerges after swarming, kills the baby queen in the other cell and establishes herself as a queen mother. After that, they start their routine work of gathering nectar and pollen. 16 | P a g e 4. Absconding and migration: Complete desertion of a hive is known as absconding. This may occur due to lack of water, exhaustion of food store (either due to short supply of nectar or robbery of honey), unfavourable environment, constant pest attack (ants, wax moth, etc.) and even by excessive interference by the beekeeper in which case he is regarded as an enemy. Prior to absconding, the bees 'drink' whatever honey their nest has and then migrate leaving behind empty combs, brood and sometimes even food. Absconding can be prevented by providing water or sugar solution near the hive particularly during summer. 5. Language of bees: Honey bees have an unique and one of the best understood animal languages with which they inform each other the distance and direction of the source of food. The forager bee on return to the nest makes two kinds of dances on the surface of the comb, i.e. round dance and tail- wagging or figure of eight dance (Fig. 21.2), which the insiders perceive by contacting the forager's body with their antennae. In the round dance, which is used to indicate a short distance (less than 50 m in case of A. mellifera), the bee runs in circles, first in one and then in opposite direction (clock and anticlockwise), while in the tail-wagging dance which is used to indicate a longer distance (beyond 50 m in case of A. mellifera), the bee makes two half-circles in opposite directions with a straight run in between. During the straight run, the bee shakes its abdomen from side to side and the number of wags per unit time is related to the distance the food was located, i.e. more the wags, nearer is the food. The direction of the food is conveyed by the angle that the dancing bee makes its straight run and top of the hive which is the same as between the direction of the food and direction of the sun. Prof. Karl von Frisch was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1973 for discovering and interpreting the language of the honey bees in early 1920s. Later on, it was found that honey bees employ both dance and sound in their language. 6. Air conditioning: Among the living creatures, honey bees are the only organisms which make their comb airconditioned. They keep their comb warm in winter and cool during summer. The brood temperature is stabilized between 33 and 36°C averaging about 34.5°C. Clustering begins when the temperature inside the nest dips below 18°C and they generate heat by sitting on one another and rubbing their legs due to which the temperature of the comb rises. In summer, when the temperature rises above 33°C, the bees start fanning with their wings at the gate inside as well as outside with the result water evaporates from the honey and comb remains cool. The brood nest is usually kept at 40 per cent relative humidity. A large number of foragers start collecting water from outside, that is received b house bees inside and carried by them to the site where most needed and evaporated They spread minute drops of water in cells and also form thin films from regurgitated water on their tongues for evaporation. In the event of extreme hot weather they even suspend collecting concentrated nectars but prefer dilute nectars in case water is in scarcity, as the dilute nectars may be used for making thin films. 17 | P a g e Fig. Communication dances in honey bees according to location of the food source and direction of the sun (A, B, C = Directions. S=Sun. H=Beehive) COMMERCIAL METHODS OF REARING OF HONEY BEES Rearing the bees in artificial hives is known as beekeeping or apiculture. In India, the beekeeping industry started with the designing of a small hive suitable for A. cerana by Rev. Father Newton in 1910. This hive named 'Newton Hive' is still popular for keeping A. cerana. The Father also trained a large number of beekeepers in Southern India and helped them to establish beekeeping as an economically viable proposition. Mahatma Gandhi realized the importance of beekeeping and included it in his rural development programmes. He inspired rural freedom fighters to take up beekeeping as a venture of livelihood. In earlier times, people after wrapping the blanket on the body or after smoking in night, collected honey from the comb. This was a crude method. After some times, people thought to keep the honey bees and many villagers took interest in keeping honey bees and provided various types of hives in their houses. Thus, beekeeping can be divided into primitive and modern methods: A. Primitive or Indigenous Methods This is primitive and unplanned method of apiculture. In this method two types of hives are used,  Fixed type. Providing a receptacle in the wall of the house with an entrance and observation holes  Movable type. Providing a basket, empty boxes, hollowed logs, bamboo, mud pipes, earthen pots, etc. - anything that can protect bees from sun and rain. In the indigenous method, the bees are first killed or made to escape from the hive with the help of smoke when the bees are at rest during night. This method has many 18 | P a g e  drawbacks and it is not suitable for commercial large-scale production of honey. The following are the disadvantages of indigenous method: 1. The honey cannot be extracted in the pure form. The extracted honey also contains the larvae, pupae and pollen cells. 2. The future yield of the honey is affected as the colony has to be destroyed to extract the honey. Moreover it takes lot of energy of the bees to build new hive. 3. The bees may not construct the new hive in the same place as the old one. 4. The natural hives also have the danger of attack by the enemies like rats, monkeys, ants etc. The natural hives can also be damaged by the climatic factors. 5. Also scientific intervention is difficult in the indigenous method and thus improving of the bee race is impossible. B. Modern Method or Frame Hive Method Frame hives are fitted with movable frames on which the bees are persuaded to build their combs. They are usually composed of several boxes, one on top of the other, in which hive frames are suspended. The lower boxes (1-2) are used for holding the brood and the upper ones (1-2) are used for collection of honey, pollen and propolis. The artificial comb was first introduced by Revd. L.L. Langstroth in 1851 in America. In India, during 1910 Rev. Father Newton designed a small hive suitable for A. cerana. Beekeeping withy Frame Hive Method: Apiary is the place where the honey bees are reared for honey and wax either commercially or as a hobby. Often a beekeeper is left with no choice for location of his hives, when he intends to keep them in his backyard or a small home garden. But where a selection among many possible sites can be exercised, the following points. Requirements for site selection for apiary  Apiary should be located where there is abundance of nectar and pollen yielding plants within the radius of one to one and half kilometer.  The site should not be exposed to strong winds or at least the hives should not face the direction of the prevailing winds. Trees and bushes may be provided to make the site less windy.  The site should be flat but with good drainage facilities.  Clean and fresh running water should be available to the bees in or near the apiary.  A young orchard is an ideal choice.  If the site is shadeless and exposed, an artificial shade may be provided.  An apiary should not be located too near highways.  A good barbed wire fence or live hedge may be provided to keep out intruders.  The site should be free from termite and black ant infestation. I. Bee hives: Various types of bee hives are available for beekeeping. They are wooden boxes having two parts: upper ¼ comb is chamber and lower ¾ is brood chamber. Following types of bee boxes are used in beekeeping. Sr. No. Box type Dimensions Remark 1. Ghos box 36 cm x 21.5 cm These two types of bee hives 19 | P a g e  2. Newton box (BIS hive) 20.2 cm x 14.0 cm are more popular in India. In India Newton‟s beehive are manufactured based on Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications and called as BIS hives. 3. Langstroth hive 42.2 cm x 31.1 cm Some other familiar bee (American hive) boxes. Nowadays these boxes 4. Pant, Kanje and Jeolikote No.l 42.2 cm x 12.3 cm are widely used in commercial 5. Dadant box (Russian hive) 47 cm x 28.6 cm beekeeping. Langstroth hive 6. Thompson box 30.5 cm x 15.2 cm is suited to A. mellifera. BIS hive A & B type for A. BIS hive C type for cerana Hive parameters A. mellifera (Modified Newton and (Modified Langstroth type) Jeolikote types) Frames Contains 10 frames May contain 4, 8 or 10 frames Super Chamber Generally full super chamber is Half (shallow) super chamber is used. generally used. Brood/super frame Outside: 448x232mm Type A: Modified Newton Type size Inside : 428x192mm Outside: 230x165mm Inside : 210x145mm Type B: Modified Jeolikote Type Outside : 300x195mm Inside : 280x175mm Bee space 10 mm Type A : 7 to 9 mm Type B : 8 or 9 mm II. Equipments used in commercial beekeeping: A movable frame hive is composed of the following parts/appliances 1. Bee hive: It is movable wooden hive for bees with an entrance and parallel movable frames on which bees raise their combs. It provides protection to the colony from adverse effects of external environment. The important parts of the hive are bottom/floor board with alighting board, entrance, lower/brood chamber, frames, dummy board, super/honey chamber, inner cover (crown board) and top cover. 2. Nucleus hive: Small bee hive for keeping 4-6 frames. These are used for mating of queens and division of colonies. 3. Observation hive: Small hive with glass sides to observe movements and behaviour of bees. 4. Synthetic combs: It is made up of high density polythene (plastic). It can be used in both super and brood chambers. 20 | P a g e  Since the comb is fully moulded, bees only put wax caps on the cells. Advantages of synthetic combs viz., More honey can be extracted, Combs can be easily sterilized, Resist wax moth attack, Combs will not be damaged during honey extraction. 5. Hive stand: This is used to keep the bee hive above the ground so as to protect the colony from termites, ants and other crawling insects and also prevent soil moisture getting into the hive or facilitate ventilation from below the hive. The stand is made of wood or iron tubing or angle iron. Any four legged stand of 15-25 cm high is sufficient. Ant wells of 15 cm in diameter kept under four legs to prevent ants and other crawling insects entering into the hive. 6. Bottom board: It forms the floor of the hive made up of a single piece of wood or two pieces of wood joined together. Wooden beading are fixed on to the lateral sides and back side. There is a removable entrance rod in the front side with two entrance slits to alter the size of the hive entrance based on need. The board is extended by10 cm in front of the hive body which provides a landing platform for bees. Size of alighting board is 40x28 cm (BIS hive). 7. Brood chamber: It is a four sided rectangular wooden box without a top and bottom. It is kept on the floor board. A rabbet is cut in the front and back walls of the brood chamber. The brood frames rest on the rabbet walls. In brood frames, bees develop comb to rear brood. Size of brood frame is (outer dimensions) 29 x 29 x 17 cm. There will be 8 frames. Length and height of frame is 20.5 x 14.0 cm (BIS hive). 8. Super chamber: It is kept over the brood chamber and its construction is similar to that of brood chamber. Super frames are hung inside. The length and width of this chamber is similar to that of brood chamber. The height may also be similar if it is full depth super as in Langstroth hive. But the height will be only half if it in a shallow super as in Newton's hive. Surplus honey is stored in super chamber. 9. Hive cover/Top cover: It insulates the interior of the hive. In Newton's hive it has sloping planks on either side. On the inner ceiling plank there is a square ventilation hole fitted with a wire gauze. Two holes present in the front and rear also help in air circulation. In Langstroth hive and BIS hive, the hive cover consists of a crown board or inner cover and an outer cover. 10. Inner cover: The inner cover is provided with a central ventilation hole covered with wire gauze help in air circulation. The outer cover is covered over with a metallic sheet to make it water proof to rain water. 11. Hive Frames: The frames are so constructed that a series of them may be placed in a vertical position 21 | P a g e  in the brood chamber or the super chamber so as to leave space in between them for bees to move. Each frame consists of a top bar, two side bars and a bottom bar nailed together. Both the ends of the top-bar protrude so that the frame can rest on the rabbet. 12. Dummy or Division Board/ Movable wall: It is a wooden board slightly larger than the brood frame. It is placed inside the brood chamber. It prevents the bees from going beyond it. It can be used as a movable wall there by limiting the volume of brood chamber which will help the bees to maintain the hive temperature and to protect them from enemies. It is useful in managing small colonies. 13. Bee Feeder: Used for providing sugar syrup as feed to the bees during dearth period. A normal method of providing feeding is to keep a can with small holes punched on its lid. The can is filled with sugar syrup and kept over the frames in an inverted position. 14. Queen excluder: It is made up of perforated zinc sheet. The slots are large enough to allow the workers to pass through but too narrow for the queen. A wire grid/dividing grid with parallel wire mounts can also be used as a queen excluder. It is inserted in between the brood frames and super chamber. 15. Queen gate: It is a piece of queen excluder sheet and fitted on the slot of entrance gate. The holes in the sheet are large enough to allow free movement of worker bees in and out of the hive, but too small to allow queen's passage. It confines the queen inside the hive. It is useful to prevent swarming and absconding. It also prevents the entry of bee enemies like wasps into the hive. 16. Queen cage: This is used for transport of queen either with a few attendant worker bees, in packages. It is a cage made up of wood or wire gauge or plastic structure. This is useful for queen introduction. 17. Queen cell protector: It is a cone shaped structure made of a piece of wire wound spirally. It fits around a queen cell. It is used to protect the queen cell, given from a queen right to queen fewer colonies until its acceptance by bees. 18. Swarm trap: It is a rectangular box used to trap and carry the swarm. It is fixed near the hive entrance with one or two combs inside during the swarming season. This box traps and retains the queen only. But the swarm coming out from the hive reenters the hive and settles on the comb, since the queen is trapped. 19. Drone excluder or drone trap: It is a rectangular box with one side open. The other side is fitted with queen excluder sheet. At the bottom of the box there is a space for movement of worker bees. There are two hollow cones at the bottom wall of the box. Drones entering through the cones into the box get trapped. The narrow end of the cone is wide enough to let the bees pass out but not large enough 22 | P a g e  to attract their attention or re-entry. This device is used at the entrance to reduce the drone population inside the hive. 20. Pollen trap: Pollen trapping screen inside this trap scrapes pellets from the legs of the returning foragers. It is set at the hive entrance. The collected pollen pellets fall into a drawer type of receiving tray. 21. Hive tool: It is a piece of flattened iron with flattened down edge at one end. It is useful to separate hive parts and frames glued together with propolis. It is also useful in scrapping excess propolis or wax and superfluous combs or wax from various parts of the hive. 22. Protective dress: (a) Bee veil: It is worn over the face for protection against stings. It is particularly useful for a beginner, for protecting face from bee stings during the handling of bees. (b) Gloves: These are used while inspecting and handling colonies to protect hands and arms. Soft leather gloves with canvas gauntlets to the elbow are the best for use. (c) Boots: A pair of gum boots will protect the ankles and prevent bees from climbing up under trousers. (d) Overalls: White overalls are occasionally worn. Light colored cotton materials are preferable since they are cooler and create less risk for antagonizing bees. 23. Bee brush: A soft-camel-hair brush is used to brush the bees off the honeycomb before it is taken for extraction. 24. Smoker: The smoker is used to calm bees and drive away bees from super. It consists of a metal fire pot with a funnel shaped cover and a bellow. A smoke releasing fuel (dried cow dung, hessian, waste jute bags or cardboard, old rag, wood shaving etc.) is burnt in the fire pot. Air is injected into the pot by operating the bellow and the smoke is directed to the desired spot. 25. Decapping knife/ uncapping knife: Single or double edged steel knife is used for removing wax capping from the honey comb before putting it in the honey extractor. 26. Honey extractor: It is invented by Frang von Hruschkain 1885. It consists of a cylindrical drum. A rack is fixed inside the drum to hold the supper frames. The rack is rotated by a set of gear wheels. The decapped honey frames are kept in the slots of the rack. The rack is rotated by operating the handle. Honey flow out from the combs by centrifugal force. The excreted honey comes out through the spout present at the bottom of the container. The honey comb is not damaged. So, it can be reused. 23 | P a g e 27. Travelling screen/net: It is a wooden frame with wire screen. It is highly useful for migration of honey bee colonies during hot summer season. 28. Comb foundation mill: This is a machine to prepare comb foundation sheet used in beekeeping to make-bees build regular combs in frames that are convenient to handle. J. Mehring of Germany made the first comb foundation in 1857 Comb foundation is made by passing plain sheets of beeswax between two rollers that have the regular 3-faced cell base pattern embossed on them. The patterns on the two rollers interlock properly, so that the 3-faced cell base on one roller matches with the base of each of the three cells on the other roller. The distance between the rollers is fixed in such a way that a thin foundation is made that is readily accepted by the bees. The rollers rotate on opposite sides. The rotation is done by a handle attached to the lower roller. The cell size in the cell base pattern varies according to the size of the brood cells. 29. Comb foundation sheet: It is a thin sheet of bee wax embossed with a pattern of hexagons of size equal to the base of the natural brood cells on both sides. The size of the hexagon varies with bee species. For A. mellifera there are 19 cells and for A. cerana 22- 23 cells/100 mm linear length. 30. Embedder: It is a small tool with a spur or round wheel on the top. It is used to fix the comb foundation sheet on the wires of the frame. Electric wire is also used for this purpose which is useful to reinforce the comb and give extra strength to the comb. 31. Miscellaneous: Apart from these equipment, there are several miscellaneous equipment which are required from time to time such as propolis screen, venom extractor, drip tray, swarm basket, wax melter, queen bee rearing equipment, comb foundation making equipment, honey straining, storage and processing equipment, etc. DIVISION AND UNITING OF HONEY BEE BOXES: I. Division of honey bee boxes: Colony division is a method of multiplying bee colonies, i.e. producing two or more colonies from a mother colony. Colony division is used to control swarming, as well as in commercial beekeeping to increase the number of colonies. Methods for colony division (i) Natural division using queen cells developed during swarming The presence of multiple queen cells in a colony during the swarming season indicates a need for division. Dividing such colonies and using the queen cells in new daughter colonies can help control swarming. However, although it solves the immediate problem of swarming it does not help improve the genetic traits (ii) Colony division from queen production Select the best colony based on the selection criteria given above. Produce queens from this colony before the onset of honey flow. These queens can be used to replace the old queen and to start new daughter colonies. The mother colony can be multiplied into several nucleus colonies 24 | P a g e but each should have at least 2 brood combs and 3–4 combs with food (nectar and pollen). The prepared colonies can then be sold or migrated according to need. (B) Uniting of honey bee boxes: Uniting two colonies into one is done when one of them is weak or queen less or for other reason like bad traits etc. Each colony has its own colony specific odours and it is very difficult to combine the two colonies unless their odour is mixed well. Any attempt to unite these colonies without mixing their odour result in infighting and deaths will occur on large scale. Therefore, first step will involve bringing the two colonies into contact with each other. If uniting is done abruptly, the field workers of the colony shifted will not recognize the new place and returning to their original place will persist. This problem can be overcome by moving a hive gradually at the rate of two or three feet per day, so that the field bees get accustomed to the changing position of their hive and will not drift back to the old site. When colonies are sufficiently close, one or two feet apart, they are ready for uniting. They can be united by three methods either (1) Direct uniting (2) Newspaper method (3) Smoking method. (i) Direct uniting: The two hives to be united are brought near gradually and kept side by side. The queen with undesirable traits in one of the hives is removed. Next morning, when the bees are busy, the frames of two hives are gently put in one. The success of this method depends upon the skill with which it is done. (ii) Newspaper method: Top cover is removed and the frames are covered with a piece of newspaper having a few holes made with a small nail the bottom, board of the upper colony is then removed and the brood chamber, is placed above the other colony, the newspaper forming a partition between the two. After a day or two, the odours of the colonies will mix and the bees will cut through the paper and will unite together, forming a single colony. After a few days all the frames can be placed in one hive and the upper chamber can be removed. (iii) Smoking method: Colonies can be united using smoke method. When the colonies to be united have been brought close to each other, both should be smoked heavily and thin sugary syrup scented with oil of peppermint or wheat flour sprinkled over them. The combs with the bees of the colony to be united should be altered with the combs of the other colony. More smoke and syrup or flour should be applied and the colony closed. The work of the queen may be checked up after three or four days. It is better to unite a laying worker colony to several strong colonies by giving from one to two frames to each of them. If all its frames are united to one colony there is danger of latter's queen being killed by the laying workers. SEASONAL MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEE BOXES: Pollens and nectar are available only during certain period. When surplus food source is available is known as “honey flow season”. In contrast during dearth period there will be scarcity of food. Suitable season for starting beekeeping coincides with mild climatic conditions and availability of bee flora in plenty. Normally, spring (February-April) and post-monsoon (Sep.- 25 | P a g e Nov.) seasons are the best periods to start beekeeping. Various operations required to be undertaken for augmenting colonies productivity are given below: I. SPRING MANAGEMENT Management operations to be undertaken during spring are given below: 1. Examination of colonies a) On some warm and sunny day, examine the colonies quickly and carefully with least exposure to the chilling weather and robber bees. b) Unpack the colonies, clean the bottom board and replace the worn out hive parts. c) Assess the colony condition, working of the queen bee, brood rearing and food reserves. d) Provide early season stimulative sugar feeding (sugar: water =1:2), pollen or pollen substitute feeding to increase the foraging and brood rearing activity. e) Inspect the brood rearing. If there is no brood, the colony may be queenless. If there is less brood, the queen may be old and exhausted. Unite the weak/queenless colonies with the other colonies. If fresh dead bees are found, try to find out the cause. Bee mortality may be due to the bee disease or infestation of mite. 2. Equalizing the colonies The colonies can be equalized by: a) Substituting the combs with food reserves/supplementary feeding. b) Providing the emerging bee combs. c) Uniting the bee combs/colonies. d) Giving young bees to the weaker colonies. 3. Provision of space During spring, the colonies enhance the brood rearing. Hence, there should be no dearth of space to cope up with increased egg laying by the queen bee. a) Add good quality drawn combs (with worker cells) or frames with good quality comb foundations to the brood chamber as and when required. b) Avoid adding raised combs with too many drone cells. c) While providing super chamber, lure the bees to the super chamber with some bait in the form of a brood/honey comb. 4. Swarm prevention and control a) Examine the colonies and remove congestion. Provide more drawn combs/comb foundations, supers, etc. b) Improve ventilation and provide required shade. c) Clip the wings of the laying queen. d) Use wire entrance guard/queen excluder at the bottom board. e) Reversing brood and honey chambers for mitigating congestion in brood chamber. f) Destruction of the queen cells raised due to swarming instinct, g) Dividing over-crowded colonies. 5. Control of mites and brood diseases Examine the symptoms of various mites and brood diseases. On spotting any, take appropriate management measures to contain the menace. 6. Colony multiplication and commercial queen rearing 26 | P a g e  March-April is the best season for colony multiplication and commercial queen rearing. Improve the existing stock by selective breeding of best performing colonies. Mass reared queen bee can also be used for multiplication of existing stock and also for replacement of older queen bees (re-queening). 7. Extraction of spring season honey Multiple extractions of honey during this period are possible. Only ripe honey from broodless combs from super chamber should be extracted. II. SUMMER MANAGEMENT Mid April to June months are extremely hot. However, this is the major honey flow period too. The following operations need to be considered during the season. 1. Shifting the colonies to thick shade Colonies should be moved to shady places every day by less than three feet. 2. Regulating the microclimate of the colonies By using wet gunny bags over the colonies and sprinkling water around the colonies in the apiary during noon hours, temperature in the apiary can be reduced and humidity increased in hot and dry months of May and June. 3. Provision of ventilation Improve the ventilation of the colonies to cope up with the respiration of the bees and hastening the honey ripening by: a) Widening the entrance of the colony. b) Providing additional entrance in multi-chambered colonies. c) Staggering the chambers. d) Placing thin wooden splinters between two adjacent chambers for the circulation of fresh air. 4. Provision of fresh water a) Running water channel in the field. b) Cemented water reservoir tanks near the tube wells/pump sets with a sufficient number of sticks or wood pieces in the tank for the bees to sit on and lap the water. c) Earthen water bowls underneath the legs of hive stand also fulfill the water requirement of the colonies. d) An earthen pitcher with a small hole at its bottom is placed on a tripod and a slanting wooden plank is kept below the hole of the pitcher. 5. Honey extraction Summer season (Egyptian clover and sunflower) honey can be extracted. III. MONSOON MANAGEMENT Manage the colonies during this season as below: a) Ensure colonies placement on upland area and away from village water ponds. b) Clean and bury deep the debris lying on the bottom board. c) Keep the surrounding of the colonies clean by cutting the unwanted vegetation which may hamper circulation of air. d) Provide sugar feeding (sugar : water=l:l), if required. e) Check robbing within the apiary. f) Unite weak/laying worker colonies. Control wax moth, ants, wasps and bee eating birds. 27 | P a g e IV. AUTUMN MANAGEMENT Important operations to be undertaken during this season, are: a) Provision of space. b) Strengthening the colonies to stimulate drone brood rearing, if queen bee rearing is to be undertaken. c) Control of ectoparasitic mites, brood diseases, wax moths and wasps. d) Autumn honey extraction before the winter sets in. V. WINTER MANAGEMENT Normally winter extends from December to mid February but this period may vary from region to region. During winter, very low temperature, westerly chilly winds, foggy/cloudy days and winter hamper the bee activity. Brassica comes in bloom during January. To perpetuate the colonies through winter, following operations are generally required: 1. Colony examination Examine the colonies on a warm, sunny day for the presence of queen, brood and food reserves. Open the colony for minimum time to avoid chilling of brood. Weak colonies should be united with stronger ones so that the strong unit over-winters well. 2. Feeding If there is food scarcity or expected in the ensuing winter, feed concentrated (sugar : water = 1:1) sugar syrup (supplementary feeding) by filling in the drawn combs at the onset of severe winter. 3. Shifting colonies to sunny places The colonies should be shifted to sunny places with hive entrances facing south-eastwards. 4. Protection from the chilly winds Plug cracks and crevices and narrow down the hive entrance. 5. Unite weak colonies with stronger ones Follow newspaper method for uniting the colonies. 6. Removal of extra drawn combs and winter packing Remove the extra empty combs and store them properly to save them from mice/rats. Depending upon the strength of the colonies and severity of winter, provide one or two-sided inner winter packing combined with need based outer packing. MIGRATORY BEEKEEPING (HONEY BEE BOX MIGRATION) While preparing the honey bee colonies for migration, a number of points needed to be considered are given below: 1. Season a) Fasten the various hive parts and move the colonies during late evening, night or early morning, when all the bees are inside the hive, after closing the hive entrances with wire screen, ensuring required ventilation. b) In cold and rainy weather, the hives should be covered with a tarpaulin when being moved. Exposure to cold has the effect of causing bees to consume stores heavily to produce more heat and cluster together on the nest as they do in winter. c) During summer or monsoon season, colonies should be migrated during night when it is cooler and in hives with enough ventilation by exchanging the inner cover with traveling- screen. 28 | P a g e 2. Distance of migration site a) Very long distance migrations of apiaries during winter at a stretch are possible provided the bees have sufficient food reserves and required ventilation. During cold weather, bees consume excessive food stores to produce heat and cluster together over the brood. b) The hive body and supers should be nailed or fixed properly to avoid their slipping enroute. c) During summer, it is better to have one or two halts/ journey breaks for short temporary siting of the apiary for a day or two at some suitable place having some bee flora for easing out the confined bees. Moving the colonies continually for more than 48 h often leads to their brood mortality. 3. Number of hives If the number of colonies is small, it will not be economical to migrate them as the carriage/ transport charges per colony will be much higher than when the beekeeper has full vehicle load. However, in such cases, make it a full truck load by joining with fellow beekeepers who also intend to take up migration to the same or nearby areas. 4. Colony strength Bees are killed very often by overheating and lack of aeration but seldom by getting too cold. If weather is very hot and the colony is populous and hive is not spacious enough to allow expansion of the cluster, bees may very quickly smother/ get suffocated even when the top of the hive is covered with full wired travelling-screen. Thus, alternatively, the populous colonies may be divided and empty combs may be added for the expansion of the cluster in the hives before migration. 5. Preparation and packing of the colonies for migration a) Extract the surplus honey, if any, a few days prior to migration. b) All cracks and crevices in the hive should be sealed to bee-tightness. c) Excessively broken hive parts should be replaced with new ones. d) The hive body, bottom board and inner cover should be fastened together by stapling/ nailing. e) Always use two nails in slanting position on each side of every juncture. An alternative to the nails is to use metal or nylon travelling belts (migration belts) around the hive. 6. Type of the vehicle, and loading and unloading the colonies a) While migrating the colonies in vehicles such as trucks, the jerking movements will be forward and backward, hence, the length side of the hives should be kept parallel to the length of the vehicle. b) While loading the colonies in a tractor-trailer where the jerking movements are sideways, the bee hives (colonies) should be loaded with their length side parallel to the breadth of the vehicle or the axle of the vehicle. 7. Time of the day If the whole of the apiary is to be shifted, it is better to move the bees in the evening or at night (when all the bees are inside the hive and temperature is low) or during inclement or cold weather when the bees are not foraging. 8. Timing in relation to flowering of crops Colonies should not be taken to crop needing pollination until it is flowering sufficiently to be the predominant species in the locality. The delay in shifting colonies to the crop until flowering has begun, always increases pollination, particularly when the crop has short 29 | P a g e  flowering period and is less attractive to bees than the other crops in the area. The same is true for honey production. 9. Placement of the migrated stock a) The migrated honey bee colonies should be sited away from the passages/ walkways where human or domestic animals' movements are expected. b) If migration is for pollination purpose, the bee colonies be placed within the crop and should be evenly distributed in the area to harvest the maximum pollination benefits and should not be crowded at one place. HONEY BEE PASTURAGE, FORAGING AND COMMUNICATION: Honey bees gather nectar and pollen from plants as their food. Honey bees collect nectar and pollen from flowering plants. Nectar is a sweet secretion from the floral and extra-floral nectaries of flowers and is the raw material for honey. Pollen is protein-rich food for the bees. As nectar and pollen are basic raw materials for beekeeping, a thorough knowledge of the bee flora of a locality is essential. Efficient beekeeping means managing honey bee colonies in such a way to obtain maximum colony population to coincide with the major honey flow in an area and to utilize the honey production and pollination. To judge the potential of a locality for beekeeping, followings points should be considered: 1. Are blooming plant species available in abundance within two kilometer radius of the locality? 2. During which period of the year, the bee flora is on bloom? 3. How long is their blooming duration? 4. Whether they are source of nectar, pollen or both? 5. Whether the flora is annual or perennial? 6. Which utility category do they belong to? 7. How long is the duration of nectar and pollen dearth period? Important terminologies: 1. Bee flora, bee pasturage or bee forage: The plants that yield nectar and pollen are collectively called bee flora or bee pasturage or bee forage. 2. Honey flow period: The period when a good number of plants providing nectar and pollen are available to bees is called honey flow period. 3. Major honey flow period: If the nectar yield is copious from a good number of plants of a particular species, it is called major honey flow period. 4. Minor honey flow period: When the amount of nectar to be collected is small, it is called minor honey flow period. 5. Dearth period: The day when there is no honey flow is called the dearth period. 6. Foraging: This refers to collection of nectar and pollen by bees. 7. Nectar foragers: They collect the nectar from flowers by using lapping tongue and passes the nectar to hive bees. Hive bees repeatedly pass the nectar between pre-oral cavity and tongue to ripen the honey. Later they drop ripened honey into cells. 8. Pollen foragers: They collect pollen by passing through different flowers. Pollen sticking to the body is removed by using pollen comb. Then it is packed using pollen press in to corbicula or pollen backset. A single bee carries 10 to 30 mg of pollen which is 25% of bee‟s body 30 | P a g e  weight. Then the pollen is dislodged by means of middle leg into cells. Pollen is mixed with honey and stored. 9. Floral fidelity: A bee visits same species of plant for pollen and nectar collection until the source is exhausted. This is known as floral fidelity. Bees travel 2 to 3 km distance to collect pollen and nectar. I. Foraging attributes of honey bees: The field bees get activated in the morning and go out on foraging and collect pollen, nectar, propolis and water, carry them to the hive and make a number of trips till sunset. The bees that go out first to find out new sources of these materials are called searcher bees or scout bees. They return to the hive and communicate the message to young foraging bees by means of definite patterns of dancing. At any time bees collect most of the materials from a single or a few plant species but bees in two different colonies located side by side may visit entirely different sources, mainly due to the differences in discoveries by the scout bees. The bees collect materials from a source till they are exhausted when they may go in search of new areas. The honey bees usually forage within about 100 metres distance from the hive but they can go up to 1.5 km. They are capable of flying at a speed of 25-30 km per hour. The bees are most active in foraging within a temperature range of 25-27°C. The bees do not go out for foraging at wind speed of more than 24 km per hour. Nectar is collected by the foragers from the flowers and is stored in the crop where it is mixed with saliva. The invertase contained in the saliva acts upon sucrose of the nectar and converts it to dextrose or levulose. The bee returns to the hive and regurgitates the contents of the stomach into comb cells which are covered by flat airtight cappings. The weight of nectar load varies from 25 to 40 mg. On a given trip, a bee visits and exploits 1-500 flowers and makes, on an average, 10-15 trips in a day. During honey flow when there is abundance of food available, bees work to their full capacity and may make upto 150 trips a day. Duties of forager bees Collect i) pollen, ii) nectar, iii) water, iv) propolis v) juice of damaged fruits (when bloom is scarce) Use of pollen: Major food for grubs in combination with honey: also required by adult bees secreting royal jelly. Use of nectar: Raw material for honey; honey is reserve food for the colony; food for grubs as Well as adults Use of propolis: Comb repair; embalm large enemies like mouse which enter the hive; water proof the hive Use of water: hive temperature maintenance (air – conditioning system); and to dilute the honey before catering it. Utility of bee flora to honey bees: In general, a honey bee depends on a wide variety of plants for nectar and pollen. These include several species of wild and cultivated plants. For commercial beekeeping, large crop acreage with good floral qualities is required. A beekeeper must have the details about the availability and suitability of bee flora. Following are the qualities of good bee flora:  Long flowering period  High density of flowers per unit of the plants  Good quality of nectar with high concentration of sugars  Easy accessibility of the nectaries to the honey bees and ease in collection of nectar 31 | P a g e  Availability of flora in the close vicinity of the apiary LIST OF IMPORTANT BEE FLORA IN INDIA Flowering Source S. No. Botanical Name Common Name Family period type Field crops 1. Eleusine coracana Ragi Poaceae 3-4 P2 2. Oryza sativa Rice Poaceae 9-10 P1 3. Pennisetum tyhhoides Bajra Poaceae 11-10 P2 4. Sorghum bicolor Jowar Poaceae 9-10 P2 5. Zea mays Maize Poaceae 1-12 P3 6. Fagopyrum esculentum Buckwheat Polygonaceae 7-9 N1 Legume Crops 7. Cajanus cajan Red gram Fabaceae 8-11 N3P2 8. Cicer arietinum Bengal gram Fabaceae 12 N2P2 9. Dolichos biflorus Horse gram Fabaceae 10 N1P1 10. Medicago sativa Lucerne Fabaceae 3-4 N2P2 11. Phaseolus mungo Black gram Fabaceae 8 - 10 N1 12. Phaseolus radiatus Green gram Fabaceae 8 N1P1 13. Pisum sativum Peas Fabaceae 8-9 N1 14. Sesbania aegyptica Sesbania Fabaceae 10-11 P1 15. Sesbania graniflora Dhiancha Fabaceae 6- 7 P1 16. Trifolium alexandrium Berseme Fabaceae 3-4 N3P2 17. Vigna unguiculata Cowpea Fabaceae 8 N1P1 Oilseed Crops 18. Arachis hypogea Groundnut Fabaceae 8-9 N2P2 Brassica campestris var. 10-11/10- 19. sarson Sarson Brassicaceae 1 N1P1 Brassica campestris var. Toria, Indian 20. toria rapeseed Brassicaceae 10-11 N1P1 Raya, Indian 21. Brassica juncea mustard Brassicaceae 12-2 NP 22. Brassica napus Rapeseed Brassicaceae 12-3 N1P1 23. Brassica nigra Black mustard Brassicaceae 8-9 N3P3 24. Brassica rapa Turnip, Canola Brassicaceae 2-4 N2P2 25. Carthamus tinctorius Safflower Asteraceae 12-1 N3P2 26. Eruca sativa Taramira, Rocket Brassicaceae 12-8 N2P2 27. Guizotia abyssinica Niger Asteraceae 4-5 N1 P3 Sunflower, 28. Helianthus annuus Surajmukhi Asteraceae 1-12 N1P3 29. Linum ustitassium Linseed, Flax Linaceae 2-3 N2P2 30. Ricinus communis Castor Euphorbiaceae 8-9 N1P1 Fiber Crops 31. Corchrus olitorius Jute Malvaceae 3-4 N2P2 32. Gossypium arborium Cotton Malvaceae 4-1 N1P1 33. Hibiscus cannabinus Kenaf Malvaceae 4- 6 N1P1 34. Crotolaria juncea Sun hemp Malvaceae 8-11 N3 Vegetable crops 32 | P a g e 35. Abelmoschus esculentus Lady„s finger Malvaceae 1-12 N3P2 36. Allium cepa Onion Liliaceae 5-7 N3P3 37. Amaranthus viridis Amaranthus Amaranthaceae 1-12 N1 38. Brassica oleracea. capitata Cabbage Brassicaceae 2-4 N3P2 39. Brassica oleracea botrytis Cauliflower Brassicaceae 2-4 N3P2 40. Capsicum annum Chilli Solanaceae 1-12 N3P1 41. Capsicum chinense Capsicum Solanaceae 11-2 N3P1 42. Coccinia indica Little gourd Cucurbitaceae 1-8 N3P2 43. Coriandrum sativum Coriander Apiaceae 2-3 N1P1 44. Cucumis melo Muskmelon Cucurbitaceae 3-4 N3P2 45. Cucumis sativus Cucumber Cucurbitaceae 10-11 N3P2 46. Cucurbita maxima Squash gourd Cucurbitaceae 2-3 N3P1 47. Daucus carota Carrot Apiaceae 3-4 N2P2 48. Dolichos lablab Field bean Fabaceae 9 N2P1 49. Glycine max Soybean Fabaceae 8-9 N1P2 50. Ipomea batatus Sweet potato Convolvulaceae 10-12 N1P1 51. Lagenaria vulgaris Pumpkin Cucurbitaceae 3-9 P1 52. Laginaria siceraria Bottle gourd Cucurbitaceae 1-12 N3P2 53. Luffa acutangula Ridge gourd Cucurbitaceae 11-2 N3P1 54. Lycopersicon esculentum Tomato Solanaceae 1-12 P1 55. Momordica charantia Bitter gourd Cucurbitaceae 4-7 N2P2 56. Moringa oleifera Drumstick Moringaceae 12-4 N1P1 57. Phaseolus vulgaris French bean Fabaceae 1-12 N1P1 58. Raphanus sativus Radish Brassicaceae 2-4 N3P1 59. Solanum melongena Brinjal Solanaceae 1-12 P1 60. Solanum tuberosum Potato Solanaceae 12-2 P1 61. Trigonella foenumgracum Methi Fabaceae 1 -12 N1 Plantation Crops 62. Cocos nucifera Coconut Arecaceae 1 -12 P3 63. Coffea arabica Coffee Rubiaceae 4-5 N3P1 64. Hevea brasiliensis Rubber Euphorbiaceae 3 N1 65. Nicotiana tabaccum Tobacco Solanaceae 12-1 P1 Fruit Crops 66. Anacardium occidentale Cashewnut Anacardiaceae 12-2 9-10 N2P1 67. Annona squamosa Custard apple Annonoceae 4- 6 N1P2 68. Areca catechu Arecanut Arecaceae 1 -12 P3 69. Artocarpus integrifolia Jack fruit Moraceae 12-3 P1 70. Averrhoea carambola Carambola Averrhoaceae 5-7 N3P1 71. Carica papaya Papaya Caricaceae 7-9 N3P2 72. Cinnamomum verum Cinnamon Lauraceae 12-2 N2 73. Citrus spp. Citrus Rutaceae 2-3 N1P1 74. Citrus medica var acida Acid lime Rutaceae 1 -12 N1P1 75. Fragaria spp.. Strawberry Rosaceae 5-9 N2 P2 76. Litchi chinensis Lychee Sapindaceae 3-4 N1 77. Malus domestica Apple Rosaceae 3-4 NP 78. Mangifera indica Mango Anacardiaceae 12-3 N1P1 79. Manilkera achras Sapota Sapotaceae 10-3 N1 80. Muntingia calabura Singapore cherry Eleocarpaceae 1-12 N2P1 33 | P a g e 81. Musa paradisiaca Banana Musaceae 1 -12 N1P1 82. Phoenix dactylifera Date palm Palmae 6-7 N2P3 83. Prunus armeniaca Apricot Rosaceae 3-4 N1P1 84. Prunus domestica Plum Rosaceae 2-3 N1P1 85. Prunus dulcis Almond Rosaceae 5-8 N1P1 86. Prunu spersica Peach Rosaceae 2-3 N2P2 87. Psidium guajava Guava Myrtaceae 2-4 N3P3 88. Punica granatum Pomegranate Punicaceae 4-7 N1P2 89. Pyrus communis Pear Rosaceae 2-8 N2P2 90. Rubus spp. Rasberry Rosaceae 2-6 N3P2 91. Sechium edule Chow chow Cucurbitaceae 8 N1P1 92. Sesamum indicum Sesamum Pedaliaceae 4-9 N3P3 93. Syzigium cumini Nerala Myrtaceae 2-5 N2P 94. Syzigium jambos Rose apple Myrtaceae 12- 4 N3P2 95. Vitis vinifera Grape Vitaceae 9-12 N2P1 Ornamental Plants 96. Ageratum conyzoides Ageratum Fabaceae 12-3 N1P1 97. Antigonon leptopus Mexican creeper Polygonaceae 4-5 N3P3 98. Aster thomsoni Aster Asteraceae 8 - 10 N1P1 99. Barleria cristata Barleria Acnthaceae 1-12 N1P2 100. Calendula officinalis Calendula Asteraceae 6-10 N3P1 101. Callistemon lanceolus Bottle brush Myrtaceae 5-7 N3 102. Cassia spp. Cassia Caesalpinaceae 4-7 N2P2 Celosia argentea L. var 103. cristata Cockscomb Amaranthaceae 1-8 N1 Celosia argentea L. var 104. plumosa Celosia Amaranthaceae 1-8 N1 Chrysanthemum 105. coronarium Chrysanthemum Asteraceae 7-10 N1P1 106. Cosmos bipinnatus Cosmos Asteraceae 3-5 N3P2 107. Cosmos sulphureas Cosmos Asteraceae 6-11 N1P1 108. Delonix regia Gulmohar Fabaceae 3-5 N1P1 109. Euphorbia mili Euphorbia Euphorbiaceae 11-2 N1P1 110. Euphorbia pulcherrima Poinsettia Euphorbiaceae 11-2 N1P1 111. Evolvulus glomeratus Blue daze Convoulaceae 1-12 N1P1 112. Gerbera launiosa Gerbera Agavaceae 1-12 N1P2 113. Hamelia patents Hamelia Asteraceae 5 N2P1 114. Helichrysum arenarium Everlasting flower Asteraceae 1-3 N3P3 115. Hibiscus rosasinensis Shoeflower Malvaceae 1-12 N2P2 116. Impatiens balsamina Garden Balsam Balsaminaceae 6-10 N1P1 117. Ipomea carica Railway creeper Convolvulaceae 1-12 N2P2 118. Jacquemontia violacea Jacquemontia Convolvulaceae 1-12 N2 119. Jasminium angustifolium Wild jasmine Oleaceae 12-6 N3P2 120. Lagerstromia indica Pride of India Lythraceae 2-4 P1 121. Melampodium paludosum Melampodium Asteraceae 6-10 N2P2 122. Petrea volubilis Purple wrath Verbenaceae 2-4 N2P2 123. Poinsettia pulcherrima Poinsettia Euphorbiaceae 11-2 N1P1 124. Polyanthus tuberose Polyanths Agavaceae 1-12 N2