Revolution In Beekeeping

By Pekma Angchuk Bhutia

Bsc Program

In the nineteen-twenties, Mahatma Gandhi visualized the rural self–employment imbued with patriotism. Cottage industries, farming and bee-keeping are nurtured as economic resources. The eminent cytogeneticist and bee scientist (NCA_1970-⁼76) envisaged high crop productivity by increasing the beehives from 50,000 colonies to 6 million by 2000 AD. But unfortunately, the Pink Revolution (Honey bee-keeping) never had a takeoff in India, a colour that was picked up around the globe.

Honey beekeeping and Indian nationalistic agriculture – all Gandhian Philosophy are disappearing quickly. Such a scenario promoted the analysis of beekeeping around the world vis-à-vis-India.

Why bee keeping?

  People have been using honey from the earliest times of Indian Ayurvedic and Western Yunani. Man is benefitted, so are the bees, which instead of being hunted and killed, establish a symbiotic affection by protecting the bees. The honey produced has high medicinal value and marketing demand.

Systematic position of bee:

 Phylum - Arthopoda

 Sub-Phylum- Mandibulata

 Class- Insecta

 Sub-class- Pterygota

 Order-Hymenoptera

  Family -Apedaciae

  Genus- Apis s.p.

Types of bees

  Four types of species are reported: Apis dorsata (Rock bee), Apis indica (Indian bee), Apis florea (little bee) and Apis mellifera (European bee).

 A. REVOLUTION IN BEEKEEPING

   Bee-keeping has improved nowadays and has become an ideally suited occupation for the uplift of the rural economy. It is a traditional, income-generating activity among the poor and for the womenfolk for self-reliance. Hives do not demand land, can be easily handled by womenfolk but it also creates a need for co-operation and enhances self-reliance. Beekeeping has become an important component of the agroecosystem.

  The Herald (Harare, 17.06.1989) reported that two harvests of honey from bee colonies helped a Kenyan lady to pay the school fees of her six children at the secondary school level. Besides honey beeswax (secretion by special glands on the underside of the bees), brood (all stages, of immature honeybee eggs, larvae, pupae,), propolis (plant resins collected and used to seal cracks and gaps in the hives), royal jelly (glandular secretion of the worker honeybees (bee milk) mixed with some carbohydrates and fed to developing queen bees), pollen, hive or selling of honeybee hives to the farmers at the time of crop pollination are all money yielding. In western countries, valuable medicines with extracted bee venom- as with snake venom in India- and energizers from rose jelly are marketed. This branch of technology can be developed in India. This branch of agriculture, the Cinderella among agriculture science is forsaken and neglected except to create jobs in the Universities.

   For pollinating engineers, the bees help in increasing seed production in cultivated and wild crops. The number of beehives (50,000 in 1970) if only are increased to a million in thirty years could have increased annual edible oilseed production by 66%helping India export oils! Sunflower oil seed production would have increased by 3,400. As with any program publicity, jugular in statistical data, pleasant reports but with no material progress attempts to establish honey beehives in sunflower fields was also executed. It is a monumental failure of extension services.

   Farmers in hilly belts often complain of elephant menace. Trees were indiscriminately cut, leading to the eradication of grass and herbs were deprived of water resources. Naturally, the elephants visited the land. With no strategy on hand, the villagers are attempting to use electrical wires killing both elephants and humans. To drive away the elephants successfully, keep beehives along the field boundaries.

   B. ORGANIC beekeeping

 The apicultural ecosystem depends on diversified crop patterns and eld margin. Wasteland and non-crop plants called “Weeds” are sources of wildflowers yielding nectars for the bees. Moreover, the farming system has to provide facilities for the existence of bees, wasps, ants and other organisms. They are natural agents for biological pest controls.

  Rudolf Steiner (1923) in his series of lectures, observed that the ants are the pioneers of organic farming; wasps are the ancestors of the honey bee and bees are the architects of honey production.

  Alas, modern agriculture has destabilized the ecosystem. We destroy biodiversity but compensate with the establishment of the Biodiversity Institute: Green revolution eliminated many small and marginal farmers who constitute nearly 68% of farmers. Pests have increased, pesticide residues are found even in mother's milk. Pesticides are in every organism, predators- chalcid wasps, mites, ladybirds, lacewing – are becoming extinct quickly.

  By chemical weed control, all wild flowering species are also eliminated. Modern science has replaced conventional queen breeding technology with instrumental insemination and wing clipping. Now honeybees are dying in US and Canada. In 1997, Germany nearly 50-70% of colonies were lost.

  Sugar feeding pollen substitutes that contain antibiotics contribute to the decrease of honey bee health. Besides chemicals in farming, instrumental insemination, other factors such as lack of ideal  sites a little away from dwellings devoid of industrial noise, smoke, also contribute to their disaster. The effects of mineral fertilizer also affect the quality of nectar and pollen. Insecticides, polluted air and water and also the effect of genetically engineered pollens (rapeseed, soya, maize) affect the health of honey bees. Application of neem products to crops affect the pollination in are common in Coimbatore District.

  Therefore, the organic or traditional farming is not a retrogressive revolution. On the contrary, it revives a healthy environment, speaks of water economy, improves human health, loss of income may be marginal. Let us do justice to every living organism, have a deep understanding of nature, which will enable us to reunite economy and ecology. Organic bee-keeping will increase honey production and improve its quality. Not all kinds of honey will be medically valuable.

Bee plays a significant role in the continued existence of a multiplicity of species, from desert to polar climates with the chemical-based agriculture, introducing exotic agricultural policies, we are not only helping extinction of native plant species and bee population but also the peaceful and healthy life of humans as well.

C. STATUS OF GLOBAL BEE KEEPING

 Various organizations – NGOs and government bodies help the people in beekeeping. Asian Agricultural Association organized, in March 2006, at Perth, Australia, the 8thConference. APMONDIA, the World Federation of Bee-keeper’s Associations, is organizing a major international congress in 2007, in Melbourne, Australia.  

  Proskhika, a voluntary organization in Bangladesh offers technical assistance and appropriate technology for honey production. European Union halted Nepal honey due to the use of pesticides in beekeeping and broad harvesting. Nepal honey, like Scandinavian countries, is used to import100t of honey annually. Vietnam, in spite of its disturbing environment, has achieved a remarkable increase in honey production and exports. It organized an International Honey Trade Symposium (2004), providing a unique opportunity for producers, traders, buyers and top scientists to exchange information. 

  In 2004, Bulgaria exposed 5620t of honey. Iran stands 11^th in the world table of producers, that is 2.2% of total world honey output. There are about 2.7 million honey bee colonies three-fold increase through intensive programming in 3 years each producing about 12kg of honey. In the Philippines, the University of the Philippines offered training course to encourage the beekeepers to look for products apart from the usual honey, beeswax and pollen. The result was an organic wine, medicinally valuable and highly nutritious.

  In 1991, Saddam Hussian, Iraq President, put down the Kurdish rebellion. The hives were all burnt or smashed a major source of livelihood of Kurds, and the sky was simply black with bees, flying north towards Turkey. The job of rebuilding the beekeeping industry in Kurdish sector fell largely on the American NGO “Concern 4 Kids” (C4K). In 1996, 300 hives were established.

   Ethiopia, at the beginning of 20^th Century, had 40% of forest cover. Modernization reduced the forest cover to mere 4% and famine took away the lives of thousands of the natives. Now they realized indigenous species of trees are more beneficial to the soil and more efficient at conserving water. The wildlife societies, Akaki Red Cross Ethiopia Heritage Trust and other organization plant thousands of trees annually to support a great variety of animals, birds and insects including honeybees.

    In Tanzania, cosmetics and beauty creams are prepared. A honey cream prepared from honey, avocado, ghee and various others are the best sellers. 

   The Republic of Yemen, a country with 555,000 square km and 16 million people is also an agricultural country. In IOBC, honey ranked fourth in the national economy. It grows or maintains more than 1000 species, bee plants - most important sources are Acacia, Euphorbia, Ziziphus species. Honey production exceeds 1700t annually, of which 17.2% exported. Pure race of Apis mellifera jemenitica can be collected even today.

   Haiti is a good example for the interaction between the peasants and the Ministry. The farmers informed that they feel the extinction of some apiaries. A team visited the area, studied in the laboratory, and tracked the culprit, Verroa, a mite. Meetings were organized for beekeepers in the 133 districts, with an average of 15 keepers in each.

  In Kenya, self- help group make and give tools, smokers and bee brushes to help beekeepers.

  Brazil produces 45000t of honey, the seventh largest producer and exporter (about 50% of years production).

Export of Chinese honey was affected by strong pesticides in the products.