Geographic Range
Apis mellifera is native to Europe, western Asia, and Africa. Human introduction of
Apis mellifera
to other continents started in the 17th century, and now they are found
all around the world, including east Asia, Australia and North and
South America.
(Sammataro and Avitabile, 1998; Winston, et al., 1981)
Geographic Range: Apis mellifera is native to Europe, western Asia, and
Africa. Human introduction of Apis mellifera to other continents started in the
17th century, and now they are found all around the world, including east Asia,
Australia and North and South America. (Sammataro and Avitabile, 1998; Winston, et al., 1981)
Bee species:
TYPES OF HONEY BEE
Five important species of honey bees are as follows.
- The rock bee, Apis dorsata (Apidae).
- The Indian hive bee, Apis cerana indica (Apidae).
- The little bee, Apis florea (Apidae).
- The European or Italian bee, Apis mellifera (Apidae).
- Dammer bee or stingless bee, Melipona irridipennis (Meliporidae).
The important features of these species are given below.
Rock bee (Apis dorsata)
They are giant bees found all over India in
sub-mountainous regions up to an altitude of 2700 m. They construct
single comb in open about 6 feet long and 3 feet deep .They shift the
place of the colony often. Rock bees are ferocious and difficult to
rear. They produce about 36 Kg honey per comb per year. These bees are
the largest among the bees described.
Little bee (Apis florea)
They build single vertical combs. They also construct
comb in open of the size of palm in branches of bushes, hedges,
buildings, caves, empty cases etc (Fig. 2). They produce about half a
kilo of honey per year per hive. They are not rearable as they
frequently change their place. The size of the bees is smallest among
four Apis species described and smaller than Indian bee. They distribute only in plains and not in hills above 450 MSL.
Indian hive bee / Asian bee (Apis cerana indica)
They are the domesticated species, which construct
multiple parallel combs with an average honey yield of 6-8 kg per
colony per year. These bees are larger than Apis florae but smaller than Apis mellifera. They are more prone to swarming and absconding. They are native of India/Asia.
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 |
Indian bee and its hive
|
European bee / Italian bee (Apis mellifera)
They are also similar in habits to Indian bees, which
build parallel combs. They are bigger than all other honeybees except Apis dorsata.
The average production per colony is 25-40 kg. They have been imported
from European countries (Italy). They are less prone to swarming and
absconding.
 |
European bee
|
Dammer Bee
Besides true honey bees, two species of stingless or dammer bees, viz. Melipona and Trigona occur
in our country in abundance. These bees are much smaller than the true
honey bees and build irregular combs of wax and resinous substances in
crevices and hollow tree trunks. The stingless bees have the
importance in the pollination of various food crops. They bite their
enemies or intruders. It can be domesticated. But the honey yield per
hive per year is only 100 gms.
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 |
Dammer bee hives
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Morphology of Honey bee:
Table of morphological characteristics (Mellifera races)
Character
|
Apis
mellifera
mellifera
|
Apis
mellifera
ligustica
|
Apis
mellifera
carnica
|
Apis
mellifera
caucasica
|
Apis
mellifera
scutellata
|
Apis
mellifera
capensis
|
Apis
mellifera
monticola
|
General Appearance
|
large, broad, short limbs
|
medium size, slim, long limbs
|
medium size, slim, long limbs
|
|
|
|
|
Worker body colour
|
Black
|
|
Black
|
Black
|
|
|
black @ high altitude
|
Rings
|
|
1,2 or 3-yellow
Scutellum may be yellow
|
maybe one leather coloured ring
|
|
|
|
|
Spots
|
none or small (2nd tergite)
|
|
may have small spots
|
|
|
|
|
Drone body colour
|
Dark
|
amber/yellow
|
dark
|
?
|
|
|
|
Rings or Spots
|
|
yellow rings
|
small spots
|
?
|
|
|
|
Worker Cellsize (mm)
|
|
[5.25]
|
[5.50]
|
|
4.7 - 4.9 (Crane)
|
4.86 (Crane)
|
5.0 (Crane)
|
Cubital Index (worker) ave
|
1.7
|
2.3
|
2.7
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (worker) min
|
1.3
|
2.0 [2.2]
|
2.4
|
1.7
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (worker) max
|
2.1
|
2.7 [2.8]
|
3.0
|
2.3
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (drone) ave
|
1.3
|
1.8
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (drone) min
|
1.0
|
1.6
|
1.8
|
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (drone) max
|
1.5
|
2.0
|
2.3
|
|
|
|
|
Fore wing Length ave (mm)
|
Spread is 8 mm to 9.7 mm over all mellifera races
|
Fore wing Length min (mm)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fore wing Length max (mm)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Discoidal Shift, worker
|
Negative
|
Positive
|
Positive
|
Zero
|
|
|
|
Discoidal Shift, drone
|
Negative
|
Positive
|
Positive
|
?
|
|
|
|
5th Tergite Overhairs (mm)
|
0.4-0.6
|
0.2-0.3
|
0.25-0.35
|
{0.25-0.4 (0.3 ave)}
|
|
|
|
Tomentum Width (4th tergite)
|
narrow, less than 1/2 of tergite
|
broad, more than 1/2 of tergite
|
broad, much hair
|
Very broad, much hair
|
|
|
|
Worker hair colour
|
few dark hairs
|
yellowish
|
grey
|
[lead grey]
|
|
|
|
Drone hair colour
|
brown/black
|
yellowish
|
grey or grey/brown
|
|
dark grey [black]
|
|
|
Proboscis
|
short
|
long
|
long
|
very long
|
|
|
|
Tongue, ave (mm)
|
6.0
|
6.5
|
6.6
|
7.0
|
|
|
|
Tongue, min (mm)
|
5.8
|
6.3
|
6.4
|
6.7
|
|
|
|
Tongue, max (mm)
|
6.2
|
6.6
|
6.8
|
7.2
|
|
|
|
Table of morphological characteristics (Other Species)
Character
|
Apis
cerana
|
Apis
florea
|
Apis
dorsata
|
General Appearance
|
small
|
very small
|
very large but slender
|
Worker body colour
|
dark grey to reddish yellow
|
black
|
yellow
|
Rings
|
|
1 & 2 red, tergites 3, 4, 5 & 6 have white
tomenta
|
reddish brown
|
Worker Cellsize (mm)
|
|
2.9
|
|
Drone body colour
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (worker)ave
|
3.98*
|
2.82*
|
7.25*
|
Cubital Index (worker)min
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (worker)max
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (drone)ave
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (drone)min
|
|
|
|
Cubital Index (drone)max
|
|
|
|
Fore wing Length min (mm)
|
7.4
|
6.0 [6.3]
|
12.6
|
Fore wing Length max (mm)
|
9.0
|
6.9 [7.0]
|
14.6
|
Tongue, ave (mm)
|
?
|
3.44
|
[6.7]
|
Tongue, min (mm)
|
4.8
|
|
|
Tongue, max (mm)
|
5.6
|
|
|
Colony organization of honey bee
The
queen
The drone
The
worker
The tropical honeybee,
Apis mellifera adansonii (
scute-lata),
lives a unique, sophisticated social life similar to that of its
counterparts in Europe and elsewhere. There are two sexes, the
female and the male, but the former is subdivided into two
castes.
In the average
colony, there are -
a) one fertile queen, whose main activity is egg-
laying,
b) from 20 000 to 80 000 sterile female worker bees,
which do almost everything that needs to be done in the
colony, and
c) from 300 to 800 fertile males, generally called drones.
In addition, there are about 5 000 eggs and 25-30 000 immature
bees in various stages of their development, called the
brood.
Of these, some 10 000, newly hatched, are the
larvae,
which have to be fed by the workers, while the remainder, after
the larval stage, are
pupae, sealed into their cells by
the workers to mature. They are called the
sealed brood.
The honeybee nest
The
nest of a bee colony consists of a number of
vertical
combs which hang parallel to each other at a
distance of about 10 mm. The combs, about 25 mm wide, are
composed of hexagonal
cells. There are two types of comb
cells: the smaller, called
worker cells, and the larger,
called
drone cells. In the worker cells in the lower part
of the comb, the bees rear worker brood; in the upper part of the
comb, they store pollen and honey. In the drone cells, the bees
rear drones. Occasionally they build a third type of cell, the
queen cells, in which queens are reared.
Development of the honeybee
The bees develop from fertilized or unfertilized eggs laid by
the queen at the bottom of the cells. Fertilized eggs are laid
into worker cells and queen cells, and the unfertilized into
drone cells. The egg develops in three days. After that time, the
female queen and worker larvae hatch from fertilized eggs, and
male larvae hatch from unfertilized eggs.
All the larvae are fed during their first three days of life
with "bee milk", or "royal jelly", produced
by the
nurse bees, which are young worker bees not yet
ready to leave the hive. After that time, worker and drone larvae
are fed on a mixed food composed of honey and pollen, while
larvae destined to develop into queens are fed on royal jelly
during their whole larval life of five days. Thus, queens can be
reared from any worker larvae younger than three days.
When a queen disappears accidentally from a colony, the
workers reconstruct a few worker cells, containing larvae younger
than three days, into queen cells and continue to feed the larvae
with royal Jelly. Queen larvae are sealed in their cells by the
workers five days after being hatched, worker larvae after six
days and drone larvae after seven days.
In the sealed cells,
metamorphosis of the larvae
creates the
pupae. The adult queen emerges from the cell
16 days after deposition of an egg, the worker bee after 21 days
and the drone after 24 days.
The queen
There is always one queen in a hive. She is half again as
large as a worker and longer than a drone. Her wings are much
shorter than her body and cannot cover the whole of her abdomen.
Her long, tapering abdomen makes her resemble a wasp. She has
sparkling gold hairs on her shiny body. The queen has a sting
but, unlike the aggressive workers, does not use it to fight hive
intruders. Her sting is only used to fight rival queens. She does
not go out to collect pollen, nectar, water or propolis, and
therefore she has no collecting apparatus like pollen baskets,
long proboscis for drawing nectar or wax glands to secrete wax to
build comb cells. As a queen, she usually does not feed herself.
Immediately after she emerges, the queen tours the hive to see
if there is any rival queen hiding somewhere. If she finds one,
the two queens will fight until one is killed.
If the colony is not preparing to swarm, then the newly
emerged queen seeks out potential queens hiding in comb cells.
The queen pipes to make a special noise and the hidden capped
queen responds. Immediately, the emerged queen locates the cell,
tears it to pieces and kills the unemerged queen. Sometimes the
workers watching as spectators will help the queen to evacuate
the contents of every queen cell.
Five days after the queen emerges from her cell, she starts to
fly out of the hive, making an
orientation flight of about
five minutes. Next she makes
mating flights which last
about 30 minutes. She flies to an area 6-10 m above the ground
where drones have congregated. In other places, she is not
attractive to the drones. During a successful mating flight, she
is mated by about eight drones. If the flight is not successful,
she makes another the next day. During the mating flight, the
drone's semen is injected into her
oviducts. Prom there,
the
spermatozoa enter into a special reservoir called the
spermatheca.
A well-inseminated queen carries about 5000000 spermatozoa stored
in her spermatheca.
Sometimes nuptial flights can be delayed as the result of a
long rainy season or pronounced bad weather. When a young queen
bee has been unable to mate for about a month, she will start to
lay unfertilized eggs in worker cells. From these eggs, only
drones will develop. In this case, the colony will perish within
a few weeks unless the beekeeper observes what is happening and
reacts immediately by giving the colony a new queen (
requeening)
or by inserting a new brood comb with very young larvae and eggs,
from which the colony will develop a new queen, after having
killed the old unfertilized one.
Three days after her last mating flight, the queen starts to
lay her eggs, which are produced in her
ovaries. A good
queen lays 1 500-2 000 eggs per day. She lives three to five
years, but after two years she lays fewer eggs. When her
spermatozoa become exhausted, the she also lays unfertilized eggs
in worker cells, where drones now develop. Such a queen in called
a
dronelayer.
Each queen produces a queen substance, called a
pheromone,
by which many activities of a colony are controlled. In the
absence of a queen or a pheromone, the workers transform some
worker cells containing young larvae into queen cells and start
to rear new queens.
When there are no larvae younger than three days in the
colony, the bees have no way of rearing new queens. In this case,
ovaries of some workers develop, and they start to lay eggs.
However, as worker bees cannot be inseminated, they lay only
unfertilized eggs. Such workers are called
laying workers.
The drone
The drone is popularly known for exhibiting a high degree of
laziness. His presence in the hive seems to be of little
importance to the beekeeper. He is stout and larger than the
worker. He has no suitable proboscis for gathering nectar and has
no sting to defend himself or the colony. Like the queen, he
possesses no baskets for collecting pollen grains and no glands
to secrete wax for comb construction. He does no work in the hive
but is fed, eating large quantities of food, and moves about in
sunshine and on warm days making loud, frightening noises
everywhere he goes. This is why he is considered useless, but he
has a very important function to play, which only a few of his
kind ever fulfil. This function is to inseminate the queen, and
for this he is well prepared.
The compound eyes of the drone are twice as large as those of
the queens and workers, and both eyes meet at the top of his
head, which is not true of workers and queens. This enables him
to see the queen during the mating flight. The drones also have
the largest wings, which help them to reach the queen during the
flight.
The spermatozoa are produced in the drone's
testes during
the pupal stage. After the drone emerges from the comb cell, the
spermatozoa pass into
seminal vesicles, where they remain
until mating. During mating, they pass into the
copulatory
apparatus.
The colony begins to rear drones in late spring and early
summer. They reach sexual maturity nine days after emerging, and
fly out of the hive (mostly between 1 and 3 p.m.) searching for
the queens over a distance of 8 km or more. Hating occurs in the
open air, in the drones' congregation areas. During mating, the
drone everts his copulatory apparatus, injecting the semen into
the queen's oviducts and leaving part of the apparatus in the tip
of the queen's abdomen. That part, visible in the queen returning
from the mating flight, is called the
mating sign. The
drone dies during mating.
Toward the end of the nectar flow, when fresh nectar becomes
scarce, the workers prevent the drones from feeding. At first
they push the drones from the brood combs to the side combs and
eventually drag them half-starved from the hive.
In unfavourable periods, drones are tolerated only in
queenless colonies or those containing unmated queens. Thus the
presence of drones in a colony during such periods shows that
something is wrong with the queen and that action by the
beekeeper is needed.
The worker
Workers are the smallest and most numerous of the bees,
constituting over 98% of the colony's population. One colony, as
has been seen, may have as many as 80 000 workers, but 50 000 is
a more common maximum.
Although they never mate, the workers possess organs necessary
for carrying out the many duties essential to the wellbeing of
the colony. They have a longer tongue than the queen and drones,
and thus are well fitted for sucking nectar from flowers. They
have large honey stomachs to carry the nectar from the field to
the hive; they have pollen baskets on their third pair of legs to
transport the pollen to the hive. Glands in their head produce
royal jelly as food for the larvae and glands in their thorax
secrete enzymes necessary for ripening honey. Four sets of wax
glands, situated inside the last four ventral segments of the
abdomen, produce wax for comb construction. A well-developed
sting permits them to defend the colony very efficiently.
The kind of work performed by the worker depends largely upon
her age. The first three weeks of her adult life, during which
she is referred to as a
house bee, are devoted to
activities within the hive, while the remainder are devoted to
field work, so that she is called a
field bee.
Duties of the house bee
The duties of a house bee are -
a) cleaning the hive and the comb
b) feeding the brood
c) caring for the queen
d) making orientation flights
e) comb building
f) ventilating the hive
g) packing pollen, water, nectar or honey into the combs
h) executions
i) guard duty
Cleaning
The first activity of the worker bee on reaching maturity is
to clean herself. She removes all unnecessary particles, grooms
herself immediately and then crawls out of her cell. She takes in
food and then starts cleaning the brood cells, employing both
tongue and mandibles. The comb cells are cleaned to receive eggs
laid by the queen who, before laying, examines the comb cell to
satisfy herself that it has been properly cleaned. If she finds a
cell that is not properly cleaned, she quickly rejects it. Other
duties which may occasionally be necessary include removing dead
intruders or dead bees from the hive, and removing debris and
other objectionable material. Anything that is too large to carry
is often dragged along and pushed outside, while dead snakes, wax
moths or other carcasses too heavy to transport are encased with
propolis brought in by field bees.
Feeding the brood
After three to five days, the worker bee starts to feed the
brood. At this stage she is called a nurse bee. At first she
feeds larvae more than three days old with a mixture of honey or
nectar, pollen, small quantities of bee milk and some water.
After a few days, she starts to feed the younger larvae (1-3 days
old) exclusively on bee milk, which she produces in brood-food
glands, also called milk glands or hypopharyngeal glands, located
in her head.
Caring for the queen
The next work undertaken by the young worker is to provide for
the needs of the queen bee. Whenever the queen needs food, she
calls for it by stretching out her proboscis towards the mandible
or mouth of the nearest worker. The workers are always anxious to
satisfy her needs and make a circle or semi-circle around her.
The queen contacts the nearest worker, and if she does not get as
much as she needs, she approaches the next. This continues until
all her demands are met. It is also the duty of the nurse bees to
bathe her with their tongues and mandibles and to carry away her
faeces.
Orientation flight
The orientation flight is not so much a house duty as an
exercise for the young worker. She must learn how to fly, and she
must know the vicinity, especially the location of the hive. She
therefore first makes some short flights in front of the hive and
in the immediate vicinity to acquaint herself with the
environment, so that when in the near future she goes out to
forage, she will be able to find her way back home.
Comb building
Comb building provides the needed "rooms" in the
hive, in the form of hexagonal cells, for two main purposes:
storing food and rearing brood. Beeswax, the material for the
construction of comb, is secreted by the worker's wax glands,
which are best developed and productive when she is 12-18 days
old. The wax, which emerges from the glands as a liquid, hardens
quickly and appears in the form of oval flakes similar to small
fish scales, protruding from between the last four overlapping
abdominal segments on the under-side of the worker's body. As we
have already seen, the bee must consume large amounts of food
(honey and nectar) to produce these wax flakes.
Bees engaged in building combs usually hang themselves in
festoons at or near the site of the building operation. There
they hang quietly while their digestive organs transform the
contents of their honey sacs into energy and beeswax. The wax is
removed with the spines of the hind legs and is then manipulated
with the mandibles to build the comb cells. Capping of comb cells
is also the duty of comb builders.
Ventilating the hive
Temperature control is one of the important duties of the
house bee. When the temperature is low, bees cluster to generate
heat for themselves, but when it is high, some of them have to
fan their wings to circulate air throughout the hive. The right
temperature required is between 33° and 36°C, while the brood
chamber requires a constant heat of 35°. Honey has to be cured
in order to ripen, and this also requires the help of circulating
air. According to Crane, 12 fanning bees positioned across a hive
entrance 25 cm wide can produce an air flow amounting to 50-60
litres per minute. This fanning can go on day and night during
the honey-flow season. The phenomenon is always at its peak in
October in the high savannah and forest zones of Vest Africa.
Honey conversion and packing
It takes several bees to produce honey. No single honeybee
completes the whole process. The forager brings a load of nectar
to the hive and transfers it to a house bee, who proceeds to the
empty or uncrowded part of the hive, where she rests and exposes
the nectar to the air being fanned by the fanning bees. The air
circulation helps reduce the moisture content of the nectar and
thus aids sugar concentration. The house bee may load the nectar
into the upper section of an empty cell or add it to the honey or
nectar of a cell incompletely filled. The speed with which she
manipulates the nectar depends on the intensity of the nectar
flow. If nectar is abundant, the house bee may deposit her load
quickly into a comb cell for later processing.
The time required for the nectar to mature into honey depends
for the most part on its original moisture content. For example,
if the sugar content is high, as in the nectar of
Combretum
paniculatum, which is usually over 65%, ripening takes about
two hours. On the other hand, if palm wine (which bees enjoy very
much) is sent into the hive, more time will be required, since
its sugar content is as low as 4.5%. Matured honey usually has
over 80% sugar concentration. Ripening time is also determined by
the quantity of the nectar: combs completely filled with nectar,
even if strongly ventilated, may take as much as 36 days to
mature.
Packing water, pollen and propolis
Other essential commodities which are brought in by the
foragers and need the attention of the house bee are water,
pollen and propolis. Water is required for cooling the hive,
especially during the harmattan season, when the atmosphere is
very dry and temperatures are too warm for the bees' comfort.
Water is mixed with honey and pollen and then fed to the older
larvae, between 3-6 days old. Pollen is also packed to about
three-quarters full in comb cells in the brood chamber, sometimes
side by side with brood cells. Cells are never completely packed
with pollen.
Propolis is a resinous material collected from trees. It is
difficult to unload, because it is gummy in consistency, and the
house bees have to help the foragers to unload. The carrier holds
firmly onto the walls of the hive, and the house bee removes the
sticky gum from the hairy corbicula or pollen basket. Sometimes
it takes more than three days to off-load a forager. The propolis
is either stored or used immediately for the purpose required: to
block holes and cracks in the hive, to repair combs, to
strengthen the thin edges of the comb, or to make the entrance of
the hive watertight or easier to defend. As already mentioned,
propolis is also used to cover objectionable material in the hive
and to embalm dead intruders such as wax moths, snakes, etc., too
large to be removed.
It is interesting to note that house bees are always eager to
help unload the field bee that brings in material which the hive
requires immediately. For example, when the weather is too warm
and water is required to cool the hive, they will pay no
attention to foragers bringing in nectar or propolis, who will
have to wait until the heat situation is brought under control
before they are offloaded.
Executions
Executions are a means of protecting the colony from hunger,
disease and any catastrophic event. They may be performed to
eliminate strange bees, to kill or drive away old and sick bees,
to discourage other hive predators from entering the hive, to
remove sick or unwanted unemerged brood, to eliminate useless
drones, and to kill unwanted or strange queens.
Guard duty
Guard duty is the final activity of the house bee before she
leaves the hive. By this time she has reached peak strength, is
very energetic, and is best fit to defend the entrance of the
hive, which is also the point of entry of the colony's enemies.
The guard bee has the duty of inspecting all incoming foragers
by smelling their odour. When satisfied, the guard allows the
incoming bee to enter unmolested with her load. In most ·cases,
foragers with loads to discharge are not intercepted unless the
hive is greatly disturbed. After staying at the entrance for a
while, the guard may fly out on patrol for some time before
returning to the entrance. The guard bee is also responsible for
watching any crack through which a robber bee or any other
intruder might enter the hive. In an alerted hive, guard bees
stand on four legs, their forelegs lifted and they antennae held
straight, searching here and there. Any intruder, robber or other
enemy first receives a frightening audible warning, followed by a
sting; if he persists, the application of the alarm pheromone on
the spot where the bee stings quickly summons more defenders. The
scent helps other attackers to find the target and follow without
delay.
It has been observed that during the brood-rearing season,
more guards are stationed at the hive entrance than during the
peak of the honey flow.
The field bees
Activities involving flight may start from the third day after
emergence from the brood cell, but the young worker begins her
actual foraging activity later. Between the 18th and the 21st
day, her hypopharyngeal and wax glands have become too weak to
function, so that she cannot produce royal jelly to feed the
queen and the young larvae, nor wax to build comb cells. But by
this time she is in perfect condition to fly and knows the
geography of the locality. She therefore starts field work,
fetching nectar, pollen, propolis or water, but always
concentrating her activity on the immediate needs of the colony.
Observations conducted in several places in Ghana showed that
foragers begin to be active as early as 5:15 a.m. and that by
6:30 p.m. almost all have returned to the hive. In the latter
part of July, August and September, most foragers brought pollen.
By 5:20 a.m. the first consignment of pollen had arrived. More
heavy loads of pollen continued to come, and traffic at the
entrance was heavy until 7:30 a.m. This phenomenon was repeated
between 10:00 and 11:30 a.m., when the sunshine was intense.
Nectar gathering
Nectar, the sweet liquid secreted by plant
nectaries,
is collected by foragers, taken to the hive and turned over to
the house bees for processing. The forager then returns to the
flowers and collects more. The number of trips she makes in a day
cannot be assessed precisely. It may vary from time to time for a
number of reasons: the availability and accessibility of the
nectar source, the quantity of nectar present, and the nectar
requirement of the colony for the day.
Sight and smell enable the bee to locate sources. She lands on
the part of the plant that will support her and dips her
stretched proboscis into the corolla of the flower. If there is
nectar, she sucks it into her honey stomach. If there is none,
she wastes no time before moving to the next flower. Some flowers
have more nectar than others. Sometimes the bee can load enough
by visiting one, two or three, but in plants with tiny flowers
she can only get a full load by visiting hundreds. A fully loaded
bee can carry 85% of her own weight.
The time taken to complete a trip varies, but can reach 2
hours. In the savannah, foragers visit certain plants at specific
times of the day. The dawadawa plant (
Parkia clappertoniana),
for example, produces large quantities of nectar and sweet Juice
which flows on parts of the stem and branches, but the dry
harmattan drains the moisture in the liquid, and the juice
becomes so sticky that the bee cannot load it easily. Probably
for this reason, bees visit the plant as early as 5:15 a.m. and
as late as 6:15 p.m. On each occasion, only one trip is made. By
6:30 p.m., no bees can be found on the tree.
Water collection
Bees consider water-carrying as one of their most important
duties. They execute it regardless of what may be involved. If
they need Water for the hive, they will resort to drastic methods
to acquire it. In water-scarce areas, desperate bees sometimes
attack farmers for their sweat, and clothes cannot be washed
outdoors in the daytime for fear of molestation by desperate bees
searching for water. Thirsty bees visit kitchens, bathrooms,
toilets and all obscure humid places. They will land on any moist
area, dip their proboscis and suck in water. Loading of water
takes only a few seconds. The bee carries it to the hive and
returns in a few minutes to reload if water is still present.
The scout bee
Foragers can take on scout duties as well. The scout bee
locates food sources and passes on the information to other bees
by a series of dance-like movements. She circles around and
around, stamping her legs and wagging her abdomen; sometimes she
stretches her proboscis, possibly to show the type of food she
has found. The onlooking workers watch her dance, interpret it
and act accordingly. It is believed that different dances show
different types of information to be passed on.
Another most important duty of the scout bee in a new swarm is
to search for a suitable accommodation, while the rest of the
swarm waits on a tree branch or in a small enclosure. On finding
a suitable hollow or hive, she returns to the swarm and performs
a characteristic dance to inform them about the find. When two or
more bees make different finds, each scout dances especially
vigourously in an attempt to win the support of the swarm.
Robber bees
All worker or foraging bees are thieves. They claim anything
they like as their own property. They snatch honey away from
honey harvesters from other swarms during the daytime, especially
when the weather is sunny and bright. In the rich savannah
bee-zones where water is scarce, bees easily steal water from
villagers. Robber bees visit other colonies' hives and try to
take honey in order to store it in their own hive. The problem of
hive robbing is not as serious in tropical Africa as in America
and elsewhere. Only very weak colonies are sometimes robbed;
usually it is abandoned hives that other colonies invade to take
advantage of the honey stored in the comb cells.
It is strange that bees often fail to take advantage of water
or any sweet juice located close to the hive, but when it is
placed further away (about 20 metres or more) they take it. This
shows that the beekeeper should always watch his hives to avoid
leakages of honey, for the leak will not be recovered by his own
bees but by other bees from elsewhere, thus encouraging robbing.
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF BEEKEEPING
The pre-requisites which are considered must to start beekeeping are as follows
- Knowledge and training on bee keeping
- Knowledge on local bee flora
- Sufficient local bee flora
- Knowledge of migratory bee keeping
Apiary site requirements
- The site should be dry without dampness. High RH will affect bee flight and ripening of nectar.
- Water: Natural or artificial source of water should be provided.
- Wind breaks: Trees serve as wind belts in cool areas.
- Shade: Hives can be kept under shade of trees. Artificial structures can also be constructed to provide shade.
- Bee pasturage and florage:
Plants that yield pollen and nectar to bees are called bee pasturage
and florage. Such plants should be plenty around the apiary site.
General apiary management practices
1. Hive inspection: Open the hive at
least twice a week and inspect for following details. Hive record also
is to be maintained for each hive.
-
Presence of queen
-
Presence of eggs and brood.
-
Honey and pollen storage
-
Presence of bee enemies like wax moth, mite, disease
2. Expanding brood net: It is done by providing comb foundation sheet in empty frame during honey flow period.
3. Supering (Addition of frames in super chamber):
This is done when brood chamber is filled with bees and all frames are
covered. Comb foundation sheet or constructed comb is provided in
super chamber
4. During breeding season
During honey flow season there is considerable increase
in the foraging activity of the workers and in the rate of egg laying
by the queen. Necessary additional space has to be provided for all
these and this is done through supply of new, clean, yellow combs or comb foundation sheets.
In the case of weak stocks, the population can be
increased, taking advantage of the favourable environmental conditions,
by giving brood combs from strong colonies or by simply changing its
position to that of a strong colony in a bright morning when the bees
are busy. The bees of the strong colony after their foraging trip
return to the weak hive now located in the site of their original home
and thus the weak colony becomes strong. This should be done in a
prosperous season and at a time when bees are busy.
5. Swarm control
The strength of colonies gets denoted as a result of
Swarming. Swarming can be prevented by clipping off special queen brood
cells as they are constructed, since a colony does not send out a
swarm unless a new queen is ready to take the place of the reigning
queen.
There are a few other methods of swarm
control in which the natural instincts of the bees for dispersal and
perpetuation of species are not curbed but aim at relieving the spatial
congestion and readjustment of different castes and categories of
population (a) Primary swarm is allowed to take place but trapped in a
swarm trap and hived as a separate colony. The after-swarms are
prevented by destroying the remaining queen brood cells (b) One or two
brood combs in the strong colonies which are inclined to issue swarms
are removed and given to weak colonies. (c) A brood comb with the
reigning queen and a few workers taken out and put in a separate hive
and thus the colony is divided, (d) Inter-change of positions between a
strong and weak colony.
6. Artificial feeding
Bees do not visit each and every flower. They visit
only flowers having ample pollen and nectar (non-toxic to them) and it
should be within their reach. Therefore, the bee flora of a particular
region is most important for the bee industry. Whenever there is a
dearth of nectar and pollen in nature and the stock of these materials
is not in the hive, then artificial feeding becomes imperative. The
dearth periods vary from region to region in this country. If the bees
are not fed artificially during dearth period, they start starving and
dwindling, develop wander lust and ultimately abscond. White sugar
syrup is a cheap substitute of honey but no pollen substitutes have
been tried in this country although different pollen substitutes have
been found useful elsewhere. Attempts to replace sugar syrup by cheap
cane jaggery to the colonies resulted in the absconding of bee colonies
because in most of the cases they did not accept it and suffered from
starvation; in some cases if they accepted it they suffered from
dysentery.
Preparation of artificial feed.
Sugar syrup is prepared by dissolving 100 g of sugar in 150-200 ml of
hot water, boiled and cooled. It is offered in 400 ml glass-bottle or
cigarette tins with their mouth covered with a mark in cloth held
tightly with rubber band or thread. The syrup bottle is placed upside
down in the super with or without inner cover. The colonies should be
fed on alternate days in the evening.
Effect of artificial feeding: The
bee colonies should be fed well during dearth period, especially in
winter season. In such cases swarming is induced earlier and this helps
a beekeeper in making the bee colonies strong before honey-flow season
starts.
7. Provision of Drinking Water
A source of fresh water within a short distance of an
apiary is essential. Water is required to blend with the food and to
lower the temperature of the hives during hot weather. Water can be
supplied in a tank or an earthen pot set up so as to permit the water to
drip. The water can be given in a glass bottle inside the hive also.
8. Uniting bee colonies
The question of uniting stock of bees arises only when
the colony becomes weak or queen less and all attempts of requeening
fail. It is then necessary that weak colonies should be united. As each
colony has its own peculiar odour, it is necessary either to blend the
odours of the two colonies slowly or suppress both by a stronger one.
If this is not done the bees of the two colonies fight. The colonies to
be united should be brought near each other by moving them closer, 0.5
to 1.0 m each day, so that incoming bees may not drift back to old
site when the colonies are sufficiently close. Two other methods
described below can also be used for uniting the colonies.
Newspaper method: Bring colonies side by side by moving 30 cm/day
- Remove queen from week colony
- Keep a newspaper on top of brood chamber of queen known as right colony
- Make holes on the paper
- Keep queen less colony on top of right colony.
- Close hive entrance so that the smell of bees get mixed in both the colony
- Unite bees to the brood chamber and make it one colony.
Smoke method: Both colonies should be smoked heavily and then dumped into one hive. More smoke should be blown into the common hive.
9. Handling the Queen
The queen is the most important and indispensable
individual in the bee colony, and should be handled properly and
carefully.
10. Finding the queen
The presence of an active queen in the colony can be
judged by the presence of worker eggs. If, however, it is essential to
spot her or to catch her, then she must be searched properly. In a
strong colony sometimes it may be difficult to spot the queen at the
first look.
Test for the absence of queen. It is
often necessary to be sure that a colony is really queen less before
introducing a new queen. The bees of a queen less colony always develop
nervousness. They do not sit properly in the comb. There will be no
egg-laying or worker egg laying without uniformity in combs (more than
one egg in cells).
11. Introduction of the queen
Of several methods of introducing the queen, some are
direct and others indirect. For safe introduction, first it should be
made sure that the colony into which it is to be introduced is really
queen less and further that no queen cell is present in the brood
combs. The queen should be put into a queen-introducing cage, with the
exit plugged with queen candy, and then placed in the centre of the
brood nest. The queen can be kept in a small specimen tube, the mouth
of which is closed with a muslin cloth having a small hole to permit it
to escape eventually.
12. Increasing the Number of Colonies
It is very important for beekeeper to increase his bee
colony every year and this can be done by dividing the existing
colonies into 2 or 3 sub-colonies with fresh queens.
(i) A bee colony can be established by
purchasing it from a private or a government organization. Only those
colonies should be selected or purchased which have at least 5-6 brood
frames covered with bees and a healthy active queen.
(ii) The number of colonies can be
increased by dividing the existing colonies during swarming season,
when the queen cells are constructed. It is done by keeping 50 per cent
brood combs with old queen in an empty hive. The hive should be
removed at least 0-8 km away from its original site. The other half of
the colony with queen cells should be kept in the original site.
(iii) Another method is to let the
colony swarm, and the swarms arc captured and transferred to empty hives
by giving brood comb from another colony. The swarms can be kept in
the same vicinity.
(iv) Bee colonies can be captured
from natural sources. Before bagging the colony, smoke should be
applied. The combs are cut and placed in frames with wire to which they
are firmly secured. The frames are transferred to a hive along with
the bees.
Seasonal management:
Pollen and nectar are available only during certain period. When
surplus food source are available it is known as honey flow season. In
contrast during dearth period there will be scarcity of food. During
extremes in climate like summer, winter and monsoon certain specific
management tactics are required.
13. Honey flow season management
This season coincides with spring. During this season,
- Provide more space for honey storage by giving comb foundation sheet or built combs
- Confine queen to brood chamber using queen excluder
- Prevent swarming as explained in swarm management
- Prior to honey flow, provide sugar syrup and build sufficient population
- Divide strong colonies into 2-3 new colonies, if colony muitiplication is needed
- Queen rearing technique may be followed to produce new queens for new colonies
14. Summer management
Bees have to survive intense heat and dearth period by following means.
- Provide sufficient shade, under trees or artificial structure
- Increase RH and reduce heat by Sprinkling water twice a day on gunny bag or rice straw put on hive
- Increase ventilation by introducing a splinter between brood and super chamber
- Provide sugar syrup, pollen supplement, substitute and water
15. Winter management
It includes the following
- Maintain strong and disease free colonies
- Provide new queen to the hives
- Provide winter packing in cooler areas hilly regions
16. Management during dearth period
- Remove empty combs and store in air tight container.
- Use dummy division board to confine bees to small area
- Unite weak colonies
- Provide sugar syrup, pollen supplement and substitute
17. Rainy season and monsoon management
- Avoid dampness in apiary site. Provide proper drainage
- In rain when bees are confined to the hive, provide sugar syrup feeding
18. Bee pasturage or bee forage
Plants that yield pollen and nectar are collectively
called bee pasturage or bee forage. Plants which are good source of
nectar are tamarind, moringa, neem, Prosopis juliflora, Soapnut tree, Glyricidia maculata, eucalyptus, Tribulus terrestris and
pungam. Plants which are good source of pollen are sorghum, sweet
potato, maize, tobacco, millets like cumbu, tenai, varagu, ragi,
coconut, roses, castor, pomegranate and date palm. Plants which are
good source of both pollen and nectar are banana, peach, citrus, guava,
apple, Sunflower, berries, safflower, pear, mango and plum.
Foraging: This refers to collection of nectar and pollen by bees.
Nectar foragers: These
collect nectar from flowers using lapping tongue and pass the nectar to
hive bees. Hive bees repeatedly pass the nectar between pre oral
cavity and tongue to ripen the honey. Later they drop the ripened honey
into cells.
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 into corbicula or pollen basket. A single bee carries 10 to
30 mg of pollen which is 25 per cent of bee's weight. Then the pollen
is dislodged by middle leg into cells. Pollen is mixed with honey and
stored.
 |
Pollen foraging
|
(http://www.carolinabees.com/media/img/main/honey-bee-00.png)
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.
Bee
Pasturage in India
Bee Pasturage in India Bee Pasturage in India Booklet No. 265
Apiculture: APS-4 Contents Preface I. Introduction II. Foraging Behaviour of
Bees III. Nectar Potential in India IV. Judging Local Nectar Potential V. Bees
and Pollination VI. Foraging Bees for Pollen Collection VII. Conclusion
Preface
Bee pasturage means the area with lot of plants, wild or
cultivated having nectar 'and pollen bearing flowers. As India is having a wide
varieties of floral geography the bee pasturage also varies. Hence the bee
keeper should have a fairly good idea about the geographical area from the
point of view of bee pasturage. Dr. K. T. Chandy, Agricultural &
Environmental Education
I. Introduction The plants that yield both pollen and
nectar are called bee pasturage. However, honey bees gather nectar, pollen,
propolis and water as their food. Nectar is a sweet secretion from the floral
and extra floral nectarines of blossoms. It. is the basic raw product of honey.
It consists of dissolved sugar i.e. sucrose, glucose and fructose. The plants
that produce nectar only are called bee forage. Pollen is a highly
proteinaceous food for bees. The plants that produce only pollen are called
pollen plants. Pollen being completely independent plant cell, contains the
substances which make up a living cell, and is therefore very good bee food. It
provides the bees all their requirements of amino-acids, vitamins and minerals.
The amount of pollen collected by a colony depends upon the colony's immediate
requirements. There is a correlation between amount of brood present in a
colony and the amount of pollen collected. A colony increases the number of
bees collecting pollen, when the colony finds reduced amount of pollen arriving
into the brood. Propolis is a resinous substance which is gathered mainly from
buds and bark of trees like alder, poplar, horse, chestnut and wounds of woody
plants. It is used for sealing up cracks in the hive or nest and reducing the
size of the entrance. Water is required inside the hive to regulate the
temperature and to dilute stores of honey. Much water is collected in early
spring and hot summer before the supply of nectar is readily available. The
colony survives on its stored honey during the hot summer weather.
II. Foraging Behaviour of Bees The honey bees starts its
foraging activity between 5 to 6 in the morning. Flight usually depends on the
weather and temperature. The bees will not leave the hive if the temperature is
below 15°C and the wind speed is above 30 km per hour. Most of the bees return
home carrying load of nectar, pollen or both. Pollen collection is stimulated
by the presence of brood in the hive. Some bees visit only pollen producing
flowers like corn, rose poppy etc. for collection of pollen. Other bees collect
nectar only. The proportion of bees that collect one substance only or both,
varies with the nectar and pollen availability in tile vicinity. Bees
frequently change their activity during the same day. The average nectar load
weighs 40 milligrams. Pollen load have an average weight of about 15
milligrams. Bees have been found flying about up to 6 km in search of forage.
III. Nectar Potential in India A bee keeper must know the
nectar potential of his locality before making any investment to start this
enterprise. Nectar is the basic raw product of honey. The days when a good
number of plants have nectar to be foraged by honey bees is called a honey flow
period. If tile nectar yield is copious obtained from a good number of plants
of a particular species, it is called major honey flow period. When the amount
of nectar to be collected is small is called a minor flow period and the days
when there is no honey flow is called a dearth period. Some examples of
suitable localities, based on the availability of bee pasturages in India are
described below, as bee keeping is only profitable if bee pasturage is
abundantly available in a particular locality.
1. Kulu valley Kulu valley in Himachal Pradesh is suitable
for bee keeping because there are nectar secreting plants available in large
number. It has two major honey flow periods. i.e. spring and autumn. The nectar
mostly comes from fruit bloom and barberry during spring. Plectranthus ( a
flowering plant in Kulu) produces enough nectar during autumn. The dearth
period in Kulu valley is not of a long duration. It occurs in summer from mid
June to mid August. Winter dearth period coincides with the coldest part of the
year when bees are inactive.
2. Kangra valley Kangra valley in Himachal Pradesh is a
suitable area for beekeeping because there is a regular flow of bee pasturage ,
throughout the year. A major honey flow is experienced during spring season
whereas an average honey flow is noticed during milder winter. During the rest
of the year a minor honey flow is observed.
3. Punjab plains The plains of Punjab are not a suitable
locality for beekeeping, because it has only a short spell of major honey flows
in winter and spring. There is long dearth period from mid May to mid November,
when bees are active for collecting the forage but bee pasturage is not
available in the locality. Also bees have to face bigger herds of enemies,
namely, wasps, ants, wax months, bee eaters etc.
4. Karnataka state The western ghat area in Karnataka is
famous for its honey and bee wax. Its honey flow period is from mid January to
June. Bee forages (nectar) is available in plenty from plants like Diospyros
nontana, D. Candollena, Tenninalia crenulata, Vitex leuconylon and Elaeocarpus
setrrantus. A major honey flow i.e. surplus nectar, is obtained from Syzygium
cumini, Skeels caryophylatus and Scheffera venulosa. Monsoon season is from
June to August. It receives a torrential incessant rains, which confines
colonies with sugar syrup. The post monsoon period is from mid August to mid-
November, which is a minor honey flow period. Only small amount of pollen and
nectar is available from Aneitema, Holigarna, Litsea, Impatiens, Cassia etc.
The winter season is from November to January is again a minor honey flow
period. Very little forage is available from plants like calamus, caryota.
Alseodaphne and Croton. This results in weakening and heavy losses of the
colonies.
5. Kashmir valley Kashmir valley has two distinct periods,
i.e. major honey flow, period and winter dearth period. The major honey flow
period starting from spring and ending in autumn.
The surplus honey yielding sources are: Robinia pseudoacacia,
Aesculus hippocastunum, Prunus avium, Rosa spp, Pleetranthus rugasus, Brassica
juncea, Fagopyrum esculenlum, Iris eusata, Crocus saliva and lmpatients
glandulifera. Kashmir valley is known for its traditional beekeeping which
requires nominal expenditure and attention. The only precaution required before
adopting the modem beekeeping techniques in Kashmir is against acarine and
virus diseases.
6. Uttar Pradesh hills In this region, bee pasturage is
available throughout the year. Both cultivated and wild plants provide pollen
and nectar. The colonies develop well in spring. Natural swarming occurs in
early March to April. The period from April to June is a major honey flow
period. The rainy season is well marked from mid June to mid September. The
honey bees get less time to collect the pollen and nectar, but bee pasturage is
available from a few plants like Tenninalia lomenlosa and several herbs and
grasses. Wasp and to some extent wax moth are the worst enemies during rainy
season. Autumn season starting in October and ending in November is again good
for the development of bee colonies. During this period tendency to rear queens
is found in bee colonies. This period have a good honey flow from plants like
Eugenia, Prunus, Pletlranlhus etc. During winter from December to January, both
availability of bee pasturage and the bee activities decline. Therefore, winter
packing is required 3ccording to the altitude and severity of winter.
7. Uttar Pradesh plains In the plains of Uttar Pradesh summer
season from April to June is a honey flow season. The weather is hot, however,
bees are active in collecting bees pasturage from cloves. cucurbits. some
vegetables and wild trees like Azadirachta. Eugenia, Tamarindus etc. In the
later half of the summer bee flora decreases, brood rearing depletes to a great
extent, water requirements of the colonies shoots up and enemies like wax moth
and ants become quite active. Supply of enough fresh water, liquid fluid, shade
and windbreak becomes requirements of the colony during summer months. The
rainy season is followed by summer. Besides high temperature, atmospheric
humidity also increases. Bee pasturage becomes available in plenty.
The plants that provide bee pasturage are : maize. sorghum,
cotton and some legumes. The bees collect pollen and nectar during the interval
when rain stops. This results in faster bee activities. Under these conditions
of high temperature, humidity and less opportunity for bees to collect food, it
becomes necessary to make proper check on wax moth and ants. Colonies require
open shade and enough thick food. The rest of the period up to spring through
winter is good for bee forage supply. The important plants that provide pollen
and nectar are mustard, ram, eucalyptus and cloves. This period receives a good
honey flow.
8. Chotanagpur region Chotanagpur in Bihar is quite rich in
flora producing bee pasturage. Except two months of July and August there is a
regular supply of bee forages. The important plants of this region are:
eucalyptus. mango, litchi. jamrm. karanj, tamerind, gulmohur, ber, niger,
arhar, drumstick etc.
9. Andaman and Nicobar There are plenty of flora which
provide a peak honey collection season from Decembcr to May. But this island
gets a rainfall of, about 300 cm from May to December with cyclones and gales.
Therefore, bees are less active during three months of July to September and
require artificial feeding. Rains and wind make the colony weak and sometimes
colonies get lost though plenty of bee pasturage is available.
10. Mahableshwar region This region is rich in bee pasturages.
The rainy season in this area is during June to September. During this dearth
period colonies are migrated to plains, where rainfall is about 20 to 24 inches
and rich in bee pasturages. The period of January to February is major dearth,
period. The main honey flow period is from February to July.
11. Meghalaya region Bee keeping in Meghalaya has not
attained much importance though a number of plants producing bee pasturage are
available throughout the year. Some important plants like oilseed crops,
vegetables, fruits, plantation crops, and ornamental plants are the natural bee
pasturage of this region. The region is best for beekeeping. The weather in
this region remains humid throughout the season and the temperature ranges from
5°C to 31C which is suitable for bee activities. Sometimes winters are very
cold. Therefore, a migratory beekeeping has been found more popular in this
region.
12. Padgaon in Maharashtra Padgaon region in Maharashtra is
one of the major honey yielding centre in southern Maharashtra. A number of
plants belonging to families as Araliaceae. Myrtaceae, Combretaceae, Labiateae,
Acanthaceae. Rubiaceae, etc. are bee forages. Two honey flow seasons, one major
during the summer months and second minor during the winter months are seen.
Two dearth periods, one large during rainy season and a shorter during the
spring have been spotted for this region.
IV. Judging Local Nectar Potential The broad description of
bee pasturage in India explain what is meant by suitability of various regions
for bee keeping based on its nectar and pollen potential. The evaluation of the
nectar potential of your locality can be done by asking following questions.
a. How many blossoming periods are there in your locality?
b. How long each blossoming period lasts?
c. Are the flowers visited by honeybees for nectar or pollen
or both?
d. Are bees able to collect surplus honey from some abundant
crops of flowers year after year?
e. What are tile
nectar secreting and flowering plants besides the major crops of tile area?
f. How long is the dearth period?
g. What blossom plants are found in abundance in one to two
kilometer radius of the place selected for apiary?
h. How far weather conditions disturb bees in collecting bee,
pasturage?
More the number of blossom periods in a year in an area
greater will be the potential for beekeeping. Even if the number of blossoming
periods are few but the duration is longer that favours beekeeping. Whether
bees are visiting for pollen or nectar can be noted by observing the bees on
the flowers or on the entrance of hive. This observation can provide us the
type of flowering plants (nectar bearing or pollen bearing or both) in an area
at a particular period of the year and also whether the bees are more in need
of pollen or nectar or both. Area with special crops having more nectar or
pollen has a higher suitability for beekeeping. Similarly areas with more
varieties of nectar secreting natural flower has a high favourable condition
for beekeeping. Shorter the dearth period greater will be the bee pasturage.
Areas close to (within 2-6, km) nectar and pollen bearing plant and crops are
suitable for beekeeping. Finally the favourable weather conditions such as
temperature between 15o to 35°C wind speed less than 30 km per hour, clear
sunny days are favourable for bee pasturage. Too cold, hot and rain days
prevent bee from pasturage.
V, Bees and Pollination , Honey bees while collecting their
bee pasturage from flowers of various crops do an important work of pollination
for plants. In some crop species, it is so important that bees visit the flower
for pollinating and setting any fruit or seed. Pollination is tIle transfer of
pollen from tile male flower to the female flower of the same or another flower
of the same species. Pollination can be carried out by insects, wind, water and
in rare instances by animals, other titan insects, including birds and bats.
The most common pollinating agents are wind and insects. Among insects, honey
bees are tile most important one since they have a large population living in a
colony and collecting pollen and nectar from the flowers. Honey bees have got
gregarious behaviour which make possible to keep them in hives and places where
pollinations are required. The special contribution of honey bees in the
pollination of various crops like fruit trees, bushes, vegetable crops and
legume crops are described here.
A. Pollination of fruit trees Many kinds of insects visits
the flowers of fruit trees for their food. The special ability of honey bees to
pollinate fruit trees or bushes can be established by an experiment, in which
some fruit trees are caged during flowering period along with a bee colony, and
some other fruit trees are kept open for other insects to visit in a natural
way. The results on plants of strawberries, kept in green house with bees
showed that flowers were fully pollinated and produced healthy fruits. Whereas
the fruits from uncaged trees were malformed and yield obtained was very poor.
Thus, experiment confirmed the role of honey bees in pollination for the fruit
trees. Some more advantages of honey bee pollination in fruit trees are given
here.
1. Self pollination Fruit tree may naturally be a
predominantly self-pollinated, but some varieties are definitely benefited in
their natural mode of pollination through honey bees. This occurs in such a way
that the fruit flowers, which have mature pollen and receptive stigma and
waiting for their natural mode of pollination complete their job when visited
by bees. The pollen from the anther to the stigma is transferred through the
body of the honey bee.
2. Adequate pollination The population of the insects other
than bees, in many areas have diminished by use of insecticides or fluctuation
of climate from year to year. Attempts to increase their population have not
been so far proved successful. Therefore, the honey bees are the only insect
under human management as pollinating agent. The bees does tile act of
pollination adequately and uniformly, as it scrabbles over the anther pulling
at them with its legs and biting them. Their body becomes covered with pollen.
This helps in uniform and adequate pollination as bees visit flower to flower.
3. Spread of compatible pollen Some orchards are inadequately
equipped with pollinator varieties. This requires' some artificial means for
collecting compatible pollen and also a system to spread the pollen uniformly
among compatible varieties. This is done by construction of a bee hive in such
a way that each bee going into the hive, has to pass through a 'pollen trap'
and empty its pollen pellet. Similarly each outgoing bee, has to walk through a
'pollen dispenser' containing pollen of compatible variety. This system thus
helps to collect and spread compatible pollen in the orchards.
B. Pollination of vegetable crops Among the more important
vegetables requiring or benefiting from insect pollination are snap and lima
beans, beets, carrots, celery, cole crops, crucifers, cucurbits, egg plant,
lettuce, onion, pepper and tomato. Cucurbits i.e. cucumber, pumpkin, squash and
melons are especially dependent on the insects for pollination. Therefore, the
honey bees can also do the following role in the pollination of vegetable
crops.
1. Uniform pollination Installing one or more colonies of
honey bees per acre increases the total yield and improves fruit size, shape
and uniformity of development time. The factors especially important in case of
cucumber are result of uniform pollination by bees.
2. Cross pollination
Successful plant breeding programmes are currently producing vigorous hybrid
strains of onion and carrots. Crosses are made using male sterile lines and
honey bees to transfer the pollen. The similar breeding technique is now used
for recently discovered male sterile lines in vegetables such as soyabeans,
tomato and cole crops.
3. Pollination of legumes Among the most important legumes
that are benefited insect pollination are alfalfa (Medicago sativa), clovers
(Trifolium), sweet clover (Melilotus), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), birds foot
(Lotus cornicuatus), beans (Vicia faloa). Pollination in legumes are done by a
'tripping mechanism', i.e. as the insect visit the flower, the reproductive
parts, anther lobes and stigma enclosed in the keel are forced to come out and
touch the body of the insect, by the weight of the insect of its probing
activity. Honey bees do not successfully pollinate commercial legume crops like
alfalfa grown for seed production. Another type known as alfalfa leaf cutting
be Megachile pacifica is found to be completing 70% of the polination
activities on seed alfalfa. The alfalfa leaf cutting bee is a favoured
pollinator of seed alfalfa in the North latitudes of America. It has a high
fidelity to alfalfa bloom and its foraging period is naturally synchronised
with alfalfa blooming period. Its gregarious behaviour make it readily
manageable for nesting in man made nesting places. Still another bee known as
alkali bee (Nomia melanderi) is an important insect in alfalfa seed production
of the Pacific north west. It is a major pollinator up to 30 per cent of the
acreage.
VI. Foraging Bees for Pollen Collection In recent years,
there has been an ever increasing interest in employing honey bees to collect
pollen for various uses in human diet, plant breeding etc. Demand for pollen
has increased markedly and many bee-keepers are now involved in pollen
collection and sale even though it results in decreased honey production.
Pollen is collected through bees by attaching to the beehive, a special device
called pollen trap. A. Pollen trap Pollen trap consists of a grid made of wire
cloth, two mesh per square centimeter or 5 mesh per square inch and wire size
22 gauge. Thus is designed in such a way, that at the entrance of the hive a
pollen laden bee must pass through the grid in order to enter the hive. The
dimensions of the grid allow the bee to have to access the hive only after her
pollen load has been dislodged. The loose pollen pellets fall into a tray that
is periodically emptied by the bee-keepers. Often two grids are used, spaced
5-6 cm apart to increase the pollen trapping efficiency. A well constructed
pollen trap will collect about 50 per cent of tile incoming pollen i.e. 500 g
of pollen per day during major honey flow period. The process of pollen
collection by pollen trap requires some precautions. They are mentioned here.
1. Drying of pollen The collected pollen is subjected to sun
dry as quickly as possible to save it from spoilage by moulds. For this
purpose, some pollen trays are lined with cloth or a fine screen to facilitate
the drying of the pollen.
2. Prevention of re-gathering The bees are attracted towards
the nearest sources of pollen i.e. tray containing trapped pollen. To avoid
such loss of pollen, the tray is covered with a piece of screen 3 -4 mesh per
square; centimeter or 7-8 mesh per square inch to prevent the bees from
entering and regathering the pollen.
3. Pollen spoilage The environmental humidity occasionally pose
a special problem in collection of pollen. Pollen gets wet and spoiled.
Therefore, care must be taken to prevent the pollen from getting spoiled during
humid environment of the bee hive. Pollen should be collected frequently and
the tray should be cleaned and dried at each collection. Pollen traps are
usually constructed of wood rather than metal, since there is less moisture
condensation on the wooden surfaces. Pollen traps should be installed only in
those hives whose parts are tightly fitting.
4. Pollen trapping stress It is a fact that the queen employs
a certain number of workers to collect pollen, to meet the immediate needs of
the colony like brood rearing etc. But the same pollen have been stacked by the
artificial device pollen trap in the entrance. This results in pollen trapping
stress on the colony. To avoid such stresses, the traps should be used only on
healthy populous colonies during period when pollen is plentiful. Pollen traps
should be removed periodically i.e. after about ten days, to allow the colony
to collect pollen for its own use. If the favourable conditions continue, the
trap can then be reinstalled.
5. Spread of diseases Most of the trapped pollen is used for
the feeding of honey bees. The use of contaminated pollen from tile trap
results in spread of chalkboard disease and other problems. To avoid such
losses, it is imperative that pollen be trapped only from healthy colonies and
carefully cleaned to remove any possible pathogenic material. B. Uses of pollen
Trapped pollen is used in a variety of research programmes including studies in
plant breeding, pollination, and human consumption. It is also used in
preparation of pollen supplement for honey bees and as a food supplement for
humans. The various uses of trapped pollen are given below.
1. Pollination Pollen is kept in a 'pollen dispenser' device
fixed at the exit gate of the hive in such a way that each outgoing bee has to
walk through the pollen. The pollen adheres to the body of the bees and is
spread in the field for effective pollination.
2. Human consumption Bee collected pollen is used as a part
of the human diet. European athletes were among the first to use pollen as a
food supplement and reported positive effects. At present, pollen is used as a
health food (tonic) or in the treatment of certain diseases i.e. prostaitis,
bleeding stomach ulcers, respiratory infections and the control of allergy
reactions.
3. pollen nutrition Pollen is the principal source of
proteins, vitamins, lipids and minerals for honey bees. A shortage of pollen
can result in the failure of honey bee colonies to develop their optimum
populations. For this reason pollen during abundant flow periods are collected
for feeding the colonies during the period of shortage. Sometimes a pollen
substitute or a pollen supplement are fed to the colonies.
8. Pollen substitute A pollen substitute is any material that
can be fed to colonies to replace its need for natural pollen i.e. soyabean
meal or dried whey.
b. Pollen supplement A pollen supplement contains 10 per cent
of natural pollen mixed with some other protein source. Pollen substitutes that
are widely used are in the form of a dry mixture or a moist patty. i. Dry
mixture Ten per cent dry pollen, free from infection of diseases is mixed in
dry mixture containing soya bean flour 3 parts, dried brewer's yeast one part,
and dried skimmed milk one part. This dry mixture is fed to bees in a feed lot
system. This requires protection from adverse weather conditions.
ii. Moist patty 450 g of dry mixture prepared as above is
mixed with cold sugar syrup prepared by dissolving 2 parts by volume of sugar
in 1 part hot water. The mixed paste is converted into patties. Patty is placed
as close as possible to the combs containing unsealed brood, for feeding to the
bees.
VIII, Conclusion What is described is only a general feature
of the major geographical areas in India which can be used as bee pasturage.
However, a bee keeper has to build up from this general understanding a more
practical and specific understanding of his area as a bee pasturage.
He can also build up a bee pasturage
Geographic Range
Apis mellifera is native to Europe, western Asia, and Africa. Human introduction of
Apis mellifera
to other continents started in the 17th century, and now they are found
all around the world, including east Asia, Australia and North and
South America.
(Sammataro and Avitabile, 1998; Winston, et al., 1981)
