Honeybees and Beekeeping: The Global Scenario
Diversity of geographical features particularly in the tropics and subtropics plays a key role in determining the topography, climate, and plant species of the region. Such regions provide abundant opportunities for both migratory and non migratory beekee
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D.P. Abrol, Uma Shankar, K.S. Nitin, and G. Basana Gowda
Abstract
Diversity of geographical features particularly in the tropics and subtropics plays a key role in determining the topography, climate, and plant species of the region. Such regions provide abundant opportunities for both migratory and non migratory beekeeping. Current agricultural transformation, once linked to apicultural operations, offers much scope for income generation from beekeeping. Till now only 10 % of the existing potential has been utilized. For instance, India has a potential to keep about 120 million bee colonies that can provide self-employment to over 6 million rural and tribal families. In terms of production, these bee colonies can produce over 1.2 million tonnes of honey and about 15,000 tonnes of beeswax. Organized collection of forest honey and beeswax using improved methods can result in an additional production of at least 120,000 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes of honey and beeswax, respectively. Thus, it is expected to generate income of worth satisfying needs of five million tribal families. The present global status as well as future strategies for conservation of beekeeping is discussed in detail. Keywords
Beekeeping • Beeswax • Diversity • Honey D.P. Abrol (*) • U. Shankar Division of Entomology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology FOA, Chatha, 18009 Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir, India e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] K.S. Nitin Division of Entomology and Nematology, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Hessarghatta Lake Post, Bengaluru 560089, Karnataka, India G.B. Gowda ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack 753 006, Odisha, India e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 A.K. Chakravarthy, S. Sridhara (eds.), Arthropod Diversity and Conservation in the Tropics and Sub-tropics, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1518-2_22
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Introduction
Recent disappearance of honeybees across the globe with the diagnosis of colony collapse disorder has raised concerns about the threats posed to food security and ecosystems (Barrionuevo 2007; UNEP 2010; Mathews 2010). Debates about honeybees loss and its causes continue to rage. In part, the controversy stems from the combined complexity of pollinator relations and suspected multiple, interrelated causes such as chemicals, pests, disease, vegetation changes, weather, etc. The complexity also results in inconsistent manifestations of disappearances from year to year and region to region, leading to further contestations and confusions. The problem and solution(s) continue to haunt and provoke (Thompson et al. 2003). Beekeeping has turned into an inexorably prominent practice to get tasty nectar as a wellspring of occupation and nourishment security through pollination (Walker and Crane 2000; Agrawal 2014). Honey and honeybees have a long history in India. Honey bees developed in this area a large number of years prior and delivered nectar from nec
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