ENTO-365 Title: MANAGEME) OF BEIFICIL INSECTS Introduction Beneficial insects provide regulating ecosystem services to agriculture such as Pollination and the natural regulation of plant pests. It aims to enhance insect-derived ecosystem services from a conservation perspective (ie. enhancing beneficial insects in agricultural landscapes that provide ecosystem services to crops. Human cultures and civilizations have been maintained in countless ways through these beneficial insects, they regulate the pest population of many harmful pest species, produce natural products, and they also dispose the waste and recycle the organic nutrients. It should be consider in Thought that how much we depend on them for our survival and what kind of life would be without insects. Requirements for Enhancing Beneficial Insects The generalized intensification of agriculture and the use of broad- spectrum pesticides decrease the diversity of natural enemy populations and increase the likelihood of pest out breaks. Indeed, pesticide use has been shown to be associated with a large decrease in natural pest control services. Thus, enhancement of agro ecosystem appears to be one of the best ways in which we can d control. And it will increase the sustainability of crop production crease the use of chemical pesticides for pest and disease 1. Role of Beneficial Insects As Pollinators: Insect pollinators are flower visiting Insects that forage on flowering plants to obtain plant-provided food (nectar, pollen). Flower-visiting insects have the potential to transfer male gametes (contained in pollen) to the female gametes while foraging, resulting in pollination. Insect-mediated pollination is an essential step in reproduction for the majority of the world’sflowering plants, including numerous cultivated plant species ice Sunflower, Cucurbitaceous vegetables, Alfalfa, Coriander, Cardmom, Gingelly, Apple etc. Many crops depend on pollination for seed production and fruit set to achieve good yield. Globally, an estimated 35% of crop production is a result of insect pollination. The Apis meliffera L. (European honey bee) is responsible for the pollination servicesin majority of crops. Non-Apis bees also are important pollinators of crops, especially for crops in which honey bees are inefficient pollinators (e.g. alfalfa, squash). A few non-Apis species are managed for crop pollination. Examples of managed non-Apis species include bumble bees, Bombus impatiens Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae) managed for cranberry (Vaccinium spp.) and greenhouse tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) pollination. Although bees are considered the most effective insect-pollinatot of most plant species, other insects have been recognized for their contributions to pollination, Flower visiting flies (Diptera) have been documented as proficient pollinators of several crops including carrot (Dacus carota L.), mustard (Brassica spp.), leek, (Allium ampeloprasum L.), and almond (Prunis dulcis). Weevil Elaeidobius kamerunicus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) plays great role in pollination of Oil palm. Fig wasps are responsible for the pollination in both Smyra and Capri Fig Plantation 2. Natural Enemies: Insect predators and parasitoids that attack and feed on other insects, particularly on insect pests of plants are considered natural enemies. Through this type of feeding, natural enemies contribute to a type of pest regulation referred to as natural biological control. Natural enemies responsible nearby 33% of the natural pest control in cultivatedsystems. Predaceous natural enemies belong to several insect orders and are generally characterized as free-living, mobile, larger than their insect prey, and are able consume several preys throughout their life cycle. But the parasitoids mainly belong to two orders Hymenoptera and Diptera, and their host ranges are considered to be more specialized than that of predator. Free-living adult parasitoids seek out a host, and depending on the parasitoid species, parasitize different life stages of their host (Le. egg, larva, and pupa, adult). Parasitoids can lay an egg. (solitary) or several eggs (gregarious) on or within their host and the immature parasitoid(s) feed on their host to complete development, kill their host, and emerge as free-living adult. In agricultural landscapes, natural enemies have the potential to prevent crop pests from reaching, economically damaging levels (table-1). Predators and parasitoids can suppress or delay pest population growth by contributing to pest mortality that is most vulnerable to herbivores. When diverse populations of natural enemies are present, pest control became more effective due to differing phenology. Beyond natural biological control, natural enemies can be manipulated as part of integrated pest management programs through the importation and establishment of exotic natural enemy species (classical biological control), direct manipulation of populations (augmentative biological control), and, more pertinent to this research, through manipulation of their environment (conservation biological control) 3. Weed Killers: So many insects feed upon unwanted weeds just the same manner they do with the cultivated crops. In many cases the occurrence of these insects has contributed much towards eradication of the weeds. Soil Builders: Insects which live in soil make tunnels, creating channels for smaller organisms, water, air, and roots to travel through. Insects improves soil aeration, and earthworm activity can enhance soil nutrient cycle, the soil physical properties, such as soil structure and tilth and activity of other beneficial soil organisms, Small Dung beetles makes tunnel walls with dung and also make dung balls that helps in maintaining the quality of the soil Excreta of insets also enrich the soil. Examples- Beetles, Ants, Cut-worms, Larvae of flies, Crickets, Termites, Wasps ete Scavengers: Insects which feed on dead and decaying matter of plants and animals are called as scavengers. Insects (scavengers and decomposers) help in the biochemical cycling of the nutrients. Examples: Bark beetle, water scavenger beetle, Termites, Ants ete 4 Some Beneficial Insects and Their Pictures: i. Honey bee, ii. Silk worm larvae, ili, Lac insect, iv. Assassin bug, v. Hover fly, vi. Aphidius calamani, vii. Syrphid fly, viii. Zygogramma bicolorata, ix. Termites, x. Dragon fly, xi. Praying mantis, xii. Trichogramma sp, xiii Damselfly, xiv. Coccinella sp., xv. Chrysoperla carnea, Some Products from Beneficial Insects Production if Honey and Bee Wax: From thousands of year Apis meliffera L. (Honey bees) are important for gaining Honey and bee wax. And honey was the only sweetener, viscous fluid, produced by honeybees. It is collected from nectar from nectories at base flowers. Also collected fiom nectar secreted by plant parts other than flowers known as extra floral nectories. It is also collected from fruit juice, cane juice etc. In present, the developing markets are available for the other two products (Bee pollen and royal jelly) fromhoney. The bee pollen collect by pollen trap from ingoing pollen foragers. It is rich protein source. Bee pollen is a “complete” and good supplement in diet. It is available in health food stores. The royal jelly is secreted by gland of nurse bees when the glands are fully active. It is very nutritious food and is fed to the young workers larvae and queen larvae and adult. Royal jelly is milky and light pale in color. And itis also a good ingredient of some expensive skin care products, which helps in reducing wrinkles and works 2s anti aging. Production of Silk: A unique natural fiber silk cloth, which usually derives from silkworm, Bombyx mori, This “domestic” silk is famous for its finishing and light colors. The silk can also harvest from the many other species e. i, Antherea spp., that found in the India, Japan and China's forests. The silk provided by willed spp ei. Eri, Muga, Tussah and Yamamai are heavier and dark in color hence they are less valued than that of Bombyx mori, Silk can be dyed, spun, in to thread and woven in to fabric. Cloth of Silk is warm in winters, cool in summers, light in weight, and resistant to wrinkling. Production of shellac: laccifer lacca, is a scale insect that secret a hard encrustation over the body as a protective covering. It is of brown color usually and these insects grow on acacia trees in India and Burma. Scale insects present on twigs are heated to extract the resins and then purify. One gram of Lac is extracted from Up to 200 insects. In present the synthetic ‘material such as Polyurethane and vinyl has been taken place of Lae, even after Lac is still in use as dyes, inks, polishes, sealing waxes, and as stiffening agents in the fabrication of felt hats. It is animal originated and commercial resin. Production of Cochineal: Cochineal pigments use in Painting: A scale insect Dacylopius coccus found in Mexico and Central America on prickly pear cacti. Cochineal pigment is extracted fiom these scale insects. For the first time it was used by Aztec Indians as medicines, body paints and as textile dye. The cochineal pigment was important for the intensity and permanency of colors. It was very costly because of its scarcity, so it was used in only the finest fabrics. Now a day’s aniline dyes have taken place of Cochineal in textile industries which is very economic. But the cochineal pigment is still giving the colors in foods, beverages, cosmetics (lipsticks) and art product. Table-1 Natural enemies and their use Predaior | Group Beneficial msec or Tavertorate Peat attacked Trapact on pest Parastod Fredaors | Beets Tadybeds (Family Cocciaelidae), Red and | Aphids, waits, | Able w Tandle a wide (Coleopter) | Blue beetles (Dicrarolsius bellulus), Green | thrips, | mealybugs, | range of prey and are curab beetles (Calosoma. schayen), Green | meth eggs including | immediately effeeuve saldierbeetes (Chauliognathus pulchellus) | Heliothis spp. and | Some species te larvae, ladybieds) both the alult and larvae ate predutory, Predaors | Bogs ‘Assassin bugs (Family Reduvidae), Bigeyed | Aphids, Piewes pest using (Hemiptera) | bugs (Geocoris lubra), brown smudge bugs | Diamondbact mow, | moutparts and then (Deraeocoris signatus), Damsel bugs (Nabis | eges of and lanae | sucks cut interior. Kingbergi), glossy shield bug (Cermaiutus | of Heliothis spp., | Depending on the nisalis) Pirate bug (Orius spp.). Apple dimple | cusworms species of predatory bug (Canpylomma —liebknectic), Spined | (Spodoptera litun), | bug, adults, larvae or predatory shield hug (Oechalia), Broken backed | false loopers eggs may be attackedDag (Taylorygus palldulasy Predators | Predatory | Hoverfly larvae (Family Syiphidhe), “Aphids Tarvae spear aphids Larvae with jaws and suelout intemal juices. Adult overly "are not predicious Predaiors | Mites Predatory mites fom different Familieseg | Blue Oat mile, |), Predacous on other (Acarima) | Anystidae, Béelldae, Erythraeida, Parasiidae | Luceme flea, | mite species and and Cunaxidae Redlegged earth | Luceme fleas rite (Smiathuras viridis) Predaiors | Lacewings | Green (Mallada signatis) and brown Lacewings | Aphids, moth lanae | Larvae insert jaws into (Micromus usmaniae) and eggs, whitey, | softbodies insects and thrips, mites and | eggs and suck out mealybues, Contents. Larvae of both Brown and green lacewings are predatory Adult brown lacewings feed on heliothis eggs and mites, Fredaiors | Spiders | Variety oF species melding wollspilers, | Predatom ora range | Pest species are nightstalking spiders, orbweavers, tangle web | of insect pests consumed spiders, lower spiders, jumping’ spiders and Iynx spiders Farastonds | Apia “Tioxys Complaname, Aphids ara | Aphids Wasp imate ogg tata Paasiteids | Lysiphiebustestaxeipes, Aphidius colemani aphid. The developing larvac eventually kiling the aphid "mummy" as the adult wasp emerges. Farastous | Caerpilar | Tiymenoprer Numerous — paras wasps | TTeiothis and otber | Female lays eggs tn host Paasiteids | including Banded caterpillar parasite | moth lavae pupae as the parsitoid (chneumon —promissorius), Two-toned larvae develop in the caterpillar parasite (Heteropelma saposum) host it causes the death (Family Ichneumonidae), Micropltis demolitor, of the pupa Cotes spp. (Family Braconidae) Farastous | Caierpiiar | Sorghum midge parses —(Eupelmus | Sorghum micge | Wasp lays eggs im Parsiteids | austraiensis, Aprostocetus __diplosidis, midg: larvae and Tetrastichus spp.) emerges al pupal stage, Parastoids | Caterpillar | Tachind fies Tialiothis, looper, | Female Tays eggs in host Paasiteids armyworm, pupae as the parisioid grasshopper and | larvae develop in the other larvae host it causes the death of the pups. Parasitoids | Helicoverpa | Tvmenoptem: Trehogamma (Family | Welicoverpa and | Tiny wasps _ that Eee Trichogrammatidae) and Telenomus (Family | other Lepidoptera | parastise Lepidopteran parasitoids | Seelionidae) egg parasitoids Farastoids | Whitetly | Exctmacenis opp and Encarta opp. tnchading | Whitetiy Smal paraitond wasps Paasiteids | Encarsia Formos that attack whitefly symp Farasioids | GVE egg ] Tassolaus basalis Gress vegaialle | Smal Bask wasp that Paasiteids parasites GVB: doesn't distinguishDelween aps OF PSS and benefcials and will also parastise eggs of predatory shield bugs. Table2.: Weed Killers Weed Scientific name Biotic agent/ insects Prickly pear Opuntia dilleni Dactylopius opuntice ‘Congress grass or Carrot weed Parthenium hysterophorus Zygogramma bicolorata Lantana weed Lantana camara Ophiomyia lantanae Siam weed Choromoloena odoraia Pariuchaetes pseudoinsulata Water fem Salvinia molesta Cryptobagus singularis Table-3 Some insects and their products as medicine Tnsects insect products Uses Maggots Wounds Healing Honey Wounds Healing, skin disease, infection Bee Royal-jelly Post Menopausal symptoms Been and Ant venom Toints pain Bee Propolis Infection Canthiridine Skin Diseases Production of Tannic Acid: Tanni acid first pr roduced by an abnormal pant growth found on oak trees in Asia known as Allepo gall. Tiny wasps (Family Cynipidae) secrete some chemical and in response of it the tree produces gall tissues the dying, in leather industries, for tanning and i extracted economically from Quebracho tree, hen present today. -s. Tannic acid is a chemical compound used in in the manufacture of some inks. It can also be ce there is no commercial market for oak gall is,INTRODUCTION TO APICULTURE: IMPORTANCE AND HISTORY Insects are dominant animals on this earth. Usually insects are considered harmful toman but hardly 1 per cent of insect species fall in the pest category. Benefits of insects inmaintaining economy outweigh the injury inflicted. Honey bees are one of the fewinsects directly beneficial to man.” In the animal kingdom honey bees belong to: Phylum-Arthropoda, Class- Insecta, Order-Hymenoptera, Superfamily-Apoidea and Family-Apidae. Honey is highly valued food produced by honey bees and itis also used as medicine.In addition to honey, other products like bees wax, pollen, royal jelly and bee venomare also produced by honey bees More than the producers of these hive products; bees play an important role inpollination of plants while collecting their food from flowers in the form of nectar andpollen Pollination is involved in a chain of complex events significant to our economy-Pollination by insects including honey bees is important for ecological balance.Visitation by honey bees between distant varieties or cultivars promotes hybridizationand help sparse populations to survive. Their mutual dependency has resulted intogreat degree of co-evolution. The science of rearing honey bees or beekeeping is known as apiculture We can learn a lot from these little wonderful creatures. Honey bees are admired for industriousness,Unity,Self sacrifice, Tolerance,Division of labour ,Even the most feared bee stings help in healing muscular pains, rheumatism, arthritisand reduction in cholesterol level. Beekeeping can be practiced as :An ideal hobby, Part-time business., Full-time business. History of beekeeping Primitive man used to rob bee colonies found in the cavities of hollow trees or onrocks and in traditional mud houses and this is still being followed by sometribes. There was no development in beekeeping until 16th century. Proper beekeeping started only when man started giving protection to colonies foundin the nature. Idea to keep bees in log hives has been reported to come from the fallen trees whichwere nested by the cavity nesting bees. Development of modern beekeeping has its origin between 1500 and 1851 when many attempts were made to domesticate bees in different types of hives but were notsuccessful because bees attached their combs together as well as to the walls of hiveand combs requited had to be cut for honey. «The discovery of the principle of bee space in 1851 by L. L. Langstroth in USAresulted in first truly movable fiame hive. This bee space was 9.5 mm forpismellifera. *This discovery was followed by subsequent innovations like comb foundation millhoney extractor, smoker, etc., which helped in the development of modem beekeepingwe see today. Beekeeping in Indi + In India first attempt to keep bees in movable frame hives was made in 1882 inBengal and then in 1883-84 in Punjab,«In south India, Rev. Newton during 1911-1917 trained several beekeepers and deviseda hive for indigenous bee piscerana based on principle of bee space (which wasnamed after his name as “Newton hive”) + Beekeeping was also started in the Travancore state (now Cochin) in 1917 and inMysore in 1925 + In Himachal Pradesh modem beekeeping with indigenous honey bee A. cerana startedin 1934 at Kullu and in 1936 at Kangra «The exotic bee 4. mellifera was successfully introduced for the first time in India in1962 at NagrotaBagwan (then in Punjab state and now in Himachal Pradesh), becausethis bee has potentials to produce more honey. + At present both the hive bee species are being used in modem beekeeping and lot ofhoney is also being collected from the wild bees viz. 4. dorsata and A. florea + India is producing approximately 70000 metric tons of honey annually from all thefour species of honey bees. There are four well known species of true honey bees (belonging to genus Apis) in the world: i Rock bee, Apis dorsata F. ii, Little bee, A. florea F.iii, Asian bee, A. cerana F. iv. European bee, A. mellifera L. Characteristics of four well known species of honey bees Its important to know difference between a species and subspecies. Species arereproductively ‘lated from each other and these cannot interbreed where as subspecies aregeographically isolated and can interbreed. Among the two domestic bee species, each has many subspecies in different parts of the world eg. Apiscerana has three subspecies in India: A. ceranacerana in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir (North India) A. ceranaindica in Kerala, Tamilnadu and Karnataka. (South India) A. ceranahimalaya in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and Meghalaya. (Eastern parts of India) In addition to above three subspecies, A. cerana japonica has been identified from Japan, A. mellifera has many subspecies which can be placed under three groups: 1. Eastem subspecies2. European subspecies}. African subspecies Eastern subspecies: i, Apismelliferaremipes (in Iran)ii. A. melliferasyriaca (in Syria, Israel and Lebanon)These subspecies are not suitable for modem beekeeping European subspecies: i, A. melliferamellifera (Dark Dutch or German bee) ii, A melliferacarnica (Carniolan bee; in Southern Austria) iii, A. melliferaligustica (Italian bee; Italy) iv. A. melliferacaucasica (Caucasican bee; USSR) African subspecies: Some of the important subspecies are: i. A. mellifera intermissa (Tellian bee; Morocco and Lybia)ii. A. melliferalamarckii (Egyptian bee; restricted to the Nile Valley)iii. 4. melliferacapensis (Cape bee; the only bee which can rear queen from eggs laid byworkers)iv. 4. melliferaadansonii (African bee; also known as killer bee) In India, all the four bee species are found. 4. mellifera is an exotic bee which was introduced in India for the first time successfully in 1962 at NagrotaBagwan, Himachal Pradesh. Honeyyield from this species from stationary beekeeping varies from 10-15 kg/colony but throughmigration yield increases to 45-60 kg/colony. One beekeeper in Himachal has extracted asmuch as 1 10kg honey from a single colony of A. mellifera which is indicative of itspotentials. Other species found in different parts of the world: In addition to the four Apis honey bee species, more species have been reported from some parts of the world. i, Apislaboriosa (from Bhutan, Yunnan and Nepal)ii. A. breviligula (from Philippines) iii.A. binghami (from Sulawesi) Above three species resemble 4. dorsata and are wild iv. A, andreniformis (from China) It resembles 4. florea.v. A. koschevnikovi (from Malaysia) vi. A. muluensis (from Malaysia, Indonesia)vii, 4. nigrocincta (from Indonesia), ‘These three species (v - vii) resemble 4. cerana, Stingless honey bees: In addition to honey bees of genus Apis, stingless honey bees also provide honey which are: i) Melipona sp.ii) Trigona sp. These bees are also domesticated, but produce little amount of honey. Pollen bees: All the honey bee species are good pollinators besides being honey producers In addition to these, there are more than 20000 species of other bees which help in pollination. It should be clear that all bees are not honey bees. Batra (1992) has even separated non Apis bees in a separate group of ‘pollen bees” that includes all bees except honey bees which help in pollination.GENERAL MORPHOLOGY In honey bees, body parts are modified as per their food habits and social life. Like anyinsect, body of honey bee can be distinguished in to three parts (Fig. 3.1):a. Headb. Thoraxc. Abdomen HEAD Head Bears a pair of geniculate antennae, Two compound eyes on lateral side of head. Bees can distinguish different colours butare red blind and can perceive ultraviolet rays, Head bears 3 ocelli (simple eyes) on top portion which perceive degree of lights Two mandibles are attached to ventro-lateral part of head capsule. Mandibles differ inshape in three castes (Fig. 3.2) Workers use mandibles for grasping and scrappingpollen from anthers, feeding of pollen and in ‘manipulation of wax scales during combbuilding.» Mouth parts of worker bees are modified for sucking and lapping (Fig. 3.3). Tongueor proboscis (formed by medium labium and two lateral maxillae) is used foringesting liquids. Labium has long median glossa and spoon shaped lobe (flabellum)at the ende Inside the head there are long coiled strings of small lobes known as hypopharyngealglands which secrete glandular food known as royal jelly that is fed to queen andyoung larvae. THORAX «It consists of three segments: prothorax ,mesotmhorax and metathorax, each bears apair of legs. Meso and metathorax, each bears a pair of wings (Fig. 3.5). Legs andwings are locomotory organs. In addition to locomotion legs in honey bees are alsomodified to perform following functions:e Prothoracie legs serve as antenna cleaner. Basal part of basitarsus has a notch (Fig.3.4) and a small lobe projects from distal end of tibia (tibial spur). It is found in all thethree castes.¢ On mesothoracic legs, bushy tarsi serve as brushes for cleaning of thorax. Long spineat end of middle tibia (Fig, 3.4) is used for loosening pellets of pollen from pollenbasket of hind legand also for cleaning wings and spiracles. Wax scales are alsoremoved from wax pockets of abdomen by these legs. Mandible of drone Mandible of queen Mandible of worker Figure 3.2 Mandibles of different castes of honey bees Lacinia Figure 5) Mouth parts af a worker honey bee ‘Hind or metathoracic legs differ from other legs in being larger in size and with broadflattened form of tibia and basitarsus. In worker bees, smooth somewhat concaveouter surface of hind tibia is fringed with long curved hairs and forms pollen basket orcorbicula (Fig. 3.4)* Two pairs of wings arise from sides of meso and metathorax. Fore wings are strongerthan hind wings. Series of upturned hooks (hamuli) are present on front margin ofeach hind wing. Decurved fold on rear margin of fore wing works as couplingapparatus for holding hamuli and this result in unity of action of the wings in flight.ABDOMEN AND ANATOMICAL FEATURES Abdomen: First abdominal segment is united with the metathorax and forms anatomically a partof thorax known as propodeume Bee larva has 10 abdominal segments but in adult workers abdomen appears 6segmented; segments 8-10 are reduced in size and first segment (propodeum) istransferred to thorax during pupal stage» Abdomen bears sting, wax glands (on sternites 4 to 7) and scent glands (on last twoterga) and genitalia in addition to other viscerae In workers egg laying apparatus (ovipositor) is modified into stings Queen uses ovipositor for egg laying and for stinging rival queen Important anatomical features:+ Digestive system is unique in having oesophagus with expanded honey stomachwhich stores the collected nectar (Fig. 3.6)* From honey stomach food goes to ventriculus through X shaped opening known asproventriculus, regulating passage of food to venttriculus. It removes pollen from nectar and nectar is retained in honey sac and pollen passes to veniriculus. Nectar isregurgitated in the comb cells for conversion into honeys Reproductive organs are fully developed in queen and drone but greatly reduced inworker. Sperms are stored in the queen in a sac like structure known as spermatheca. ‘Thestored sperms are utilized by queen throughout her life time as she does not go formating once starts egg laying. STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN HONEY BEES ‘The way human beings undergo different life stages comprising of infant, child, adolescent& adult, each bee caste goes through four developmental stages viz. egg, larva, pupa andadult. But the time needed to complete each stage differs. Let us learn The Life Cycle Stages of honey bees: (@ Egg:Queen lays pearly white, slightly curved eggs in the cells singly and vertically withthe thin end attached to the bottom of the cell.Queen bee lays both fertilized (giving rise to females ie. worker or queen bee) and unfertilized eggs (giving rise to males ie. drone bees).The egg stage lasts for 3 days. At the start, the egg stands vertically on the base of the cell, then slants, and finally lies flat on the base before hatching, (ii) Larva:Small, shiny white larvae hatch from the egg after 3 days.Initially the larvae are loop shaped lying on the bottom of the cell but towards cell capping, they get stretched on their back in the cell with head facing distal end of the cellFigure 3.4 The legs of a worker honey bee Costal vein ‘Median and cubital vein ‘Marginal Hooks Radial ven 2 < sereemampales Anal vein ‘Marginal fold Fore Wing Hind Wing Figure 3.5 The wings of a worker honey beeFigure 3.6 Anatomy of a worker bee (Adapted from Grolier's Multimedia Encyclopedia) © Larvae of all the castes moult four times.The average larval period is 5 days for a queen, 6 for a worker, and 7 for a dione® After the cell is sealed (at the end of 8th day) and the cocoon has been spun (at theend of 9th day) the larva passes gradually and without moulting into pre-pupa. (lil) Pupa: The pupal stage is the dormant stage. Worker bees seal the cells with a porous beeswaxcap and the larva spins a cocoon around itself. © The developing bee remains inside the cocoon without eating, ‘or moving.© The pupal stage lasts for 7-8 days for a queen, 11-12 days for a worker, and 14 daysfor a drone.© Worker cells are a little smaller than drone cells. The comparative sizes are fiveworker cells per linear 25.4 mm of comb and four drone cells per linear 25.4 mm ofeomb in case of Italian bee © During this stage, the internal organs and body appendages develop. Finally theadult bees emerge. (iv) Adult: The adults emerge from the cocoon and bite a hole in the top of the sealed cell tocome out. Immediately after emergence, the adult workers are a light colour, andthen become darker.» The total time taken to develop from egg to adult is 15-16 days for a queen, 20-2 days for a worker, and 24 days for a droneSex Differentiation ‘The queen lays two types of eggs: (i) Fertilized, and (ii) Unfertilized. The queen andworkers comes out from the fertilized eggs, while the unfertilized eggs produce drones, (Fig. 2.11), Worker Queen Drone Light feeding Heavy feeding + Royal jelly Unfexitized Fertlized Egg Fig: 2.11: Sex differential in honey bees Royal jelly is prepared and fed to the larvae by the nurse bees. The queen larvae are fedonly royal jelly. ‘The queen gets the royal jelly throughout her life. Upto 3 days, all youngstages of bees get protein rich food known as ‘royal jelly’. Royal jelly is fed to the workerand drone larvae only for the first 3 days and then they are fed “bee bread”. Thus, theworker do not get the royal jelly after three days of development and so develop into sterile Giant / Rock Honey Bee (4pis dorsata):Rock bee has ferocious temperament and it is provoked by slight disturbance. They aresensitive to smoke. This species is found all over the Hind kush Himalayan region, in theplains as well as in the hills up to height of 2000 meters above the sea mean level. It buildsa single comb nest in an open cave under a roof or rock cliff, The size of single open aircomb of Apis dorsata, depending upon the season and development of the colony,measureing about 1.5 to 2 m from side to side and 0.6 to 1.20 m from top to bottom. Theupper portions of the comb contain honey and pollen and are generally 10 to 25 cm thick Below this storage area is the brood nest. The average thickness of brood nest is 3.2 em. The worker bee is light brown in colour. Queen is darker in colour than the worker andabout 1/5 as longer than worker and about 2 mm broader than worker bee. The drone isblack in colour and is as big as a worker. The giant or rock bee build their comb in such localities where flower with abundant nectar supply are available. As soon as the nectarsupply in a particular locality depletes, they migrate to other place. The productioncapability of A. dorsata is about 50 - 80 kg per colony per year. Apis dorsata prefersconstruction of nests on building and rocks as compared to open trees duc to theavailability of more protection against rain or wind, Life Cycle of Apis dorsata: The development period of Apis dorsata (in days) castes is given below: Eggs stage Larva Pupa Young/ Immature Adult Queen 2-3 days 4-5 days 6.5~7 days 13 ~14 5 days Worker 23 days 45 days 9.5 ~ 12 days 20 days Drone 2-3 days 4-5 days 13.5-15.5 days 23.5 days The Little Bee, Apis florae:The litle bee, A. florea is found in the plains and rarely in place higher than 1500 m abovesca level. This small bee also builds a single comb nest which is often suspended frombranches of bushes, hedges, trees, caves of buildings, house chimneys, empty caves andpiles of dried sticks. The comb measures about 35 cm in length. 18 cm in height and about 2 cm in thickness. Honey is stored in the upper part of the comb which is about 5.7 cm thick. Nests of 4,florea are protected by a three to six layer curtain of bees over the comb. The average honey yield from a colony varies ftom 0.5-1.0 kg. It is believed that the honeyproduced by 4. florea has higher dextrin content and has less tendency to ‘granulate thanthe honey of other species. During active season, the brood area ranged from 10 - 627.748q, ‘em and the queen lays about 365 eggs per day. Body colour of queen of A. florea isamber yellow. The head and thorax are dark in colour up to tibia but leg is amber yellow. The worker bees of 4. florea with deep black and white stripes on the posterior half of theirbright orange abdomen are comparaiively much smaller than the golden brown queen andblack drones with smoky grey hair. They are very prone to swarming, A swarm of A florea bee colony consists of about 600 worker bees, a queen and some drones. In thisspecies absconding Is very common and dancing behavior occurred in horizontal position. Life Cycle of Apis florea ‘The development period of Apis florea (in days) castes is as follows: Eggs stage Larva Pupa Young/ Immature Adult ‘Queen 3-4 days 5.8 days 7 ~8 days 16.5 days Worker 3-4 days 64 days 8-9 days 20-21 days Drone 3- 4 days 6.7 days 11 ~ 12 days 22-23 daysIndian Honey Bee (4pis cerana indica Fabr.) This bee species can be kept in beehive. They construct their combs in the cavities of treetrunks, hollows of rocks, holes and other covered places such as cracks and crevices ofwalls etc. It can be domesticated in all kinds of hollows and recesses. Hollowed out logs,wooden boxes, packing cases, kerosene tins mud receptacles, wall recesses and unusedalmirah are the common abodes. Indian honey bee construct series of parallel combs to thedirection of entrance. The number of combs vary from 7-8. The length and breadth of thecombs are about 300 mm and 175 mm respectively. The upper part of the comb is filled with honey and lower part of the comb is used for brood rearing and in middle partgenerally pollen is stored. The comb consists of three types of cells i.e. queen, worker anddrone cells. The worker comb cell is 4.3-5.0 mm in diameter and drone cells are 1.2 timeslarger than the worker cells. The honey production capability of Apis cerana indica is\0 - 15 kg per colony per year. The egg laying capacity of the queen of Apis cerena indica is about 700-1600 eggs peréay. The worker bees are smaller in size as compared to the worker of Apis mellifera. Thespace between two combs, known as bee space, is about 7-8 mm.Bee Space — Bee space was discovered by L. L. Langsiroth as the optimum distanceto be left in between two adjacent comb surfaces in a bee hive which is essential fornormal movement and functioning of bees. It varies with honeybee species eg. forlndian bees: 7-8 mm and Italian bees: 8-9 mm. Life Cycle of Apis cerana indica:Embryonic development and developmental stage of queen, worker and drone of 4piscerana indica (in days) is as follows: eggs stage Larva Pups Young/ Immature Adult Queen 3 days 55-5 days 7-8 days 15-16 days Worker 3 days 55.6 days 11-12 days 20-21 days Drone 3 days 65-7 days 14-14 5 days 23-24 days This bee species is susceptible to Thai sac brood virus. The loss of 90% colonies of Indianhoney bee is caused by epidemic of Thai sac brood virus during late seventies and eightiesin eastern and northem Indian and during nineties in southem states of the country. Italian/ European Honey Bee (4pis mellifera):This species of honey bee constructs their combs in dark, closed and covered places. Thenumber of combs in A. mellifera hive are 10. The combs are parallel to each other and tothe entrance of beehive. The space between two combs i.e. bee space is about 8-9 mm. ‘Theaverage length and breadth of the combs are about 440mm and 228mm respectively. Theegg laying efficiency of the queen is 2500 — 3000 eggs per day. Consequently, more broodis reared by A. mellifera as ‘compared to the 4. cerana indica. The foraging range of theworker bee is about 2-3 km and flight ability is about 5 km. The wing length of 4.mellifera is about 70% of its body length while the wing length of the Indian honey beed. cerana indica is about 78% of its body length. The average speed of flight of A.mellifera is about 50m per 2.95 seconds. The temperature of bee colony is regulated byfanning icc. about 32.5 — 37°C. The worker bees are larger in size as compared to theworker bees of 4. cerana indica but smaller than that of A. dorsata. The A. melliferamaintains a prolific queens, swarms less, has gentle temperament and is good honeygatherer. The honey production capability is about 30-40 kg per colony per year. is reared by A. mellifera as compared to the A. cerana indica. The foraging range of theworker bee is about 2-3 km and flight ability is about S km. The wing length of 4.mellifera is about 70% of its body length while the wing length of the Indian honey bee. cerana indica is about 78% of its body length. The average speed of flight of 4.mellifera is about SOm per 2.95 seconds. The temperature of bee colony is regulated byfanning i.e. about 32.5 - 37°C. The worker bees are larger in size as compared to theworker bees of A. cerana indica but smaller than that of A. dorsara. The A. melliferamaintains aprolific queens, swarms less, has gentle temperament and is good honeygatherer. The honey production capability is about 30-40 kg per colony per year. Life eyele of apis mellifera:Development period of Apis mellifera (in days) casts is given below: Egg stage Larva Pupa Young/ Immature Adult Queen 3 days 5 days 8 days 16 days Worker 3 days S days 12-13 days 21 days Drone 3 days 6 days 14 days24 days Dammer Bee:Two species of stingless or dammer bees, viz. Melipona and Trigona occur in our countryin abundance. The honey is reported to be of high medicinal valuable compared to Apishoney. The tingless bees have the importance in the pollination of various food crops.They bite their enemies or intruders and can be domesticated. But the honey yield per hiveper year is only 100 gms. Queen is distinguished from the worker by her larger size, meanbody length of workers and queen measuring 4.07 and 10.07 mm respectively. Queen isgolden brown in colour and has a pointed abdomen. The workers are black pigmented andwith pale yellow. Mandibles in workers are smaller than that of the queen. The queen doesnot have pollen gathering baskets in her legs. COMMUNICATION IN BEES ‘They communicate with each other and passtheir information using various pheromones. However, worker bees communicateinformation through their peculiar “dance’.The following types of dances are noticed: A bee can fly @35kmihr. They go as far as Skm from the hives for collecting nector. Social behavior:Honey bees are among the fully social insects having overlap of many generations in thesame nest. The colony is a well organized social group having division of labour in terms oflaying of eggs, nursing, comb building, guarding, food collection and its storage. They havewell developed communication system through different types of dances as well astrophallaxis. Biological communication can be defined as an action on the part of one organism that altersthe probability pattern of behavior in another organism in an adaptive fashion. Adaptivemeans thathe signaling or the response or both which have been genetically programmed tosome extent by natural selection. Trophallaxis is food transmission (exchange of food) which is common between workersand also from workers to queen and drones. It is a sort of communication regardingavailability of food and water and also a medium for transfer of pheromone.In honey bees, recruit communication is very important mode of communication which isdefined as a communication that brings nest mates to some point in space where work isrequired. Dances of honey bees are important recruit communication DANCES OF HONEY BEES It was Father Spitzner in 1788 who for the first time described bee dances as method ofcommunication among inmates of the hive about volume of honey flow and place of sourceof nectar. These observations remained unnoticed till Frisch (1920) published hisobservations. Karl von Frisch got noble prize in 1973 (under physiology & medicine, whoshared it with two other animal behaviourists) on the basis of his work published in 1946. ‘Types of dances: In honey bees there is a well developed recruitment system to increaseforaging efficiency. Some of the foraging force (5-35%) acts as scout bees/searcher bees. These bees may travel many kilometers. Average foraging radius ofa colony is only fewhundred metres in gricultural areas and about 2km in forested areas. Scouts communicatedistance, direction and quality of flowers through different types of dances which in turnresults in recruitment of other workers to forage on the best available sources. The scout bees perform two types of dances i) Round dance ii) Wag-tail dance ROUND DANCE: This type of dance is performed if food source is nearby (within100 metres in case of A.mellifera and 10 metres in A. cerana). The performing bee takes quick short steps and runsaround in narrow circles on the comb; once to right and then left and then repeating for several seconds (Fig. 5.1). The dance excites the bees and they touch the performer with theirantennae and then leave the hive in search of source of food. In this dance there is noindication of direction of food and the foragers search within 100 metres in all direction usingfloral odour clinging to hairy body of scout bee as cue as well as from the sips of nectarwhich they receive from the dancing bee. WAG-TAIL DANCE: This dance is performed when the distance of food source is more than 100 metres from the hive. In this dance the bee starts dancing on the comb making a half circle to one side and then takes a sharp turn and runs in a straight line to starting point. Thereafter takes another half circle on the opposite direction to complete one full circle (Figure 5.2). Again the bee runs in a straight line to the starting point. In the straight run the dancing bee makes wiggling motion with her body that is why this dance is known as wag-tail dance. Location of food is indicated by direction of straight run in relation to line of gravity. If the food is in line with the sun, bee wag-tails upwards (Figure 53a) and if away from the sun, it performs downwards (Figure 5.3b). If the food source is to the left of the sun the bees dance at an angle counter clockwise to the line of gravity (Figure 5.3c) whereas, if it is to the right of the sun the bees dance to the right of the line of gravity (Figure 5.34),1 | Was-tait dance 1 that ford ts av 1 direction of sun 5.3a Direction indication in wag-tail dance when food is in the direction of sun '5.3b Dance when food is away from direction of sunNis \ \ \ ' bucks & 5.3c If food is to the left of the sun, bee dances at an angle counterclockwise to the line of gravity wate ' 5.3d If food is to the right of the sun, bee dances to the right of the line of gravity Figure 5.3 Wag-tail dance in relation to direction ofsun. ‘The distance is indicated by the number of straight runs per 15 seconds as given below-Distance of food from hive(metres)Number of straight runs/15 sec.100 9-10,600 71000 4,6000 2 Asa social unit a bee colony maintains its hive temperature between 32-350C in the broodarea. ‘Queen substance 9-0xo-2-decenoic acid (9-ODA) from the queen bee, alarm pheromoneand alarm odour from worker bees play important role in the welfare of the colony and helpin the social organize BEE FOOD PLANTS:The food of the bees comes from ‘forage’ or ‘bee flora’ ie. the flowering plants whichprovide nector and/ or pollen for bees. The worker bees that collect pollen, nector, waterand propolis for the colony are also called as ‘forager’. Thus, foragers collect followingsubstances for the colony: (9) Nector(i) Pollen(it) Propolis(iv) Water Bees get carbohydrate from honey and proteins from pollen. Water is mixed with honeyand pollen before bees eat it or feed it to the brood (egg, larvae & pupa). Bees visit flowersand extra- floral nectarines of about 500 flowering plants and trees to collect pollen andnector for food. Some of the commonly visited by bees in India for collecting nector fromthe flowers are as follows:1. Vegetables: Okra, Cucumer, brinjal, tomato, bottle gourd, spinach, cauliflower turnip, sweet gourd, ‘onion, radish 2. Field crops: Mustard or toria, sunflower, cotton, jute, pulse, wheat, gram 3. Fruit plants: Litchi, apple, guava, jamun, imi, papaya, karonda, ber, jackfruit,anar, lemon, bel, mango, ‘banana, papaya, drum stick, citrus, pear, apricot, malta, mausami, orange 4, Omamental plants: Marigold, rose, cosmos 5. Trees: Eucalyptus, acacia, albizia, calliandra, gemelina, prosopis, babool, neemarjun, palm, sandal ‘wood, dhak, bottle brush, amaitas 6. Herbs and spices: Tulsi, coriander 7. Plantation crops: Rubber, coconut, cashewnut, coffee. Commercial methods of bee rearing, equipments used, Seasonal management BEEHIVE: A man-made or artificial structure created for domesticated honeybees is known as a beehive. A beehive is a rectangular wooden box filled with moveable wood ot plastic frames, each of which holds a sheet of wax or plastic foundation. The bees build cells upon the sheets of foundation to create a complete honeycomb. Foundation comes in two cell sizes: (i) worker foundation, which enables the bees to create small, hexagonal worker cells and (ii) drone foundation, which allows the bees to build much larger cells for drones. The bottom box, known as brood chamber contains the queen and most of the bees and the upper boxes or supers contain just honey. The young nurse bees produce wax flakes tobuild honeycomb using the artificial wax foundation as a starting point, after which theymay raise brood ‘or deposit honey and pollen in the cells of the comb. You may choose abechive depending upon the bee species, cost, ease of production and expected retums. Different types of bee hives were in use in various parts of our country. They are pot hive,nucleous hive, single walled and double walled Dadani hives, British standard hive,Langstroth hive, Indian Standard Industries (ISI) hive, Jeolikote hive and Newton hive Of all these types, Langstroth hives for rearing Italian bee and Newton’ hives for rearingOf all these types, Langstroth hives for rearing Italian bee and Newion’s hives for rearingIndian bees are most popular. Beehives may be divided into three types: Fixed comb hives: These are traditional hive, which include structure made ofeylindrical bark and log hives and various other hives of many different forms and materials. Movable-comb hives: These are the top- bar hives, where bees build their combattached to a top bar that can be lifted out of the hive. They have no frames. Movable-frame hives: A modern beehive is known as the movable frame hive. Theschives have movable frames which hold the wax sheets that serve as a starting pointfor the bees to build honeycomb, The top wooden box consists of honey while thebottom box consists of queen bee and the other worker bees. A beehive is selectedkeeping in view the race of bee to be reared. A standard movable frame hive Fig 3.1) has the following major parts: 1. Bottom/floor board: It forms the floor of the hive made up of a single pieceof wood or two pieces of ‘wood joined together. There is a removable entrancerod in the front side with two entrance slits to alter the size of the hive entrancebased on need. A two inch wide extended part of the bottom board beyond andin front of the hive entrance is known as ‘alighting board’ for returning bees toalight on it before passing into the hive through entrance. Bees also take offflight from this board. Most of their movement and observation without openingthe hive can be obscrved at the alighting board.2. Brood Chamber: It is rectangular box with 8 to 10 hanging wooden frames.Frames inside the brood chamber are called brood frames. The comb cells areused for food storage, clustering, raising baby bees, and air conditioning. Thequeen or egg laying workers lay eggs inside this chamber. Thus, a roodchamber is like a ‘nursery’ where the queen lays her eges and where the colonystores its food. It contains young stages of honeybee (young larva and pupa)and food for them. The daily requirement of honey and pollen is stored in thischamber. Topover tener cover Howey fame ope Bevod imme Brood chaner Hivestand 3. Super Chamber: It is kept over the brood chamber and its construction is similar to thet of brood chamber. The frames inside this chamber are calledsuper chambers. The length and width of this chamber is similar to that ofbrood chamber. The height may be also similar if it is Full depth super as inLangstroth hive. But the height will be only half if it in a Newton’s hive Surplus honey is stored in super chamber. 4, Queen exeluder: Brood chamber and super chamber may be separated by aperforated sheet ‘queen excluder’ to restrict the movement of egg laying queenbee going into the honey super. This is a metal sheet with regular openings ofthe specified size, framed with wooden border. The size of opening is suchthat the worker can move through easily but the queen does not pass throughit. The queen bee is, thus, restricted into the lower ‘brood chamber’ so that thehoney is not contaminated. 5. Hive Cover: It insulates the interior of the hive. In Newton’s hive it hassloping planks on either side (On the inner ceiling plank there is a squareventilation hole fitted with a wire gauze. Two holes present in the front andrear also help in air circulation. In Langstroth hive, the hive cover consists ofa crown board or inner cover and an outer cover (top cover). The inner coveris provided with a central ventilation hole covered with wire gauze. The outercover is covered over with a metallic sheet to make it impervious torainwater. Circular ventilation holes covered by wire gauze help in air circulation It protects the hive ‘against rain and sun. 6, Frames: The frames are so constructed that a series of them may be placed ina vertical position in the brood chamber or the super chamber so as to leavespace in between them for bees to move. Fach frame consists of a top bar, twoside bars and a bottom bar nailed together. Both the ends of the top-bar rotrudeso that the frame can rest on the rabbet. The depth of the super frame is lessthan that of the brood frame in Newton's hive and India Standard Industries(ISI) hive. But in Langstroth hive it is same as that of brood frame. Hive bodies painted externally will last longer. The colour of the paint should be white, blue, yellow or green, White is generally preferred for hive construction. It offersdurability, flexibility, easy handling and improves the colony efficiency in regulating hiveinterior temperature and humidity Bee hives are constructed mainly with seasonal timber such as teak, kail or toon. Thetimber should be free from insect holes, dead knots, shakes, splits and cracks. Thethickness of the wooden walls should be 20 mm. Advantages of Rearing Bees in Modern Beehives ‘The advantages of rearing bees in modern beehives are as follows: 1. Provides sufficient space for free movement of bees, 2. Provide ample space for increasing number of workers through addition of supers. 3. Facilitates in regular and easy inspection of colonies. 4, Facilitates the bees to construct standard sized combs 5. Pure honey can be extracted without damaging the combs. 6. Facilitates casy transportation of colonies from place to place whenever and wherever requited. 7. Ithelps in increasing the productivity of honey and other bee products SPECIFICATIONS OF BEEHIVES Langstroth hives for rearing Italian bee and Newton’s hives for rearing Indian bees aremost popular. The specifications of both the hives are given below: Langstroth ten-frame hive 1, Bottom board (floor board): Bottom part of the hive length 22” long 16.25” broadand 7/8” thick, Another wooden rod 14.5” be nailed at the back and the front beprovided with similar rod (entrance rod but having an entrance in the middle) afterleaving 2” space so that these nailed rods make a rectangle of 2x 165" 2. Alighting board: The 2” space in front of the entrance rod meant for the bees totake off flight or land onit, 3. Entrance: In the middle of the entrance rod is given a cut 3” Iong and 3/8” deep asa passage for bees to center or leave the hive. 4, Brood Chamber: Is a box, made of wooden planks, without bottom and is placedover the bottom board. It is 20” in length 16.25” in width and 9.5” in height and0.875” thick. A robbat 0.625” of deep and 0.5” wide is cut along the upper innerlength of its width planks. The intemal dimensions of the chamber are 18,25” x14.25”5. Frames: Each chamber contains 10 frames and a dummy board. A frame has fourwooden pieces ~ Top bar, bottom bar and two side bars. (@ Top bar: 19” length x 1” width x 7/8” thickness. A groove is present on lowerside of top bar to insert ‘comb foundation sheet. (ii) Side bar: 9.125” length x 1.125” (upper half) and 1” (lower half) width 3/8"thiekness. There are four holes in each of the side bar for wiring the frame. (iii) Bottom bar: 17.625” length x 0.75” width x 0.375” thickness. 6, Dummy board: Just a wooden plank of the frame size Length 19” at the top andl 7,625” at the bottom x 9.125” width 0.37Sand thickness. 7. Super Chamber/honey chamber with bee frames: Same as the brood chamber. 8. Inner cover: Wooden plank 20” long x 16.25” wide and 0.375”. Inner cover isnailed 0.375” thick, 0.875” wide wooden rod on its four sides. In the centre of theplank a suitable cut (about 2 x 3”) is given which is provided with a wire screen forventilation, 9. Top/Upper cover: It is the top most cover 21” long, 17” wide and 0.375” thick-This plank is provided with a frame, 2” wide 0.875” thick, its top side is covered byG.l/Aluminum sheet. Inner side of the outer cover is provided with four small woodenpieces to the inner cover so that the ventilation is not blocked. Newton’s bee hive 1, Floor board: 14” x 9.5” in size with an extension in front which serves as analighting board 2. Brood chamber: 9.75” x 8.25” x 6.75” in size with an entrance slit of 3.5” x 3/8at the base; itis mounted over the floor board. 3. Wooden frames: Fight separate wooden frames 8.75” x 5.75” x 6” in size and 7/8”broad: they are hung inside the brood chamber 4, Super chamber: 9.75” x 8.25” x 3.125” in size: itis kept over the brood chamber. 5. Top cover: It is board having same dimensions of brood or super chamber. In thecentre there is an ‘opening covered with wire gauge. It is kept on super or broodchamber. Hive stand: A four legged wooden, metal pipe or angle iron, rectangular support tothe hive. Ithelps to protect the bottom board from rot and cold transfer. 2. Smoker: The smoker is used to protect beekeepers from bee stings and to controlthe bees. Smoke is the beekeeper’s third line of defence. You may use “smoker"— adevice designed to generate smoke from the incomplete combustion of various fuelsto calm down the bees Protective Clothing: To protect beekeepers eyes and nose ftom stings at the time ofwork near the apiary, proper cloths are required. As novice beekeepers you shouldalways wear gloves and a hooded suit or hat and veil. The face and neck are themost important areas to protect, hence you should wear atleast a veil Bee veil: It is a cap made of cloth and wire or fabric net. It is worn over facefor protection against stings. It should be made up of black nylon nettingscreen (12-mesh). Veils should be made to fit snugly around the hat and to fitightly to the shoulder leaving enough space between veil and faceOveralls: Also known a bee suit, is a protecting garment worn loosely overthe clothes so that the bees cannot get under the clothes. Light coloured cotton Beekeeping Equipments materials are preferable since they are cooler and create less risk forantagonizing bees. It should be wom bee-tight so that the bees are not able toenter from the sleeves. (iii) Gloves: Bee gloves are made of tightly-knit cloth (or) soft leather. They coverthe fore arms. The gloves are useful for the beginners to develop confidence inhandling bees. But handlings of frames will be cumbersome if gloves areworn. (iv) High boots: A pair of gum boots will protect the ankles and prevent beesfrom climbing up under trousers, 4. Comb foundation sheet — is made up of wax. It is artificially provided for thecolonies during honey flow season by cutting them to a proper conical size andattaching them to super frames by means of thread or fibre. Itis a thin sheet ofbeewax embossed with a pattem of hexagons of size equal to the base of naturalbrood cells on both sides. The size of the hexagon varies with bee species. The sheetis fixed to the frames on fine wires threaded through holes in the side bars andstretched tight. A spur or an electrical heating device is used to embed wires into thecomb foundation sheets which are prepared in a comb foundation mill, The bees construct superstructure of comb cells over the sheet. 5. Dummy division board/Movable wall: It is a wooden board slightly larger thanthe brood frame. It is placed inside the brood chamber. It prevents the bees ftom going beyond it It can be used as a movable wall thereby limiting the volume of brood chamber which will help the bees to maintain the hive ‘temperature and toprotect them from enemies. It is useful in managing small colonies. 6. Porter bee escape board or super clearer: It is a device which allows the bees to go through a self closing exit. A board having one way passage in the centre canalso is used. It is kept in between honey super chamber and brood chamber. It isused for clearing the bees from super chamber for extracting honey. 7. Drone excluder or drone trap: It is a rectangular box with one side open. Theother side is fitted with queen excluder sheet. At the bottom of the box there is aspace for movement of worker bees. There are ‘two hollow cones at the bottom wall of the box. Drones entering through the cones into the box get trapped. The nartowend of the cone is wide enough to let the bees pass out but not large enough to attracttheir attention or re-entry. This device is used at the entrance to reduce the dronepopulation inside the hive 8. Swarm trap: It is a rectangular box used to trap and carry the swarm. Itis fixed near the hive entrance with one (or) two combs inside during the swarming period. This box traps and retains the queen only. But the swarm coming out from the hive.re-enter the hive and settles on the comb, since the queen is trapped. ‘Thus the swarm is induced to settle in the frame, which can now be transferred to a hive at a desired place. 9, Pollen trap: Pollen trapping screen inside this trap scrapes pellets from the legs ofthereturning foragers. It is set at the hive entrance. The collected pollen pellets fallinto a drawer type of receiving tray. 10. Division Board /Sugar Feeder: It can be hung along with the frames. A wooden strip or cut bits of leaves kept inside serve as float which prevents the drowning ofbees in the sugar syrup.11. Hive took: It is a piece of flattened iron with flattened down edge at one end. It isuseful to separate ive parts and frames glued together with propolis. It is alsouseful in serapping excess propolis or wax and superfluous combs or wax fromvarious parts of the hive 12. Queen excluder: It is made up of perforated zine sheet. The slots are large enoughto allow the ‘workers to pass through but too narrow for the queen. A wire grid/dividing grid with parallel wire mounts can also be used as a queen excluder. It isinserted in between the brood frames in single storey hive. It is useful to confine thequeen to brood chamber. But it allows the workers to have access io super. It reventsthe queen from laying eggs in honey combs. It is also used in producing royal jelly in queen rearing and in forming multi-queen colonies. 13. Queen Gate: It is a piece of queen excluder sheet. Itis fitted on the slot of entrance gate. It confines the queen inside the hive. It is useful to prevent swarming andabsconding. It also prevents the entry of bee ‘enemies like wasps into the hive 14, Queen Cage: It is a cage made up of wire gauze. It is useful for queen introduction. 15. Queen Cell Protector: It is a cone shaped structure made of a piece of wire woundspirally. It fits around a queen cell. It is used to proteet the queen cell, given from aqueen right to a queenless colony until its acceptance by bees. 16, Bee brush: A soft-camel-hair brush is used to brush the bees off the honeyeombbefore it is taken for extraction 17. Decapping knife: Single (or) double edged steel! knife is used for removing waxcappings fiom the honey comb, 18. Honey extractor: This equipment consists of cylindrical drum containing a rack orbox inside to hold the super frames. The box is fixed to a rod at the centre and it canbe rotated by a set of two gear wheels. ‘The frames with honey cells are decapped bya sharp knife after dipping it in hot weter and fixed to the slots provided in the boxwhich is rotated by the handle. The rotation should be very gentle and slow at first and the speed of revolution increased gradually. With some experience the correct speed can be learnt. The honey in the cells is forced out in droplets by the action of the centrifugal force and can be collected in vessels through an exit in the drum. As cells are constructed on both sides of the comb, by changing the sides of the frames and again rotating, the honey contained in the cells on the other side can also be drained off. Particular care should be taken while handling heavy combs or those which are flimsily attached to the frames, 19, Embedder: It is a device just like screw-driver to embed the frame wires in the comb foundation sheets 20. Drip Tray: It is a tray made up of stainless steel or zine coated iton used to collect the droppings of honey and wax cappings while uncapping the sealed combs of honey. 21, Feeders: Used to feed sugar syrup to honeybees during dearth period Selection of good bee: Beekeeping can be taken up with either of the two domesticated honey bee species (Apiscerana and A. mellifera . However, in cold areas e.g. high hills, 4. cerana being cold hardy performs better than . mellifera. Moreover this bee is more frugal and does well even in areas,which are not very rich in bee flora. Farmers who are incapable of making more investment in bee keeping with A. melliferacan use A. cerana, since it needs less investment.EXAMINATION OF A BEE COLONY Success of beekeeping also depends upon proper understanding of bee behaviour and anipulating the colonies accordingly. For manipulation of colonies in modern hives, as per needs of the bees, ‘examination is frequently required. Handling of bee colonies: For management of honey bees in modern beekeeping, examination of colonies forms one of the important aspects. But whenever we talk about examination of bee colonies, there is general fear of stinging by bees. It is to be made clear here that if we are aware of bee behaviour, tinging can be prevented. Bees sting only for their own protection and after stinging they die. Ifall the precautions are taken before examination of colonies we can avoid stinging by bees. Aim of examination of bee colonies: A bee colony is examined to check its working and to determine its requirements at a particular time, since these vary during different parts of the annual eycle of a bee colony. When a bee colony is opened, make the following observations: + Whether a bee colony has sufficient food or it needs artificial feeding. Each colony.depending upon its strength, should invariably have at least 2-Skg of stores all the times Whether the queen is present or not? If present whether laying satisfactory. If absentcolony needs a new queen + Whether there are sufficient combs for egg laying by the queen and to store nectar or not. If not provide more frames. + Whether there are any of the enemies or discases in the colony. If yes, manage them accordingly Honey bees do not like much of interference since it affects their normal working. ‘Therefore,the colonies should be disturbed as little as possible. It is suggested that during built- upperiod of the colony it is examined once a week whereas during off-seasons only once or twice a month, Requirements for examination of bee colonies:Hive tool, bee veil, apiary record register, measuring scale or grid, smoker Precautions:e Before handling bee colonies it is better to wear a bee veil.Do not wear black or dark clothing as bees are furious to black colour. Any kind of perfume or strong smelling hair oils or metals like ring, watch ete whichwould induce bees to sting, should be removed before handling the bees.*Do not be shaky while handling bees. Take care and avoid quick and Jjerkingmovements.*If a bee stings do not get nervous. Gently pull out the sting with the sharpedge of hive tool or finger nail from the base .and not from the top withoutsqucezing the venom out of it. Rub some grass on the stung area to mask the smell ofalarm pheromone which otherwise induces other workers to sting in that area * Do not crush any bee while taking out or putting the frames back in a colony.SEASONAL MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEE COLONIES (SPRINGMANAGEMENT) PRINCIPLES OF BEE MANAGEMENT All the management practices needed for increased honey production revolve around the following basic principles of bee management: ’) Ensuring built-up of foraging force of bees at right time for collection of surplus nectar. ii) Providing space for storage and ripening of nectar into honey by the bees. iii) Removing honey from hive at right time and extracting it iv) Preparing the colonies to withstand any period of dearth and menace of bee enemics. Generally, beckecping activities start with the onset of spring in cold areas. Therefore, it is appropriate to know the management practices, starting from spring. However, in some parts of the country there are different seasons and the management varies as per season. SPRING MANAGEMENT ‘The advent of spring, particularly in northern parts of the country, marks the beginning of warm weather and blooming of several tree species and cultivated crops. Following management practices are performed. Remove the protective covering of lightly packed hives in the early spring. But in the heavily packed colonies, the packing is removed onlywhen daily maximum temperature has reached 16°C. Examine the colonies on a sunny day. Check the food store and general condition of the colony. The examination should be for short duration to avoid brood chilling and robbing.It is a ‘good practice to equalize the strength of normal colonies in an apiary by giving brood frames to the needy colonies. The colonies which do not have brood, are likely to be queen less or if queen has failed and has become drone layer, there will be predominance of drone brood. Such colonies if are weak (less than 5 frames), be unitedwith other needy normal colonies. If these are strong, then provide amated queen and if not available, give a frame of brood with eggs andyoung larvae for rearing new queen.Give stimulatory feeding of sugar syrup (dilute syrup; 30 per cent) to thebee colonies on the onset of spring which is indicated by the start ofblooming of spring flowers. Take all the steps to guard against therobbing by bees. Bees will put their whole force during this period for brood rearing Provide raised combs or frames with comb foundation sheets if raised combs are not available so that there is no shortage of space for broodrearing. But be careful not to over expand the brood in the uncertainweather conditions of early spring, which may result in chilling of brood.Once the colony is strong enough to cover the brood, there is no risk of this problem Examine the colonies at least once a week on a sunny day and when conditions permit, clean the debris fiom the bottom boards. Provide empty frames as per needs of the colonies. Ensure that cach colonyalways has at least 5 kg of food stores During spring old bees die which are normally replaced by young bees. If mortality of old bees exceeds the rate of emergence of young bees, the colonies show sign of dwindling which isknown as spring dwindling Such colonies should be provided with adequate stores of pollen and honey and be given 1-2 sealed brood frames from the strong colonies.If all above mentioned practices are followed, the colonies will be well built up by the time of honey flow when maximum strength is needed. However,increase in strength also induces swarming In warmer areas of the country, all these practices can be carried out during early summer. SWARMING AND CONTROL What is swarming? This is a natural instinct for increase in the number of colonies. Division of colony takes place in which worker bees (30 to 70 percent), fill their honey stomachs with the food and leave the colony along with old queen and this divide, called as swarm, settles down temporarily generally in the nearby area of the colony on the bushes, hedges, tree branches etc Period of swarming: It occurs when queen has reached her peak of brood rearing activity under the stimulus of incoming pollen and nectar, mainly in late spring or early summer, but can also ‘occur during summer or fall, depending upon floral conditions of the area What causes swarming? Swarming occurs due to: Overcrowding and lack of ventilation. Presence of old queen Sudden honey flow Lack of space for egg laying and honey storage Problems due to swarming:Loss of working force due to division of the colony The morale of colony is not favourable for honey collection. The beesdirect their efforts towards building queen cells and searching for newhome sites. Colonies show great variations in respect of swarming. Some colonies donot swarm even after becoming quite populous yet many swarm withoutany apparent reason indicating genetic variations to the instinct ofswarming. 4. cerana is more prone to swarming than 4. mellifera Indication of swarming:The colonies start raising large number of queen cells usually along thelower edges of combs . However, few emergency queen cells are alsoraised in the event of queen failure i.e supersedure. Many bees do not go to field creating additional crowding, resulting in clustering of bees outside the hive. Time of swarming: Time to issue swarms by the colonies is from 10AM to 2PM on sunny days. If weather is not favourable, swarms may be issued even earlier in the morning or late in the evening. Catching and hiving a swarm:A settled swarm can easily be caught using swarm catching basket . This basket is placed above the bee cluster and the cluster is gently pushed upwards so that the bees start ascending into the basket. Once the queen has entered, the whole swarm will follow the queen.The swarm in this basket can be taken to the apiary for hiving .To make the swamn settle properly, a hive is prepared by giving one frame each of capped brood, pollen and honey and provided with extra frames as per strength of the swarm. ‘The swarm from the swarm catching basket is then shaken on the top bars of such a prepared hive and immediately covered with burlap cloth, inner cover and top cover Sugar syrup is also fed to such a newly settled swarm (1 part sugar dissolved inHow to prevent and control swarming? Depending on the internal and extemal factors, one colony may issue one to several swamns resulting in loss of population of the parent colony.To prevent swarming do as given below Avoid overcrowding by adding empty combs for egg laying. Sealed brood can be shifted to second hive body. Remove the queen cells at regular interval as soon as these are made, Delay in queen cell removal is not much effective.Provide shade and ventilation to the colonies. Swarming, can be prevented by removing old queen (which otherwise provides the supersedure impulse) followed by introduction of a young laying queen. Requeening the colonies annually is also a ‘good practice Another well known method of swarm control 1s“ Demaree plan of swarm control” which is described below: Examine the brood of the colony and remove all the queen cells Remove the brood chamber from the bottom board. Place another hive body containing one comb of unsealed brood, eggs and the queen on this bottom board. Fill the remaining hive with ‘empty combs. Place queen excluder on this hive body and keep the removed brood chamber along with remaining brood and bees over it Again inspect the top hive body after 10 days and remove all queen cells that may have been built in this interval. In 21 days, all of the brood will have emerged in the upper body and it will be used forhoney storage. In this way swarming can be checked. Swarming instinct of the colonies can also be overcome by temporarily dividing the colony and then re-uniting them just before honey flow. (SUMMER MONSOON AND AUTUMN MANAGEMENT) Under summer management, information on indication of honey flow, method of supering, honey extraction and management for dearth period has been provided. ‘What is honey flow? : It is the period when honey bees gather and store surplus honey in the hive after attaining peak population in the colony. Honey flow is indicated by. Whitening of honey cells of the comb due to deposition of fresh wax Appearance of large quantities of burr and brace combs (freshly preparedpieces of combs) Increase in weight of the colonies due to incoming nectar (a colony kept on a stage balance in an apiary indicates the sudden increase in weight;such a colony is also known as balance colony)During this period colonies should be quite populous but without swarming instinct and should gather maximum honey instead of only concentrating on brood rearing. Colony morale should be high for honey collection. Supering: With the first indication of honey flow, provide supers to the colonies But before putting supers, examine the colonies for disease; checkwhether queen is present or not and whether laying satisfactorily becauseafter the honey flow starts, the bee keeper becomes too busy in puttingand taking off the supers.Place queen excluder between brood chamber and super so as to preventlaying in the super by the queen.Keep swarming under check by avoiding congestion in the brood chamber. Provide empty combs at all the times until end of honcy flow.The space can be provided by removing sealed brood to super chamberSupers should contain drawn combs. If these are not available, provide frames with comb foundation sheets. In that case, also place at least one or two drawn combs with the comb foundation sheets to attract bees for raising the combs on foundations Supers can be of half or full depth, But full depth supers are more practical since frames can be exchanged among different chambers. When first super is full and there is a need to put the second one, it should be added between brood chamber and first super If there is shortage of drawn combs and raising of new combs is likely to lower honey production (since bees consume about 7kg of honey to secrete one kg of beeswax), the fully sealed and two third sealed honey frames can be taken out for honcy extraction and empty combs can bercturned for re-use.A strong colony can collect 4.5 to 10 kg of unripe honey in a single day during good honey flow ‘Therefore, keep the supers ready for meeting colony demand. It is better to supply at least one super ahead of needs of the colony. HONEY EXTRACTION For honey extraction only sealed honey frames are removed. Do not extract uncapped honey since it is unripe and due to higher moisture contents it is liable to ferment. Time to remove supers: Early in the morning before bees start storing unripe honey in the combs. If combs are well sealed, these can be removed at any time of the day. All the management practices of honey bee colonies are ultimately directed to get better quality hive products. It is, therefore, important that apiary honey is extracted properly so as to retain its quality. The process of extraction should be hygienic and prevent any extraneous material in honey. Requirements:+ Smoker, bee veil, hive tool, bee brush, empty super bodies, uncapping knife, boiling water, drip trays, honey extractor, honey storage container, muslin cloth Procedure ofhoney extraction: + To remove sealed honey combs, give few puffs of smoke to the colony and brush off bees from. the honey combs using soft bee brush or bunch of soft green grass «Place the honey combs in bee tight hive bodies and shift to honey extraction room. «Never rob the colonies of their entire honey stores. Depending on strength, keep with each colony at least 5-10 kg of honey in case of Apismellifera and 2-3kg with A. cerana for summer and monsoon dearth periodsHoney extraction room should be bee tight. After bringing the honey frames for extraction, these can be uncapped either with a steam heated double walled uncapping knife or with ordinary uncapping knife by heating in boiling water + Keep these uncapped frames in hive bodies with drip trays below, till extraction « Put the uncapped frames in honey extractor and work at about 150 revolutions per minute for 1 to 2 minutes. Then reverse the sides of the frames and repeat the extraction process+ Stock the emptied frames in hive bodies and return these to the colonies for cleaning. Shorten the hive entrance to avoid robbing Since freshly extracted honcy is warm and casy to strain, arrangements for straining using muslin cloth and packing should be promptly made so as to prevent subsequent heating «Clean the appliances and the place where honey is extracted + Beeswax collected during uncapping of honey frames should be allowed to drain off its honey. ‘Then purify this beeswax by putting in a muslin bag and boiling in a water bath. On, cooling pure beeswax will float over the surface of water and all impurities will remain in the muslin bag, Precautions during honey extraction «Remove only completely sealed or two third sealed combs of honey for extraction. Never extract unripe honey « Keep sufficient food stores with the colonies as per strength and prevailing dearth period, Do not rob the colonies of their whole stores. OTHER MANAGEMENT DURING SUMMER Other management during summer: Honey flow in most of the areas is generally followed by summer dearth period. Summer is generally marked by hot winds and ambient temperature often exceeds 40oC. During this period bees throw out drones and colony population also dwindles due to the death of old bees who have worked hard during honey flow season. Attack of bee enemies increases and robbing activity of bees is also more. If colonies are not managed properly, they may even abscond. This tendency is more in A. cerana and little in A. mellifera Manage the colonies as described below: + Provide the bee colonies with shade by shifting to shady areas or placing them under open straw huts: «+ Provide proper ventilation by slightly raising the brood chamber or the super such that bees do not pass through this ventilation. Otherwise robbing may be induced «Close all cracks and crevices in the hive so as to prevent entry of the enemies and robbers. + Ensure that colonies do not remain brood less for longer duration. Provide suificient food stores if the colonies have been stripped heavily of their honey stores during honey extraction «Do not examine the colonies very frequently Restrict the number of frames as per colony strength. Remove entra frames and store these safely for later use + In areas where summer temperature rises above 40.C, gunny bags or straw packs moistened twice a day with water should be spread over the top covers of the colonies + Provide a source of fresh water as honeybees maintain their hive temperature during, summer by collecting water from outside source, spilling it inside hive and evaporating it by fanning, This can easily be arranged in an apiary by hanging an earthen pitcher filled with water having ahole at its bottom, provided with a wick and allowing drops of water to fall on sloping stones or log of wood. MONSOON AND AUTUMN MANAGEMENT Monsoon management: In the tropical and sub- tropical regions of the country, June to September represents the monsoon or wet season. Bees face several problems of pests, predators, excessive humidity and starvation. Sometimes due to continuous rains, bees are confined to their hives for a long period. Honey bees become lethargic and may develop dysentery. The colonies need following management to keep them strong: + Weak colonies which have become queenless, should be united with queen right colonies, since during this period due to absence of drones new virgin queen can not mate * Avoid broodlessness in colonies; if pollen stores and fresh pollen is not available, feed the colonies either pollen substitute or pollen supplement If colonies have poor food stores (below 5kg) provide sugar in the form of candy or dry sugar instead of sugar syrup + Keep in check the attack of enemies like wax moth, ants, mites and wasps. « The hives are kept on stands sloping towards entrance in order to drain out water and prevent cumulation inside the hive. Autumn/fall management: Management practices during this period depend on the climaticand floral conditions where bees are kept. In some parts of Himachal Pradesh, there is a second honcy flow scason in autumn. The colonics in such places are managed as described carlicr for availing honey flow. Near the end of honey flow, reduce the hive space to the needs of colony for winter. Restrict the food storage space to the lower hive body so that bees are forced to store their winter stores there instead of super. During this period many colonies make preparation for superseding old queens and raise few queen cells and this is natural replacement of failing queen in a colony. The new queen on emergence kills the old queen. For successful overwintering, which is the non-productive season, following management should be done. + Ensure that the colony has vigorous and productive queen, An ideal qucen is one whose egg laying rate is high and continues to lay well till late fall and thus provides population of predominantly young bees in sufficient number for wintering * Colonies below average population or having scattered or less brood than the average colonies indicate failure of queers. Replace queens of such colonies by early fall so that these colonies produce desirable number of young bees * Colonies for wintering should be free from disease + Reduce the comb space by removing extra frames to such a level which can be covered by the bees well « Under moderate climatic conditions, colonies of bees on 3-5 frames can winter successfully, if the colonies have proper food stores. Unite the weak colonies with colonies of average bee strength+ If colonies have less honey stores, feed them with heavy sugar which is prepared by dissolving 2 parts of sugar in one part of boiling water and to avoid crystallization add 1 table spoon full of tartaric acid to each of S0kg of sugar. Fill this syrup in combs and exchange for empty combs in the hive Precaution: Sugar should be fed while outside temperature is sufficient for bees to take syrup and store in combs after reducing its moisture. To avoid robbing, feeding should be done only in the evening. (WINTERMANAGEMENT AND MIGRATORY BEE KEEPING) After preparing the colonies in fall for wintering, protection should be provided to the colonies from er by: + Reducing the hive entrance « Plugging all cracks and crevices in the hive « Protecting the colonies from direct chilly winds. Storage and protection of combs: Protect the spare combs from attack of wax moth by fumigating in hive stacks frequently till spring when these drawn combs will be needed by the colonies again. Wintering: In upper Himalayan region, bees experience severe winter from November to March. and colonies are lost due to poor wintering. Loss of colonies in winter ean be avoided if ollowing four fundamental principles in beekeeping management are kept in mind: i. Every colony must have a young vigorous prolific queen of superior genetic stock and young worker bees. ii, Every colony must be properly protected from extreme climatic conditions through reduced entrance and proper packing iii, Every colony must have adequate reserves of honey and pollen. iv. Every colony must be maintained in “disease free” condition. Honey bees use honey as source of energy for generating heat and to maintain hive temperature of 32-350C near brood area. For wintering, if insulation to hive is provided, it will help in reduction of store consumption and saving energy of bees. The type of insulation depends upon the climatic zones. Winter packing of hive: + Only good colonies with young bees in large number and enough food stores should be packed + For packing colonies straw, sawdust, wood shavings, bean stalks or dry Ieaves,chopped rice or wheat straw can be used « Packing material should be dry since moisture will make it poor insulatorPacking can be given in the brood chamber beyond dummy board (Fig. 11.1 to 11.3), as well as between inner and top cover. Strong colonics with young bees and good food stores, with proper packing need no careduring winter and are opened only in spring. MIGRATORY BEE KEEPING Flora and honey flow season vary from region to region. Several vegetation regions of the country exhibit short or long gaps in the flowering. Thus there are one or more floral dearth periods of short or long duration. Migratory beekeeping is practiced to overcome these deficiencies in bee forage availability and find out the places where flows can be availed by bees at different periods of the year. This helps not only to prevent colony losses, but even to increase colony number and getting additional honey production, Preparing colonies for migration: + Provide proper ventilation by using entrance screens and even top screen in place of inner cover during hot weather + Close all cracks or openings in the hive + Nail all the movable parts of the hive properly or tie with migratory belts « Before packing the colony, remove frames of honey which are more than half sealed since honey combs cannot bear much jolts. However, the colonies should have sufficient food during the journey + Close the entrance in the evening when all bees have retumed. Colonies should be, moved during night + For deciding migrating site, the beekeeper should have a detailed knowledge of honey flow sources and density of bee colonies in the surrounding area. Avoid areas which already have lat of bee colonies + Migration can involve shifting of one truck load of bees up to 200km or even more. If journey cannot be undertaken in one night during hot periods then the truck should be arked in the shade during day, entrances opened and providing water. Joumey can be started in the evening after closing hive entrance + On arrival at the destination, colonies are unloaded and placed at the desired site. Then the entrance screens are removed + Check the colonies after 1 or 2 days for any damage to combs and working of queens Migration cycle: Ifa beekeeper of hilly area in northern India wants to exploit his colonies to the maximum extent, he may follow the following cycle: Migrate colonies to the plains of Punjab and Haryana during first week of November or availing {oria, sarson, eucalyptus, berseem and sunflower till first week of June + In case, a beekeeper is interested to avail litchi flow, he may migrate his colonies during end March till 31d week of April to Dehradun in Uttrakhand after availing the Brassica, (sarson) flowand bringing back to the plains of Punjab and Haryana by end April to avail flows from berseem and sunflower «In the first week of June, the colonies can be migrated to foot hills of Himachal to avail nectar of khair +To avail Plectranthus flow, the colonies can be migrated by end August to the floral rich pockets of district Shimla, Chamba and Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh. However, the honey flow from this source is erratic and depends on the good monsoon rains needed for growth of this wild bush + Afier Plectranthus flow the preparations can again be made for winter migration, In South India, beekeepers generally migrate their bee colonies to sunflower, safflowers, cotton, sesamum and other crops. However, in the hilly areas, flowering of coffee in March- April and that of cardamom between June-August is exploited. In some regions extensive flowering of Schifflera spp. during May, helps in building sirength of bee colonies between coffee and cardamom flowering, FAMILIARIZATION WITH ENEMIES OF HONEY BEES AND THEIR CONTROL PREDATORY WASPS Honey bee colonies are attacked by a large number of enemies. For efficient management, the colonies require appropriate protection from these enemies. It is important to understand nature and extent of damage caused by the bee enemies and how to prevent and control them? Some of the important enemies requiring regular attention of a beekeeper are described below. 1, Predatory wasps: Vespa velutina (V. auraria) Nests on tree tops/buildings Vespa magnifica Under-ground nest. Vespa tropica (V. cincta) Underground nest. Vespa basalis Nest on tree top/buildings. Nature of damage: - The wasps catch the bees at hive entrance and kill them (Fig. 16.1) - Most serious damage in hills is caused by V. magnifica which cuts down bees in large number while sitting or flying at/near hive entrance (Fig. 16.2) - Sometimes even V. basalis has been found causing severe damage to the colonies (Fig, 16.3)- The weak colonies may even perish due to its attack. Prevention and control: - Kill the fecunded females visiting the apiary during spring by flapping - Burn the nests during night time - In fire prone places destroy the nests by spraying them with strong insecticidal solution. - Kill the wasps in the apiary by flapping. Wax moth (Galleria mellonella)Nature and extent of damage: - The attack is more prevalent during monsoon - The wax moth larvae (Fig. 16.4) tunnel through the mid ribs of the comb (Fig. 16.5) and there is presence of small mass of minute wax particles outside the tunnels- In case of severe infestation, further brood rearing is stopped; bees stop field work and colony may abscond. Prevention and control:- Close cracks and crevices in the hive. Reduce hive entrance, - Remove combs not covered by bees. Keep the bottom board clean Control in storage: Keep spare combs in empty hive bodies in tiers and close both at bottom. and top. Disinfect the stack by burning sulphur @ 180 g/ cubic metre (fumigation by sulphur fumes). Afier fumigation, put naphthalene flakes in moth proof stacks. ECTOPARASITIC MITES In India, ectoparasitic mites Varroa destructor and Tropilaelapsclareae are causing severe damage to 4. mellifera colonies. However, no damage in 4. cerana colonies due to these mites has been reported Nature of damagesi) Tropilaelapsclareae: This mite feeds only on bee brood, In case of severe infestation of thismite dead brood is thrown outside the hive by workers. The bee colonies may even abscond ifeontrol measures are not adopted. The diagnostic symptoms are:~ irregular brood pattern,- perforated brood capping,- dead or malformed wingless bees at the hive’s entrance - fast running small brownish mites can also be seen on the infected brood frame. This mite develops and reproduces in the sealed brood cells of honey bees feeding on haemolymph of bee pupa Parasitized individual may die or develop into deformed, weak individual incapable of normal functioning,- This mite has caused heavy losses to 4. mellifera colonies throughout the world as it reproduces both on drone and worker brood of this species. Although the native host of this mite is A. cerana, yet itis causing no serious damage to it. ‘The symptoms of colony infestation with Varroa are:- Spotty brood pattern (Fig. 16.6)- Mite can be seen on adult bee’s body (16.7) as mature female mite attaches to young adultbee and also feed on haemolyph till further reproduction in the brood cell- Dead brood and malformed adult bees are seen near/around hive entrance- Colonies become weak and wounds inflicted by mites make the bees more susceptible tobacterial and viral diseases. Methods of Varroa mite detection:- Open about 50 sealed brood cells and remove pupae using forceps and count number of mites in each cell and pupa- To examine mites on adult bees, take about 100 bees from a colony in a wide mouthed bottle and sprinkle about 15 gram of finely powdered sugar and shake the container after closing its mouth. Fine sugar particles will dislodge the mites as these stick to mite foot pads and disable them to grip the bee body surface. ‘Take a white paper sheet and release the contents over it. The adult bees will fly away whereas mites can be seen in the collected sugarpowder. Count the number of mites- Natural mite drop in 24 hours is also taken as assessment tool for mite infestation but forthis purpose screened bottom boards (with 8 mesh wire screen) with sticky paper need to beinseried in the bee hives. A drop of more than 30 mites in 24 hours is considered highinfestation and requires treatment of bee colony. Control:i. Tropilaelapsclareae : Sulphur dusting on top bars @ 200mg/frameii. Varroa destructor: Formic acid fumigation @ 50ml/hive in sponge pads covered withperforatedpolythene bags. Level of mite infestation can be kept low by putting sugar (finelypowdered sugar) @ 30g/frame and then sweeping sugar down between the frame spacesusing a bee brush. VERTEBRATE PESTS Frogs and Lizards:The frogs and toads prey upon varieties of insects and occasionally feed on bees at the hive entrance. These are proficient in capturing bees and are less affected by bee stings and bee ‘venom. Lizards are occasional predators of honeybee colonies and eat both brood and adult bees Management:Place bee colonies on hive stands smeared with grease to prevent the entry of toads and lizards into the hive Use of beehives free from cracks and crevices and also maintaining colonies with hygienic conditions and would prevent the lizard problem. Birds:Birds are the major predators of honeybees. The beaks of the birds are well adapted to catch bees easily during flight. They are able to manipulate the prey, dislodge the sting and remove the poison sac of the bees. The green bee-eater, Merops orientalis, blue bearded bee-eater, Nyctyornis athertoni and the drango, Dicrurus leucophaeus are the most common bird predators of bee colonies. They catch up bees and are smapped up in the bill, returns to their perch and beat the prey against the perch until they dic. Similarly, the oriental honey buzzard, Pernis ptilorkyncus, swifts, wood peckers also act as predators of honeybees Woodpeckers have a strong, sharp pointed bill for excavating insect brood holes in trees and « very long sticky tongue for extracting the bee prey. Management: The methods such as scaring, producing distress voice at a high volume, restricting the flight using reflective tapes, compact dises etc. have been successful to prevent the bird menace in and around apiaries Covering apiaries with strong mesh would prevent the entry and attack of birds. Mammals Mice are known to invade bee colonies for shelter and destroy the combs. They feed on bees and hive products such as honey and pollen, Bears usually dismantle the hives to feed on the honey, pollen, brood and adult bees. They tear the hives into pieces and carry off combs with honey to escape from mass stinging of bees. The monkeys remove the adult bees from the combs and feed on the honey and brood Monkeys generally in troops jump on to the beehives and carry away both super and brood ‘combs by shooking the bees to fly away. OTHER BEE ENEMIES 4. Bee louse, Braulacoeca: Wingless fly found on thorax of bee and feeds by coming near mouth close to opening of salivary glands and take the available nourishment. It is not a serious pest. 5. Other enemies: Bird, bee eater, Meropsorientalis and king crow, Dicrurus sp. eat bees while they are flying. To control the menace, scare them away. Attack of ants can be controlled by making the hive ant proof by putting the legs of hive stand in pots containing water. Bears and pine martines are the mammals which attack the bees for honey and bees. BEE DISEASES Honey bees are attacked by a large number of diseases which are caused by different organisms including virus, bacteria, protozoan and mites both ectoparasitic and endoparasitic, The extent of damage varies from death of some brood or adults to complete loss of colonics. The disease preads from one colony to other through different manipulations done in the apiary as well as through robber bees, swarms and drifting bees. Brief account of symptoms and control measures is given in the tabular form below which can also help in differentiating one disease from the other. BEE DISEASES:Brood diseases: European Foul Brood Sac Brood/Thai sac broodCausative Organism Paenibacillus larvae(bacteria)Melissococcus pluton(bacteria)Virus (sac brood in A. ‘mellifera and Thai sac brood in A. cerana Time of death Late larval or early pupal stage Coiled larvae in unsealed cell (usually young unsealed larvae sometime older sealed larvae) Late larval stage; (usually older sealed larvae sometimes young unsealed larvae) Cappings Sunken and punctured Dead brood in uncapped stage Capping removed or punctured often with two holes. Colour of dead brood Off white to light cream to brown; coffe brown to dark brown or almost black Yellowish white to grey or dark brown, dark brown or almost black as compared to glittering white in case of normal brood Straw coloured, starts darkening from head Position of dead brood Lying flat on cell base Coiled, twisted or collapsed Extended with head curled upright in cells Consistency of dead brood Sticky to ropy Soft and gummy ; rarely sticky or ropy, granular Sac like with watery content Odour of dead brood Glue pot, putrid faint Slightly sour to penetratingly sour, Putrid fish None to slightly sour; faint sour Type of brood affected Worker, rarely drone or queen Worker, drone and queen Worker only Control Terramycin @ 0.250 0.400g in Sit sugarsyrup feedingFeed Terramycin @ 0.2g in50Om! cone Sugor syrup No effective cure Adult diseases:Nosema disease Acarine disease Causativeorganism: Nosemaapis(protozoan) Acarapiswoodi (Endoparasitiemite) Symptoms Infected bees collect in front of hive, sluggish crawlers on leaf blades, distended abdomen, dysentric .Bees gather in front of hive as crawler bees and unable to fly;disjointed wings aving typical‘k’ ‘wing condition Control Feed fumigillin 200 mg in sugar syrup to each colony or 05-3.0 mg in 100ml sugar syrup. Or Two feedings at weekly intervalof Dependel-M @0.5g/litre/colony,Fumigate using folbex strips at weekly intervals or with formic acid (85%) @ 10mU/colony and replenish the antity after every 24h for 21 days Viral Diseases: Viruses are microscopic entities causing diseases in honeybees. About 18 viruses have been identified in honeybees and most of them cause sub-lethal infections. Only a few have been reported in A.cerana indica in contrast to many viruses from A.mellifera. Though a few viruses infect brood, most of the viruses infect both brood as well as adultbees. The major viral discases of honeybees are Thai sac brood, Sac brood, Kashmir bee virus, paralysis and 4pis iridescent virus. Filamentous virus, black queen cell virus, Arkansas virus, Egypt bee virus, viruses X and Y, cloudy wing virus, deformed wing virus are other viruses infecting honeybee colonies. Disease Causal organism Suscey le Honeybee Species ‘Thai sac brood Thai sac brood virus Apis cerana indica Sac brood Sec brood virus Apis mellifera Paralysis Paralysis viruses Apis mellifera Kashmir bee virus Kashmir bee virus Apis cerana indica Apis melliferaAmerican Foul Brood Paenibacillus larvae Apis mellifera larvae Apis cerana indica European Foul Brood Melissococcus Apis mellifera plutonius Apis cerana indica Apis laboriosa Chalk brood Ascosphaera apis Apis mellifera Apis cerana indica Stone brood Aspergillus flavus Apis ‘mellifera Nosemosis Nosema apis Apis mellifera Apis cerana indica Amocba disease Malpighamoeba Apis mellifera mellificae A. Thai Sac Brood Disease‘Thai sac brood disease is one of the deadly diseases of Apis cerana indica colonies. It was originated for first time in Thailand during 1976 and caused greater losses to beekeeping industry by killing over 80 to 90% bee colonies during 1980s. Thai sac brood virus is confined to the brood and quite evidently the larvae exhibit disease symptoms. Its prevalence is quite evident in brood rearing seasons in honeybee colonies. Symptoms: The symptoms are seen in early larval stages and death occurs either in late larval or in the pre-pupal stage. © The dead larvae usually lie at the bottom of the cell with the head typically turned up. © Such larvae become scale like and adhere to one side of the cell at the bottom. © Infected pupae are irregularly scattered on combs with perforations on the capping. © Adult bees become sluggish with extreamly low foraging activity. Diagnosis: The disease can be diagnosed by lifting infected larva with a pointed needle which shows a sac like appearance. © Examination of ultra thin sections of midgut of infected adult bees reveals bundles of virions accumulated next to the peritrophic membranes in the gut lumen. B. Sac Brood:Sac brood virus (SBV) is one of the foremost viruses reported from A.mellifera colonies. It infects and multiplies in the tissues of young larvae. Such larvae generally fail to pupatebut remain stretched on their back by extruding their head towards cell capping. The larval cuticle looks like a transparent sac accumulated with a fluid between the epidermal layers. The infected larvae changes from pearly white to pale yellow followed by dark brown in colour. C. Kashmir Bee Virus:Kashmir bee virus is a pathogen of 4. cerana that killed thousands of colonies in Kashmir The major symptoms of its infection are gradual weakening of bee colonies with large numbers ‘of dead and dying bees near the hive. The infected bees are partly or completely hairless with dark upper thoracic surface and exhibit trembling uncoordinated movements. D. Paralysis Viruses:Four types of viruses’ viz. chronic paralysis, chronic paralysis associate, acute paralysis and slow paralysis are known to cause paralyses in adults of A.mellifera. The infected bees become hairless, shiny and have bloated abdomen with partially spread dislocated wings. They show an abnormal trembling motion of the wings and body. They fail to fly out often crawling on the ground and cluster on top of the hive. E. Apis Iridescent Virus:4pis iridescent virus multiplies in the tissues of fat body, alimentary canal, hypopharyngeal glands and ovaries of adult honeybees. The tissues of the diseased bees become blue- violet to green on illumination with bright white light. Itis known to reduce the egg-laying capacity of the queen and the worker bees become sluggish and form clusters at the hive entrance. Management of Viral Diseases: “The adult population of diseased colonies may be transferted to a new or disinfectedhive provided with comb foundation They are fed most frequently with sugar syrup and pollen supplements. © During severe infection, the combs containing diseased larvae may be burnt to Prevent further contamination. © A break in brood rearing either by de-queening or by caging the queen encourage bees to remove infected dead brood efficiently and thereby keeping the infection under control. © Avoid exchange of infected combs and use only sterilized beekeeping equipment in the bee colonies. © The control measures followed to prevent the transmission of viruses through bee mites, protozoan parasites and other vectors would reduce the problem of viral diseases. Bacterial Diseases:Bacteria cause many diseases in honeybee colonies. They are classified into two broad categories such as non spore- forming bacteria and spore-forming bacteria. American foul brood and European foul brood are highly destructive and widely distributed bacterial diseases of honeybees,A. American Foul Brood: American foul brood (AFB) is one of the most destructive infectious brood diseaseskilling millions of A mellifera colonies throughout the world It is highly contagious and occurs in all seasons on bee brood. Paenibacillus (formerly Bacillus) larvae subsp. Larva causes the disease Symptoms: The diseased brood is irregularly intermingled with healthy brood with uncapped, punctured or sunken capping in the form of ‘pepper box’. © The diseased brood is initially dull white in colour and gradually changes to light brown or dark brown.© Death of an infected larva usually takes place after the cell is sealed and the cocoonhas been spun.® The segmentation of the larva is well marked and gives off fish-glue like foul odour. Diagnosis: ‘The spores of the pathogen exhibit Brownian movement in the regions of the smear where pockets of water are formed in the oil. This movement is an extremely valuable diagnostic tool as the spores of other pathogens of honeybees are usually remained fixed. © Stretch testis followed where the dead larval contents are easily adhering to the tip of the pointed stick on dipped into the larval extract by stretching in an elastic way when lifted. © Microscopic examination of infected larval scales stained with higrosin show a mass of bacterial spores. © Holst test essentially consists of placing the suspected material such as dried scales into dilute warm milk. The spores turn the milk curdled and cleared within few minutes. © The immuno fluorescence and immuno diffusion and use of monoclonal antibody in enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) are the other diagnostic techniques followed in detection of AFB. Management: Honeybee colonies could be placed in the areas rich with plenty of nectar and pollen flow during active season. © Artificial swarming or shook swarm technique is followed in AFB infected colonies during post honey flow seasons. This technique involves transferring of adult bees to a disease free hive followed by destroying diseased brood combs. © Depleting adult bees supplied with comb foundation leads to break in survival of the pathogen in absence of the brood. © The combs and equipment may be sterilized by fumigation with formaldehyde. © Sodium sulphathiozole (1 5g/1S/) and “oxytetracyclin hydrochloride (0.4g in 5 /) suppress the disease when fed with strong sugar syrup. B. European Foul Brood:European foul brood is caused by Melissococcus plutonius, @ non-spore formingbacterium, It is an infectious and contagious disease primarily infecting 2-3 days old young larvae. The virulence of the pathogen is common in high brood rearing season. Symptoms: A slight yellow or grey discolouration of the larvae. © Most of the bee larvae die at coiled stage on the bottom of the cells. The dead larvae appear like collapsed mass giving melted appearance.© The larvae undergo decaying often giving off a foul odour and are sour in taste. © An infected larva may spins cocoon with poorly developed silk glands but become flaccid and the tracheal system becomes quite visible. © The diseased larva dries up into rubbery scales in the cell. Diagnosis: Exposing the smears of discased larvae stained with carbol fuschin under a microscope before appearance of secondary bacteria shows bacteria. © The Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR) ate efficient in detection of the pathogen in the larvae and bechive products. Management: The severely infected colonies may be destroyed. © Sodium sulphathiazole 1.Sg/15 1) suppress the disease on feeding in strong sugar syrup. © Oxytetracyeline hydrochloride (Terramycin®) may be fed or sprinkled with sugar syrup over the bees cluster in the hive in warm weather. C. Para Foul Brood:The bacterium, Bacillus paraalvei causes Para foul brood disease in honeybees. The worker, queen and drone larvae and sometimes pupae are affected by Para foul brood disease. Symptoms and Management: The larvae infected are slightly less plumpy and change in colour from glisteningwhite to a dull white.© The cell capping are dark, sunken and greasy in nature. © The infectedbrood produces a sour odour. © A large number of larvae are coiled or irregularly twisted in the cells, although many larvae die in an extended position. © The larvae in later stages turn reddish brown and form dark coloured scales. © Since the epidemiology of Para foul brood is almost similar to that of EFB, similar control measures would also be effective. Septicemia:Septicemia is a disease associated with adult honeybees and is caused by a bacterium, Pseudomonas apiseptica. itis most prevalent in the bee colonies placed near moist soil Symptoms and Management: A change in the colour of the haemolymph of infected bees from apple brown to chalky white followed by rapid regeneration of muscles. © Severe infection causes the haemolymph to become turbid and milky. Pests and Diseases in Bechive Dead or dying bees emit a putrid odour.© Placing bee colonies in well-drained apiary sites and exposing them to the sunlightfor at least a part of the day would minimize the disease Fungal Diseases:Fungi infect brood, adult bees and combs containing stored products. in honeybeecolonies. The most common fungal diseases of honeybees are chalk brood and stone brood. ‘A. Chalk Brood:The fungus, Ascosphaera apis causes chalk brood discase. It infects larval and pre-pupal stages of the bee brood. The chalk brood causes severe damage to bee colonies most frequently in spring and early summer seasons, Symptoms: The fungus infects younger larvae and pre-pupae usually located in outer fringes. The infected larvae die after cell capping and tum white followed by grey and black colour on formation of fruiting bodics.© Larva is over grown by fluffy like mycelia and swellshhe infected larva dries into hard, shrunken white chalk mummies. Diagnosis: Presence of stained mummies containing spore cysts under the microscope. Identification of the pathogen by a polymerase chain reaction technique. Management: Strengthening of weak colonies by uniting adult bees and brood combs. Periodic renewal of old combs with new ones. Fumigation of hive equipment and combs with Ethylene oxide and methyl bromide. Trichloro isocyanouric acid (TCA) dissolved water is effective in control of chalk brood. B. Stone Brood:Stone brood disease is generally caused by the fungus, Asperigillus flavus and ‘occasionally by Aspergillus fumigatus. It is more prevalent in bechives under damp conditions with poor ventilation. Symptoms and Management: The spores are found abundant near the head of the infected larvae and pupae and form green stone like solid mummies. © The infected larva becomes hardened and quite difficult to crush after its death hence the name stone brood. © The management practices followed in contol of chalk brood disease are also effective against stone brood. Protozoan Diseases:Protozoans are either parasitic or symbiotic on honeybees and cause greater losses to the beekeeping industry throughout the world. The microsporadian and protozoan diseases of honeybees are nosemosis and amoeba disease respectively. ‘A. Nosemosis:Nosemosis is one of the most widespread adult honeybee diseases caused by the microsporadian parasite, Nosema apis. It is distributed worldwide and has also been reported from many parts of India on A.cerana colonies. It is an obligate parasite which develops in the gut tissues of adult bees and has been known to shorten the life span of honeybees,Symptoms: The bees of diseased colonies show restlessness and are unable to fly but drop loose excreta ‘on the combs and hive parts. © The hind wings of infected bees may get unlocked from the fore wings and held at unusual angles. © The infected nurse bees do not produce sufficient royal jelly due to deterioration of food glands. © The hypopharyngeal glands of the newly emerged adult bees with the pathogen fail to develop completely and eventually undergo atrophy. Diagnosis: Nosemosis can be diagnosed by microscopic examination of ventriculus of the infected bees. The ventriculus, which is normally brown in colour becomes white and fragile on infection Giemsa (10% 0.02 M phosphate buffer) stained air-dried ethanol fixed smears ofinfected tissues shows, spores with thick unstained walls without visible nuclei Management: Maintenance of bee colonies strong with a prolific queen and sufficient food stores. © Old combs which are constant source of pathogen may be replaced with new combs. © Fumes of cetic acid (60 per cent) would inactivate the Nosema spores.® The antibiotic, fumagillin suppresses Nosema infection when fed to bees at the concentrations of 0.5 to 3 mg/100 ml sugar syrup. B. Amoeba Disease: Amoeba disease is caused by the protozoan, Malpighamoeba mellificae. It is widely distributed in temperate regions. The M. mellificae cysts ingested by the adult bees germinate possibly at the posterior end of the ventriculus of bees where solid food particles are accumulated. (i) Symptoms: Gradual decline in adult bee population Infected Malpighian tubules are slightly distended, glassy in appearance and easilybroken.© The infection causes the epithelium of malpighian ‘tubules to undergo atrophy. (ii) Diagnosis and Management: Presence of cysts in the abdominal suspension of the suspected bees examined —undermicroscope.© Phenyl salicylate, quinosol, fumagillin, furazolodone and dichloroxyquinaldine areeffective against the amoeba dizase.ERICULTURE Glossary in Sericulture ‘Knaphae Sik- | Anaphe a unt-voltine green silkworm (20-100) Collectively produce silk cocoons Ant - A Common name to freshly hatched silkworm larvae. Antennae/Feelers - | There are a pair of sensory receptive organs present on the dorsal side oF the head ‘Ant Well- ‘An equipment used 0 prevent crawling of ants on to rearing trays ‘Acid Treatment - A process to make the eggs to hatch especially bi-voltine eggs. Breeding Stations - Place to multiply reproductive seed. Bi-Voltine - The silkworms have two generation in a year. Cellule - A plastic black conical cup used to cover paired moths and female moth during ovi position ~ Chawki worms- ‘Worms of Ito Hlinstar age. Cocoon - ‘A compact structure spun by silkworm larvae as undergoing population. protective covering for Commercial ‘Specific hybrids between two or more pure lines of Industrial seed races of silkworms, Seed Crop - Cacoon production which is production center used to produce eggs in commere egg ‘Crumpled Wings - Wings which are having numerous folds but not uniform. Removing of floss from seed cacoons before moth emergence. Disease Free Laying, Any deviation from the regular physiological activities in the body of an organism This is the process of cleaning the room and appliances for hygienic. Domestication - Rearing any animal under laboratory conditions. Eri silk - ‘A domesticated silkworm Philosamia ricini feed Castor leaves to produce white or brick-red silk. Fagra silk - ‘A giant silk moth Attacus atlas produce light brown colour cocoons. Fish Wool - Itis a silk obtained from a bi-valve Pinna Squamosa. Floss - ‘An outermost loose, fragmented layer of cocoon. It is waste silk to be removed before reeling and moth emergence. Grain ‘The term given to the eggs of Grainage — ‘A centre aimed to produce dis Hibernating eggs - These breeds do not hatch normally in 10 — I Idays and enter digpause stage. Hygrometer - tis an equipment to measure humidity. Instar - Its the satge between two moults in larval development of an insect (feeding periodically.) Incubation - ‘A process aimed at uniform development of an egg, to ensure uniform hatching through proper maintenance of environmental conditions, Kego- ‘A common name of freshly hatched larvae. Micropyle- ‘A small microscopic opening present on egg Multi-voltine - ‘The silkworms have many generations in yearPro thetel - ‘An intermediate form between larva and pupa of an Insect Reproductive sced_| Used to produce seed cocoons which are required in large number for producing commercial seeds Silk- A fibrous proteinous secretion secreted by certain Insects. Spinneret - Tis a special organ used to spin the cocoon in certaingroup of insects. Sexual tis a phenomenon where male and female are identified by their external Dimorphism - morphological features. Synchronization - | The moths of different races are made to hatch simultaneously on the same day, so are available for hybridization. Sterilization - ‘A process to eliminate harmful microorganisms, and to make the room clean and hygienic. Uni-voltine The: worms have only one generation in a year. Voltinism - -It isa character which indi tes the number of generations per year. Seed Cocoon ‘Cocoon are produced by larva ofa pare silkworm race. These are used for production of hybrid seed Cocoon Cocoon is a protective covering over the pupa. In silkworms it is made of silk. Cocoons are boiled in water to extract silk. Cross breed (CB. | Hybrid silkworm eggs between to silkworm races. In Kamaiaka hybrid of multivoltine female and bivoltine male iscommon Green Cocoon Newly formed cocoon Double Cocoon | In singal cocoon two pupa are present Denier The denier is basedon a natural reference- a single strand of silk is approximately one denier a 9000 meter strand of silk weighs about one gram Sericulture :The word ‘Seticulture’ is derived fiom the Greek ‘Sericos’ meaning ‘silk” and the English ‘culture’ meaning * rearing’. It is a multidisciplinary programme. It involves the cultivation of mulberry to produce leaf, rea ing of silkworm to convert leaf to cocoon, reeling of the cocoon to obtain silk yam and weaving to convert yarn to fabrics. Silk is a natural fibre where two independent fibroins called brins are completely covered with sericin. Importance of sericulture 1 2, Sericulture is an agro based rural industry with large labour involvement and higher income generation potential India, the second largest silk producer next to China, has a unique position in the world, being the only country producing all the four commercial types of natural silk viz., mulberry, tasar, eri and muga. Once the plantation is established it will continue to yield for 10 to 12 years with minimum expenditure for maintenance. Therefore maximum turnout can be obtained with minimum investment. Itis suitable to small and marginal farmers also. Alll the sericultural activities are village based and hence prevents migration of people from rural to urban areas in search of jobs. Silk being an expensive commodity used mostly by the affluent society, transfer of money from rich to poor is ensured