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Commercial apiary management

Commercial apiary management refers to the keeping of managed honeybee colonies for the production of honey, beeswax and pollination services on a business scale. In India the activity is promoted by the National Bee Board (NBB) under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and supported through the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) and Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) programmes.

Principle

Productive beekeeping requires a site with continuous bee flora within a flight radius of about 3 km, strong queenright colonies in standard movable-frame hives, and active intervention against dearth periods and disease. Pollination services rendered by managed colonies are an additional ecosystem benefit and an indirect yield gain in adjacent crops (see Subabul Pollinator Forage).

Implementation

A typical stationary apiary uses ISI 'B' Type Langstroth boxes (see Langstroth Hive Box) stocked with Apis Mellifera colonies. Routine operations include weekly hive inspection, brood and queen monitoring, supering during honey flow, dearth-period feeding with sugar syrup and pollen substitute, and management of varroa mite, wax moth and European foulbrood. Migratory beekeepers shift colonies between flowering crops (mustard, sunflower, litchi, eucalyptus) to extend the honey flow.

Adoption context

Economic studies by state agricultural universities report initial investment of about Rs 1.13 lakh for a 50-colony stationary Apis mellifera apiary, with annual honey yields of 15-25 kg per colony in the plains. Demonstrations under Integrated Farming Systems in Punjab and Haryana have recorded benefit-cost ratios of 2.46 and 2.06 respectively. The NBHM provides financial assistance for hives, colonies, honey-processing units and training of beekeepers and master trainers.

Limitations

Commercial returns depend on uninterrupted forage availability, absconding tendencies, pesticide drift from sprayed crops and the high cost of trained labour for migratory operations.

See also: Apis Mellifera, Langstroth Hive Box, Subabul Pollinator Forage.

References

  1. National Bee Board. Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India.
  2. National Beekeeping & Honey Mission. myScheme portal.
  3. Apiculture: Economics of Bee keeping. TNAU agritech portal.