Dr. Parveen Kumar
The study and practice of beekeeping to get honey and other useful products is called as apiculture. The other useful products include beeswax, propolis, royal jelly, honeycomb, etc. The Indian apiculture market is expected to reach a value of INR 38,609 Million by 2026.According to the Food and Agriculture Organization database in 2017-18,India ranked eighth in the world in terms of honey with a production 64.9 thousand tonnes while China stood first with a production of 551 thousand tonnes. Honey is the most beneficial and economically important hive product. It forms a key ingredient in the Ayurveda and Pharmaceutical sectors in India. Traditional Indian medicinal systems such as Ayurveda utilize honey mainly as a vehicle for quicker absorption of various drugs such as herbal extracts. Moreover, it is also thought to support the treatment of several more specific ailments, especially those related to respiratory irritations and infections, mouth sores, eye cataracts, etc. Honey is also being increasingly used as an ingredient in a number of foods such as baked products, confectionary, candy, marmalades, jams, spreads, breakfast cereals, beverages, milk products, etc. Honey consumption in India has witnessed a strong growth over the last few decades. The per capita consumption of honey, however, still remains low in India compared to a number of developed countries. The low per capita consumption of honey is mainly as a result of the lack of awareness regarding the benefits of honey in diets and the fact that dietary habits in India do not call for the use of honey in a major way.
Bees are magical creatures that not only contribute to the pollination of wildflowers, but also to the pollination of agricultural crops. According to an estimate, bees and other pollinators pollinate almost 90% of flowering plants and 70% of the world’s main crops. Without bees, these numbers would fall to decline. The economic contribution of bees is also invaluable. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the pollination of the alone honey bee is valued above $14 billion a year. The government of Canada shares a formula in which you can calculate the monetary benefit of bee pollination in relation to a specific crop. There are almost 20,000 different species of bees in the world. Bees live in colonies. In each colony, there are three types of bees, the queen bee, the worker bee, and the drone. The worker and the queen bee both are females, but only the queen bee can reproduce. All drones are male. Worker bee’s tasks are to clean the hive, collecting pollen and nectar to feed the colony and taking care of the offspring. The drone only mates with the queen. The queen’s job is to lay eggs only.
History: Owing to the immense importance of bees and its products; every year May 20 is celebrated as the ‘World Honeybee Day’ all over the globe.
In December 2017 United Nations approved this day and the first World Bee Day was celebrated on Sunday, 20 May 2018. In the current year, the fourth observance of this event is taking place. Honey bees are classed as ‘social’ bees, as they live in big colonies usually of around 50,000 to 60,000 workers. There are 10 types of honey bees across the world.
It is celebrated on May 20 as it was the date on which Anton Jansa, the pioneer of beekeeping was born in 1734 in Slovenia. The purpose of the day is to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem.
Theme: The theme for the ‘World Honeybee Day’ 2021 is ‘Bee engaged: Build Back Better for Bees’ By this theme, United Nations focused upon the threats of protection posed by the COVID-19 to bees and other pollinators. UN also urged upon bee-keeping awareness and the importance of bee derived products. This theme of Bee Day 2021 provides a direction to all the celebrations of World Bee Day 2021. Unfortunately, this all important creature is also facing some severe threats. These are getting endangered due to habitat loss, use of chemical insecticides and pesticides and other anthropogenic causes. Declining numbers of different species of bees have been noticed around the world, which means that there is a real risk of additional species. In seven years span, the United States saw approximately 1.6 million bees die off each year.
Honey bees are being affected by a widespread bacterial disease called American foul brood. The Climate change has emerged as the root cause of many environmental issues. For example, the Gourd Bee has a decline in numbers in recent years. The gourd bee lives upon vegetables such as squash or pumpkins. However, climate change has reduced the production of these vegetables, which has an impact on the growth of gourd bees. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have stated that climate change can affect Rusty Patched Bumble Bee in several different ways, including, increased temperature and precipitation extremes, increased drought, early snow-melt, and late frost events. Climate change affects bees both directly and indirectly, scientists have alarmed that the earlier winter thaws, the earlier snow and frost thaws, and the earlier flowers blooming if bees will be able to keep up with these changing environments. Bees in Australia are dying at high alarming rates, high-density populations and flowerless small gardens are also the bees affecting factors in Australia. According to Time Magazine, for the study, researchers looked at 110 years of data on 67 bumblebee species to track their movements over time. Activity between 1901 and 1974 was compared to movement in recent decades when climate change accelerated. In the northern end of their range, bees have failed to migrate closer to the North Pole. In the southern end, many populations have died. Altogether, bees have lost a range of up to nearly 200 miles in both North America and Europe. The study, which evaluated land-use changes and pesticide application in addition to weather conditions, attributed the drop to climate change. If emergency steps are not taken now, then additional species of bees may be on the endangered list.
In the present times, as a result of changing food habits and an increasing inclination of the Indian consumer towards health and wellness foods, it is expected that the consumption of honey will increase in the coming time. The Government of India is also promoting beekeeping to double farmers’ income. A ‘Honey Mission’ has been launched as a part of Sweet revolution.
(The author is a Scientist at KVK-Leh, SKUAST-K)
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