Importance
and benefits of Honey bee keeping
In
Pakistan
|
7000
Beekeepers
|
||
Registered
Beekeepers
|
3000
in KPK
|
||
Bee
Colonies:
|
300,000
colonies
|
||
Honey
production:
|
Average
13000 tones
|
||
Potential:
|
50000
tones/annum
|
||
Beekeeping:
|
Employees,
untaught, males & female (both), Farmers/Fruit growers and landless
labourers etc.
|
||
Climatic
condition:
|
Conducive
for beekeeping round the year.
|
||
Benefits
of Beekeeping:
|
Hobby
and good income generating source.
|
||
Pollination
services:
|
Improve
the quality of seeds, fruits and enhance the crop/ fruit yield
|
||
Increase
in crop yield stone fruits, pome fruits & vegetables etc
|
70-80%
in fruits, crop/oil seed crops, almond, apple, apricot, peaches, pear,
persimmon, plum, colovers/ berseem sunflower, radish, carrot cauliflower,
Brinjal, Onion, Bittergourd, turnip and water melon, cucumber.
|
||
Qualities of Honey bees which make them good
Pollinators
Ò Body covered with hairs and has
structural adaptation for carrying nectar and pollen
Ò Bees do not injure plants
Ò Adult and larva feed on nectar and
pollen which is available in plenty
Ò Considered as superior pollinators,
since store pollen and nectar for future use
Ò No diapauses, needs pollen
throughout the year
Ò Body size and proboscis – much
suitable for many crops
Ò Pollinate wide variety of crops
Ò Forage in extreme weather conditions
Effect of Bee Pollination on Crops
Ò Increases yield in terms of seed
yield and fruit yield in many crops
Ò Improves the quality of fruits and
seeds
Ò Bee pollination increases oil
content of seeds in sunflower
Ò Bee pollination is must in some in
compatible crops for seed set
Fruits and Nuts:
|
Almonds, apple, apricot, peach, straw berry, citrus and Litchi
|
Vegetables & Vegetable seed
crops:
|
Cabbage, cauliflowers, carrot, coriander, cucumber, melon, onion,
pumpkin, radish and turnip
|
Oil seed crops:
|
Sunflower, rapeseed, mustard & safflower
|
Forage seed crops:
|
Lucerne, clover & Berseem
|
Crops Benefitted by Bee Pollination
Yield Increase due to Bee Pollination
Crop
|
Percent
yield increase
|
Mustard
|
43
|
Sunflower
|
32-48
|
Cotton
|
17-19
|
Onion
|
93
|
Apple
|
44
|
Ò No. of colonies/ha: Optimum No. of from 3 – 9 colonies/ha. Foraging
distance 1-2 km radius
Ò Pollinator Diversity and its Role in Enhancing Crop Productivity
Ò Two Types of Pollinators:
a)
Abiotic Pollinators Wind, Water
& gravity
b)
Biotic – Insects Birds and mammals
c)
Bees Pollinators: 80% of all
flowering plants (Kenmore and Krell 1998)
d)
Insects: Most commonly occurring
pollinators of many agricultural and horticultural crops.
e)
Kinds of Insect Pollinators: Bees,
flies, beetles, butterflies, moths and wasps etc.
Impact
of honey bee foragers on pollination of oilseed brassica grain yield. A research trial on impact of honey bee as pollinator on the yield of
oilseed brassica crop was carried out. The results showed that crop plots under
caged condition gave minimum grain yield of 2.75kg/plot while plots without
cages for free pollination of bees gave maximum yield of 7.32kg/plot.
Rent
of bee colonies (Agreement with beekeepers):
|
Placing
bee colonies in the orchards. (3-4 strong colonies)
|
Products of Honey bees:
|
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