Ever since the beginning of civilization, man has been trying to make use of organisms around him for various purposes and to rear them for increasing their number. One of the finest discoveries is our knowledge regarding the procurement of honey collected by honey bees. Care and management of honey bees on a commercial scale for the production of honey is called Apiculture or Bee Keeping. The word ‘apiculture’ comes from the Latin word ’apis’ meaning bee. Bees are reared in apiaries that are areas where a lot of bee hives can be placed. There are five well recognized types of bees in the world. They are Apis dorsata (Rock bee), Apis florea (Little bee), Apis indica (Indian bee), Apis mellifera (European bee) and Apis adamsoni (African bee).

Social organization of honey bees In honey bees, a highly organized division of labour is found. A well developed honey bee colony consists of the Queen, Drones and Workers (Figure 13.4). All the three types depend on each other for their existence. There is normally one queen, 10,000 to 30,000 workers and few hundred drones (male bees) in a colony.

Queen bee is a functional female bee present in each hive and feeds on Royal Jelly. Its sole function is to lay eggs throughout its life span. The virgin queen bee mates only once in her life. During the breeding season in winter, a unique flight takes place by the queen bee followed by several drones. This flight is called “nuptial flight”. The queen bee produces a hormonal chemical substance called pheromone. The drones in the area are

attracted to the pheromone and mating takes place. During mating, the drone releases large number of sperms for sufficient fertilization. In a life span of two to four years, a queen bee lays about 15 lakh eggs. When the queen bee loses its capacity to lay eggs, another worker bee starts feeding on the Royal Jelly and develops into a new queen.

Among the honey bees, workers are sterile females and smallest but yet function as the main spring of the complicated machinery in the colony. Worker bee lives in a chamber called ‘Worker Cell’ and it takes about 21 days to develop from the egg to adult and its lifespan is about six weeks. Each worker has to perform different types of work in her life time. During the first half of her life, she becomes a nurse bee attending to indoor duties such as secretion of royal jelly, prepares bee-bread to feed the larvae, feeds the queen, takes care of the queen and drones, secretes bees wax, builds combs, cleans and fans the bee hive.

Honey bee uses its long-tube like tongue to extract sugary liquid called nectar from the flowers. The nectar is stored in the stomach and the enzyme invertase transforms it into honey. This increases the storage life of honey and also contributes to its medicinal value.

Then she becomes a soldier and guards the bee hive. In the second half her life lasting for three weeks, she searches and gathers the pollen, nectar, propolis and water.

The drone is the functional male member of the colony which develops from an unfertilized egg. It lives in a chamber called drone cell. Drones totally depend on workers for honey. The sole duty of the drone is to fertilize the virgin queen hence called “King of the colony”. During swarming (the process of leaving the colony by the queen with a large group of worker bees to form a new colony) the drones follows the queen, copulates and dies after copulation.

Structure of a Bee Hive The house of honey bee is termed as bee hive or comb. The hive consists of hexagonal cells made up of wax secreted by the abdomen of worker bees arranged in opposite rows on a common base. These hives are found hanging vertically from the rocks, building or branches of trees. The young stages of honey bees accommodate the lower and central cells of the hive called the brood cells. In Apis dorsata, the brood cells are of similar in size and shape but in other species, brood cells are of three types viz., queen cell for

Queen Worker Drone

queens, worker cell for workers and drone cells for drones (Figure.13.5). The cells are intended for storage of honey and pollen in the upper portion of the comb whereas the lower portions are for brood rearing.

The Langstroth bee hive is made up of wood and consists of six parts (Figure 13.6) namely Stand, Bottom board, Brood chamber, Super, Inner cover and Top cover. Besides the above primary equipments, other accessory equipments are used in beekeeping. They are Queen Excluder, Comb foundation, Bee gloves, Bee veil, Smoker, Hive Tool, Uncapping knife, Bee brush, Queen introducing cage, Feeder, Honey Extractor and Hive Entrance Guard .

Products of bee keeping and their economic importance The chief products of bee keeping industry are honey and bee wax.

Honey is the healthier substitute for sugar. The major constituents of honey are: levulose, dextrose, maltose, other sugars, enzymes, pigments, ash and water. It is an aromatic sweet material derived from nectar of plants. It is a natural food, the smell and taste depends upon the pollen taken by the honey bee. It is used as an antiseptic, laxative and as a sedative. It is generally used in Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine. It is also used in the preparation of cakes, breads and biscuits

Bee wax is secreted by the abdomen of the worker bees at the age of two weeks. The wax is masticated and mixed with the secretions of the cephalic glands to convert it into a plastic resinous substance. The resinous chemical substance present in the wax is called propolis which is derived from pollen grains. The pure wax is white in colour and the yellow colour is due to the presence of carotenoid pigments. It is used for making candles, water proofing materials, polishes for

floors, furniture, appliances, leather and taps. It is also used for the production of comb foundation sheets in bee keeping and used in pharmaceutical industries.