Apiculture is the practice of raising honeybees for commercial or agricultural purposes. The oldest evidence of beekeeping dates to 1669, although it is likely that beekeeping is more than 3,000 years old. Apiculture provides farmers and hobbyists with a variety of enterprises, including production of beeswax, honey, and other edible bee products, crop pollination services, and sale of bees to other beekeepers. Bees are bred in apiaries, which are areas that can hold many beehives. Bees are cared for and managed to produce honey and wax. Humans are responsible for maintaining bee colonies, which are usually kept in hives.

1. PRESENTATION ON
HONEY BEES & APICULTURE FARM
ZOOSEC-101: Apiculture
Dr. Yahyea Baktiar Laskar
M.Sc., Ph.D., PGDBI, PGDCA
Assistant Professor
Department of Zoology
Ramanuj Gupta Degree College
(Affiliated under Assam University, Silchar)

2. INTRODUCTION—Definition & History of Apiculture:
Apiculture is the technical term for beekeeping.
It includes the maintenance of honeybees and hives for the production of beeswax, honey and other
edible bee products; crop pollination services.
The earliest found record of honey gathering is depicted in the Cave of the Spider (la Cueva de la Araña)
near Valencia, Spain. This 15,000-year-old painting shows a woman on a rope ladder gathering honey from a
bee nest precariously on the side of a rock cliff.
The earliest known form of organized beekeeping occurred in
ancient Egypt.
By 1500 BCE, beekeeping was widespread throughout the Nile
region with Egyptian administrators accepting honey presented by
farmers as payment.

3. INTRODUCTION—Definition & History of Apiculture:
Apiculture has a long history in China, where the native Eastern Honeybee, has been used for crop
pollination, as well as honey and beeswax production. By the time of the East Han-Dynasty (25-150 CE),
beekeeping was well established and highly profitable.
Origin and development of modern beekeeping lies between 1500 and 1851 when attempts were made to
domesticate bees in different types of hives.
Commercial beekeeping started in India from the second half of the 19th century.
It is recorded that in 1882, artificial culture of honeybees was introduced in undivided Bengal following
European methodologies.
In 1939, All India Bee-keeping Association was established and very soon it spread its branches to most of
the states and districts of India.
Now it merges with ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) and has expanded its activities.
In 1945, Central Bee-keeping Research Station was established.

4. BEE BIOLOGY—Castes and Social Organization:
Colony of honeybees consists of three castes: Queen, Drone, and workers.
Queen is the fertile female that can lay up to 3000 eggs per day. It is largest among other castes. It can be
easily identified by its long abdomen, strong legs, and short wings.
Drones are the haploid, fertile, male
members. The size of drone is smaller
than the queen but larger than the
workers.
Workers are diploid sterile females
and are smallest in size. Their number
in colony is the highest.

5. BEE BIOLOGY—Life Cycle of honeybees:

6. BEE BIOLOGY—Bee species:

7. BEE BIOLOGY—Honey producing bee species:
Apis dorsata Apis indica
Apis mellifera Apis florea

8. BEE BIOLOGY—Morphological Peculiarities:

9. BEE BIOLOGY—Anatomical Peculiarities:

10. NATURAL BEEHIVE
The majority of a natural beehive is
made up of comb, which is a series of
interlocking hexagonal cells made of wax.
These hexagons are used to store honey
and pollen, and to raise brood.
Honey is stored in the upper part of the
comb; beneath it are rows of pollen-
storage cells, worker-brood cells, and
drone-brood cells, in that order.
The peanut-shaped queen cells are
normally built at the lower edge of the
comb.

11. BEE-KEEPING EQUIPMENTS
Smoker
Hive Stand
Bee Veil
Overall
High Boots
Frame Holder Gloves

12. BEE-KEEPING EQUIPMENTS
Decapping knife
Queen Cage
Queen Gate
Artificial Bee hive
Hive tool
Bee Brush Queen cell protector

13. ARTIFICIAL BEEHIVE—History & Invention:
Lorenzo Langstroth invented the modern beehive in
1851, enabling a greater production of honey.
Langstroth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and
graduated from Yale College in 1831.
Prior to Langstroth's work, beekeepers could not
monitor the health, production, or containment of bees
while harvesting honey.
His design made it easy to inspect hives for disease,
monitor the health of colonies, and harvest honey.
75% of beehives in use today are based on his design.

14. ARTIFICIAL BEEHIVE
An artificial beehive have the following parts:
Stand—elevates the bottom board off the ground.
Bottom board—provides a single point for bees to enter and
exit the hive.
Deep super—here the bees raise their young and first store
honey.
Queen excluder—prevent the queen laying eggs in some of the
cells within the hive.
Honey supers—used to collect honey.
Inner cover—prevents bees from propolizing the hive's outer
cover
Outer cover—Provides additional insulation.

15. BEE FORAGES
The plant species which produce nectar, pollen, extra floral nectaries or propolis are visited by bees for one
or the other material are known as Bee flora or Bee pasturage or Bee forage.
Eucalyptus tree
(11 kg/tree)
Pigeon pea
(50 kg/hector)
Brassica campestris
(47.7 kg/hector)

16. PRODUCTS OF APICULTURE
HONEY
Fights Infections
Boosts immunity,
Antibacterial, Antiviral
POLLEN
Nutritional Supplement
Boosts immunity,
Antibacterial, Antiviral
PROPOLIS
Infection-fighting Powerhouse
Healing property, Fights colds,
flu, & sinusitis
ROYAL JELLY
Elixir of Life
Antioxidant, Antibacterial,
Antiviral, Skin health
BEE VENOM
Nature’s Botox
Anti-wrinkle properties,
Anti-aging, Skin health

17. BENEFITS OF APICULTURE