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A honey bee is a type of bee that lives in social colonies, primarily
in hives. They are well known for producing honey, as well as
other bee products like beeswax, propolis, and royal jelly. Honey
bees are important pollinators for many crops and play a crucial
role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. They are social insects
and live in complex colonies with a division of labor among the
workers, drones, and queen [Link] farming of honey bee is
called bee keeping or Apiculture

[Link] keeping or apiculture (L. apis = bee; culture = cultivate) is

the rearing, care and management of honey bees for obtaining
honey, wax and other substances. Honey is considered to have
medicinal value and is used for various human ailments related to
digestion, blood purification, and as a source of sugar in
confectionary items. Visualising these important uses of honey,
bee keeping has been undertaken on commercial basis as a
business. Beekeeping is a low-investment enterprise and has
become a source of extra income for Indian farmers. Additionally,
beekeeping helps in cross-pollination of crops through the transfer
of pollens by bees.

[Link] of Bee Keeping

Beekeeping has a long and fascinating history, with evidence of
honey harvesting dating back to ancient civilizations such as the
Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The practice of beekeeping
likely originated in Africa, where wild honey was harvested for
food and medicine. The ancient Egyptians were known for their
beekeeping practices, and honey was used for sweetening food,
making mead, and as an ingredient in cosmetics and medicines.
Over time, beekeeping spread to other parts of the world, with the
Chinese and Greeks developing their own techniques for keeping
and harvesting honey. The domestication of honey bees was a
major milestone in human history, as it allowed for the production
of a sweet, versatile food source that could be easily stored and
transported.

4. Products Obtained From Apiculture

Apiculture or bee keeping provides us the following useful
products: honey, wax, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom.
[Link] is a sweet, viscous fluid made up of sugars, water,
minerals, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, and pollen. It contains
levulose, dextrose, sucrose, and dextrin as sugars, and minerals
such as calcium, iron, phosphate, and manganese. Vitamins
present in honey include Pantothenic acid, Biotin, Pyridoxin,
Choline, Ascorbic acid, Thiamine, Riboflavin, and Niacin. Honey's
color, flavor, and odor depend on the type of flowers used to
gather nectar and it contains 3200 calories per kilogram making it
a high energy food.
[Link] wax is a wax of high melting point (140°F) produced by the
wax glands of worker bees and used in the construction of hives.
It has various uses in human products such as cosmetics,
candles, polishes, ointments, lipsticks, lubricants, and modeling.
3. Propolis and balms are other collections of bee from the plants.
These substances are used in repairing and fastening of comb.
4. Poison of bee is used in manufacturing of certain Ayurvedic
and Homeopathic medicines.
[Link] is a powdery substance collected by bees from flowers
and used as a source of protein for the colony.
[Link] Jelly is a milky substance produced by worker bees and
fed to the queen bee. It is used in health supplements and
cosmetic products.

[Link] bee varieties used for bee keeping

Both indigenous and exotic varieties of honey bees are used for
commercial production of honey in India.

A. Indigenous Varieties of Honey Bees

There are several indigenous honey bee varieties found in India,
some of which are commonly used in beekeeping:
Indian honey bee (Apis Cerana): A species of honey bee native to
South and Southeast Asia, and one of the most commonly kept
bees in India.
Giant honey bee (Apis Dorsata): A large species of honey bee
found in the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia,
including India.
Rock bee (Apis Laboriosa): A species of honey bee found in the
eastern Himalayas and northeastern India, known for their large
colonies and honey production.
Little bee (Apis Florea): A small species of honey bee found in the
Himalayas and parts of northern India, known for their small hives
and tendency to nest in rock crevices.
[Link] Varirties of Honey Bees
Exotic honey bee varieties introduced to India for beekeeping
include:
Western honey bee (Apis Mellifera): This species is widely used
in India for commercial beekeeping due to its high honey yield
and adaptability to different climates.
Italian honey bee (Apis Mellifera Ligustica): This subspecies of
the Western honey bee is also commonly used in India for
beekeeping due to its high honey production and docile behavior.

6. Honey bees are social insects that live in a colony and perform
different tasks according to their role. The colony is made up of
three castes: the queen, drones, and workers. The queen is the
mother of the colony, responsible for laying eggs and mating.
Drones are the males, who mate with the queen and eat honey.
Workers are the female bees who are responsible for various
indoor and outdoor duties, including cleaning, feeding the brood,
guarding the colony, and collecting nectar, pollen and propolis.
The function of workers change with age, with younger bees
performing indoor duties and older bees performing outdoor
duties as scout and forager bees.

7. Management for High Yields of Honey

The commercial production of honey is done through apiaries,

where bee hives are kept. To obtain good quality and high yields
of honey, the following factors are considered: the type of flora,
bee-hive, apiary location, honey flow and seasons, swarming
(reproduction), and selection of variety of honey bee and site
selection. The quality and taste of honey depend on the available
flora, pasturage, or orchards for nectar and pollen collection.
Three types of bee-hives, Langstroth, Newton, and Jeolikote, are
used in India. The apiary should be located in a region rich in
vegetation and abundant flowers, with the hives facing east,
receiving sunlight in the morning and evening and shade during
mid-day. Swarming is a natural phenomenon of mass movement
of bees, which should be minimized to obtain large quantities of
honey. A suitable site for apiary should have good pasturage and
a longer honey flow time, and the selected variety of honey bee
should be a less swarming one, such as Apis mellifera (Italian
bee).

8. Diseases and Enemies of Honey Bee

Honey bees are susceptible to a variety of diseases caused by

viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. Examples of these
diseases include septicemia caused by Bacillus apisceptious,
brood foul disease caused by fungi, nosema disease and amoeba
disease caused by protozoan pathogens, dysentry, paralysis, and
acrine diseases caused by a parasitic mite Acarapis woodi.
Honey bees are also vulnerable to various pests and enemies,
including wasps, wax moths, mites, and birds. Control methods
for these pests and enemies include manual destruction of wasp
nests, exposing hives to sun and heat to control wax moths, and
using scare devices to deter bee-eating birds.

[Link] on Bee Keeping

1. Bees have unique dance moves: Honeybees use specific
dance moves to communicate the location of food sources to
other bees in the colony. This dance is called the "waggle dance."
2. Bees can fly in different directions: Bees have the ability to
fly in different directions using their two sets of wings, which move
in opposite directions.
3. Bees are clean creatures: Bees are hygienic creatures and
constantly clean their hives to maintain a healthy environment.
4. Bees have special memory skills: Bees have the ability to
remember different flower patterns and use that information to
navigate their way back to their hive.
5. Honey never spoils: Honey has natural antibacterial
properties, which makes it resistant to spoilage. Ancient
Egyptians stored honey in pots for thousands of years, and the
honey was still edible when opened.