Dr Banarsi Lal & Dr Devinder Sharma
Every year 20th of May is celebrated as the World Bee Day across the globe. The date for World Bee Day was selected as 20th of May because on this day, an apiculture pioneer Anton Jansa was born hailing from beekeepers family in Slovenia. The theme for this year World Bee Day is ‘Be engaged: Celebrating the diversity of bees and beekeeping systems’. World Bee Day was firstly inaugurated on May 20, 2018 and since then it is celebrated every year. In the current year, the fifth observance of this special day taking place. The art of management of maneuverable hives and extracting honey is called beekeeping. Honey beekeeping is the only industry which besides the production of honey, beeswax etc. also assists to enhance the crops production through pollination process. This particular industry does not require any special material. India is one of the honey exporting countries in the world with a total production of about 1,20,000 MTs of honey. From 2005 honey production in India has increased gradually and it is due to rearing of A.mellifera. In the Union Territory of J&K the untapped potential can be very handy to increase the income and employment opportunities.
Apiculture or beekeeping is an age-old tradition in the Union Territory of J&K. Initially it was considered as a no profit generating venture. But with the scientific interventions now it has been identified as a prime agri-horticultural and forest-based industry. Beekeeping is a lucrative business and it can generate more income and employment among the farmers of J&K. There is huge potential of beekeeping in J&K and the farmers of J&K can adopt the modern scientific methods of beekeeping to enhance their income. In J&K the material in the form of nectar and pollen from flowers are freely available in the nature. Beekeeping can be started by anybody whether somebody is skilled or unskilled with little investment and even women farmers can start it as an entrepreneurship. This industry does not have competition with any other industry. This industry does not require any sophisticated machinery and even a landless person can start it. Beekeeping is successful in the areas where abundant flowering plants are available. Agricultural farms, forest sites and fruit orchards can be selected for the beekeeping. Honey and beeswax are commonly known products of this industry and a number of other by-products such as pollen, propolis, royal jelly, cerumen etc. can also be produced.
Union Territory of J&K is endowed with diverse forest resources. Around 40 per cent of the forest area of J&K is dense or very dense and rest falls in the category of open forest. A good percentage cover in J&K and negligible use of pesticides in cropped land offers vast potential for producing the organic honey in J&K. There is an immense scope for growth and development of migratory beekeeping in J&K. The success of beekeeping depends on the factors such as suitable climatic conditions, bee forage, bee management and bee breeding. Migratory beekeeping increases the honey production manifold as compared to the stationary beekeeping. Beekeeping not only provides the employment opportunities but also enhances the crops production by 15-20 per cent. J&K is said to be one of the most important and suitable beekeeping places in India. This UT is suitable for the stationary and migratory beekeeping because of its favorable climatic conditions and diverse natural sources. Beekeeping with Apis mellifera is popular in Jammu &Kashmir. Beekeepers undertake bees’ migration for honey production and there is an immense potential in J&K to improve honey production. Knowledge of floral resources and appropriate migration schedules in different beekeeping regions can increase the quality and quantity of honey. Researchers at the Central Bee Research and Training Institute, Pune studied the floral resources for A. mellifera and suggest various migration schedules for different phytogeographic regions in J&K. Beekeeping has been practiced since ancient times mainly for the precious honey stored by the bees in combs. It was practised in its simplest form in the forest areas. The indigenous oriental honey bee, Apis cerana, was kept in wall niches, clay pots or other receptacles by the beekeepers. With the introduction of scientific beekeeping, now the bees are kept in wooden boxes.
Introduction of A Mellifera bee species has revolutionized beekeeping and honey production industry in J&K. There are many attributes that make A. mellifera more successful and better suited than the indigenous bees for commercial beekeeping. Its worker bees are larger than those of A cerana, and have larger foraging range and high forage carrying capacity. But A mellifera need plentiful floral sources and cannot survive in the regions with scant supply of pollen and nectar. It has been observed that A mellifera beekeeping has made rapid progress and production of honey from the last few years in J&K. Beekeepers need new vegetation regions to keep the bees’ colonies for production and they need information on the availability of pollen and nectar from different plants species. One of the important constraints for progress of A mellifera beekeeping is the scanty information available. Commercial beekeeping with A mellifera honey yield can be increased by adopting migration as a regular management practice. Migration is important because (i) the bee adopt well to farms and orchards with large areas under a single crop; (ii) the colonies need a large amount of pollen and nectar for their survival and growth and (iii) productive efficiency can be achieved only when a large number of colonies are maintained in an apiary in good strength. It is difficult to get adequate bee forage throughout the year in one location. Thus, it is necessary for mellifera beekeepers to have detailed information on the availability of different floral sources near their apiaries, seasons of their availability and migration schedules for optimal utilization of the available floral resources. The migration of bee colonies from forests in hills to farms and orchards in the adjacent plains in order to utilize the local bee flora and improve bee forage availability to bee colonies has been observed by the researchers. It has also been observed that migratory beekeeping in the hilly areas of J&K enhances honey production and colony multiplication. Migration is an important beekeeping practice for A mellifera. Mustard, gram, eucalyptus, Shisham, berseem, toria, maize, citrus, guava, cucurbits etc., are the crops which are preferred by the bee colonies. Migratory beekeeping in J&K helps to maximize honey yields. Bees chose certain migratory routes for honey production and colony multiplication. The natural flora of J&K forests is more varied than many other parts of the country. J&K has vast geographical area, varying climate from temperate to tropical, torrid to arctic and from total aridity to a maximum of humidity. Forests cover about 19.95 per cent of the area in J&K. Large quantities of deodar, fir, toon, teak and other trees are grown for timber. Several of these species provide forage to honey bees.
In J&K, the colonies are situated in different locations in the plains where mustard and toria are cultivated. During the severe cold in January, the colonies perform well even when they get very short foraging time between 1100 to 1500 h. In the months of February and March colonies get flows from mustard and eucalypts. Honey yield can be increased in September fromCitrus spp. In J&K, mustards and eucalypts flower later, i.e., in February-March. Colonies can therefore be taken to areas for flow from mustards, sisham and eucalypts. Colonies can then be migrated to litchi growing areas in March-April for the main flow from litchi. J&K possesses a variety of crops and tree species and thus present good opportunities for migratory beekeeping. Migration should be a common beekeeping practice for beekeepers who kept A mellifera. It is possible to increase honey production further by optimal utilization of the floral resources available. There is need to promote scientific beekeeping in J&K and all kinds of technical guidelines regarding the scientific beekeeping should be provided to the farmers.
(The authors are Head, KVK Reasi and Asstt Professor, Division of Entomology SKUAST-J).
