Bee farming is the oldest process of collecting and maintaining bee colonies. The main purpose of beekeeping is to commercially collect honey, hive, and other commercial products. India has a great platform and market demand for Apiculture or Beekeeping. Beehives for farming are mainly man-made. In this post, we will discuss all brief details of bee farming. So let’s read the post.
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What Is Bee Farming?
Bee farming or beekeeping is commercial farming practice where farmers maintain honey bees, hives, and bee colonies to produce honey. Also, bee farming is called apiculture, the scientific method of rearing honey bees. 9000 years ago people were keeping bees following the traditional method. But in the modern era, mostly the touches of modern farming technology enhance the framing method. At present farmers can do mixed farming, with crops agriculture and bees?
10000 years date back humans collected honey from wild bees. In North Africa, the activity was first found. The domestication of bees was found 4500 years back in Egyptian art.
Later men store honey in jars and they used hives and smoke to collect them. Throughout the Middle East beginning, humans began to maintain colonies of wild bees in artificial hives. For more history about honey bee farming, you may visit here.
Types Of Honey Bees:
About twenty thousand honey bees species exist but only eight species of honey bees are recognized. Those species have 43 subspecies. Below their names are given:
- Apis mellifera (Western honey bee)
- Apis andreniformis (Black Dwarf honey bee)
- Apis cerana (Eastern honey bee)
- Apis nigrocincta (Philippine honey bee)
- Apis Florea (Red Dwarf honey bee)
- Apis koschevnikovi (Koschevnikov’s honey bee)
- Apis laboriosa (Himalayan Giant honey bee)
- Apis dorsata (Giant honey bee)
Depending on bees’ specialized functions there are three castes of bees consists:
- Queen bee:
The Queen bee is mainly only one breeding female in the colony.
- Worker bees:
Worker bees are a large number of female bees, thirty thousand to sixty thousand in number.
- Drones:
Drones are male bees. And largest bees in the hive, almost twice the size of worker bees.
Traditional Beekeeping:
Traditional beekeeping follows these.
1. Fixed Comb Hives:
This is a type of hive where combs cannot be manipulated for harvesting. With this process, farmers do not damage the comb permanently. The structure of any hollow can be used for making fixed comb hives. Wooden box, clay pot, skep, and log gum can be used to make fixed comb hives. In poor countries, this process is very important for their livelihood.
2. Commercial Beekeeping:
Commercial beekeeping practices when any company holds up to 350 hives to sell honey, beeswax, and other bee-related products for profit. Who are non-commercial beekeepers who own 30 hives they can follow the traditional process? They sell massive amounts of honey for their profit. The beekeeping companies are owned by family and passed down to the upcoming generation.
Modern Beekeeping:
In modern beekeeping there are some processes followed by beekeepers:
- Horizontal hives
Horizontal hive designs are less costly than other hive designs. It is very easy to expand the hive if needed additional honey storage space.
- Vertically stackable hives
Vertically stackable hives are hanging types of hives. It has movable frames on the top opened hive.
- Protective clothing
Protective clothing is very important that most beekeepers used to wear. It is usually gloves and a hooded suit, veil, and hat. The protective dress’s fabric helps to avoid stinging attacks of bees.
- Smoker
The smoker is a very important tool to defend against bees attack. The smoker makes calm bees.
- Effects of stings and of protective measures
Most beekeepers believe in the effect of stings. The more stings a beekeeper receives the less irritation each cause. So they got stung a few times in a season.
- The internal temperature of a hive
To maintain the internal temperature of a hive modern technology brings blessings. Beekeepers need to control the temperature to 35 degrees Celsius. But the temperature depends on the weather. For hot weather and for cold weather the maintenance process is different.
- Location of hives
The location of a hive is very important. We mainly observe it near ponds, springs, and shallow brooks. Based on whether the place should be different.
How to Start Honey Bee Farming?
With little training, anyone can start honey bee farming and improve their lifestyle. Many government organizations provide training to farmers. If you are new to bee farming you can take advice from professionals. Summer is the best time to start honey bee farming as during this time blooming flowers give sufficient nectar and pollen.
In general society, there is an opinion of agriculture-related firms. Any person can start them easily without experience and knowledge. But this is not true. It is necessary to have the proper knowledge for the business person to start a beekeeping business. So, there are some business guides to starting a beekeeping business.
1. Beekeeping Training:
To start bee cultivation, the farmer needs the proper technical knowledge. Also, experience is a necessary part of bee cultivation. Therefore, the business person already does the work with the farmers for a few months. To train in this business, the farmer or the business person can contact the regional agriculture department. The farmer can get trained by the local agriculture department or agricultural university. However, when the farmer gets a practical understanding, they will get all this knowledge.
2. Suitable Places For Bee Farming Business:
To start a honey business plan, select a suitable place that should be dry. The high-level moisture can affect bee flying. Honey ripening is also affected by the high levels of moisture. It is necessary to have a water source at the site that should be natural or artificial too. The hive can be set under the shade of trees.
An artificial arrangement can be built to create the shade. The business person can keep the beehives under the trees in the shade where the trees are abundant. Honey bee farming box is very popular among bee farmers.
3. The Honey Bee Project Tools:
There are different geographical conditions that require various equipment for beekeeping in India. Make sure that which tool will prove suitable for the business person. The business person can find the tools from the local beekeepers.
There are some types of equipment listed in the given below–
- Hive bodies
- Hive stand
- Bottom board
- Painting
- Smoker
- Hive tool
- Protective wear
- Frames and combs
- Inner cover
- Outer cover
- Plastic hive equipment
4. Managing the pollination bee:
Bees make honey by taking honeydew and juice from plants. Therefore, the farmer or the businessman needs to keep the hives near a field that comes from the plants. Honeydew and juice can be easily picked up. To start a honey farming business, the businessman or the farmer should also remember that three colonies can be planted per hectare.
There are many crops that benefit significantly from bee pollination and their list is here–
- Almonds, liches, apples, and strawberries benefit from pollination from nuts and fruits.
- Vegetables contained cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, pumpkin, onion, and radishes.
- Fodder seeds crop like clover and others are also included in this.
5. Keep Bees From Diseases:
To get a good profit from the bee farming business, the farmer or the business person should protect the stock and the organisms that are producing the product. The farmer should try to keep them out of diseases and pests.
6. Bee Harvesting In India:
The popular honey beekeeping projects are honey, bee venom, royal jelly, bee wax, and pollen. Harvesting products in old and top bar hives are require the farmer to select the hive. The hive should be containing honey-coated within a thin layer of bee wax. It is very close to the outer side of the nest.
Honey Bee Farming Business in India:
Most of the traditional agriculture has been done in India. Honey bee farming in India is not have been a long time since it started mercenary. Collecting honey from the forests has been in subsistence. Honey bees transform the juice of flowers into honey. After that, the honey bees store the honey in the hive. In the market, the rising demand for honey indicates that beekeeping in India can emerge as a profitable enterprise.
So, let’s talk about the products produced from beekeeping in India. There the first product produced from it. And honey wax is the second product. To get extra income, any farmer can start this type of business. This business is a standard profession to earn money.
Constantly, its demand is growing in the national and international markets. The business is growing due to its many industrial and domestic uses. The farmers have shifted towards the beekeeping business after losing other businesses.
Honey Bee Farming Near Me:
To start a honey bee farming business, the farmer or the business person should give look on Google to see the “honey bee farming near me”. However, West Bengal is one of the best states in honey production. West Bengal is leading the major honey production in India.
Also, Punjab is another honey-producer state in India. To know more about the nearest bee farming, you can search on Google, there have many results for you. Know about the top states in India popular for Bee Farming:
1. West Bengal:
Moreover, here we listed some of the best honey bee farming in West Bengal.
- Dutta Honey Farm” in Ashoknagar, West Bengal.
- “Honey House” in Kolkata, West Bengal
- “Bonphool Honey” in West Bengal
- “Sarkar Bee Farm” in Hanspur, West Bengal
- “Barman Bee Farm” in Ashok Nagar West Bengal.
2. Punjab:
Punjab is not only the second but also provides equal importance to West Bengal. The most popular honey bee farms in Punjab are here–
- “ Tiwana bee farm” in Doraha, Punjab
- “Singh bees farming” in Jalal, Punjab
- “Beehive Farms Pvt. ltd” in Punjab
- “Arora honey bee farm” in Jethuwal, Punjab
- Punjab honey bee & poultry & dairy farming” in Bapraur, Punjab.
3. Uttar Pradesh:
Uttar Pradesh is keeping up with the other leading states in India. UP is giving an equal share of total production to the country. However, the most popular honey bee farms in Uttar Pradesh are listed here–
- “Purvi honey bee farm” in Kodi, Uttar Pradesh
- “Verma Ji honey bee farm” in Kakri, Uttar Pradesh
- “Oja’s honey farm” in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
- “Royal honey and bee farming society” in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
- “GSM bee honey farm” in Pakadpur, Uttar Pradesh.
4. Bihar:
The most popular honey bee farms in Bihar are listed in the given below.
- “Natural honey” in Mustafapur, Bihar
- “R.P.K honey production” in Bihar
- “Kudratti honey” in Muzaffarpur, Bihar
- “Anti-age natural products” in Patna, Bihar
- “Kisaan honey” in ghoswari, Bihar.
5. Kerala:
In Kerala, there is great demand for honey. There the prices and the production are varying based on demand and supply. Here we listed some of the best bee farms in Kerala.
- “Royal honey bee farm” in Nedumangad, Kerala
- “Honey bee farming” in Kondazhy, Kerala
- “Madhusree honey & bee farm” in Alakode, Kerala
- “Philip’s natural honey & bee farm” in Kumily, Kerala
- “K.J bee farm” in K.J textiles, Kerala.
Loans and Subsidies for Beekeeping Business:
To develop any business it’s important to have strong support from government schemes. If any person wants to do a beekeeping business, the Indian government is ready to help you by sharing loans and subsidies.
National Honey Bee Board Indian is one of them to provide training and investment to develop start-up farmers. For marketing, the honey government helps farmers and it is one of the difficult stages, the farmers face.
NBHM Mission and KVIC Schemes are some examples. One has to pay back this loan between 5-7 years and you can pay the loan quarterly. The national bee board in communication with NABARD has schemes in India to finance the beekeepers. It is recommended to visit the national bee board website to get the nature. There needs assistance provided for bee farming in India.