Honey and
beekeeping have a long history in India. Honey was the first sweet food tasted
by the ancient Indian inhabiting rock shelters and forests. He hunted bee hives
for this gift of god. India has some of the oldest records of beekeeping in the
form of paintings by prehistoric man in the rock shelters. With the development
of civilization, honey acquired an unique status in the lives of the ancient
Indians. They regarded honey as a magical substance that controlled the
fertility of women, cattle, as also their lands and crops. The recent past has
witnessed a revival of the industry in the rich forest regions along the
sub-Himalayan mountain ranges and the Western Ghats, where it has been
practiced in its simplest form.
In India
beekeeping has been mainly forest based. Several natural plant species provide
nectar and pollen to honey bees. Thus, the raw material for production of honey
is available free from nature. Bee hives neither demand additional land space
nor do they compete with agriculture or animal husbandry for any input. The
beekeeper needs only to spare a few hours in a week to look after his bee
colonies. Beekeeping is therefore ideally suited to him as a part-time
occupation. Beekeeping constitutes a resource of sustainable income generation
to the rural and tribal farmers. It provides them valuable nutrition in the
form of honey, protein rich pollen and brood. Bee products also constitute
important ingredients of folk and traditional medicine.
The
establishment of Khadi and Village Industries Commission to revitalize the
traditional village industries, hastened the development of beekeeping. During
the 1980s, an estimated one million bee hives had been functioning under
various schemes of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. Production of
apiary honey in the country reached 10,000 tons, valued at about Rs. 300
million.
Apiculture
Technology:
Production
of honey has been the major aim of the industry. Modern beekeeping also
includes production of beeswax, bee collected pollen, bee venom, royal jelly,
propolis, as also of package bees, queen bees and nucleus colonies. All these
are possible only with a proper management of bees, utilizing the local plant
resources and adapting to the local climatic conditions. Modern beekeeping
makes heavy use of beekeeping equipment and honey processing plant. This
results in high efficiency and also ensures the quality of the processed honey.
Seasonal management of bee colonies varies
in different parts of the country although the basic management methods are the
same. Flow management, dearth management, provision of feeding, and control and
cure of bee disorders, bee diseases, pests and enemies, are some of the routine
measures to keep bee colonies healthy and strong. There are special management techniques
like queen rearing, migration for honey production or for colony
multiplication, which the beekeeper takes up after he gains sufficient
knowledge and experience in handling bee colonies.
How to Start a Beekeeping
Business:
There are several options for getting started in the bee
business, whether for fun or profit. You can obtain your bees by:
Structure your beekeeping
business:
Select a
business structure with the help of a Certified Public Accountant experienced
with agricultural businesses. Consult with a commercial insurance agent with a
strong liability background. Obtain a business license from your city or county
clerk’s office, and inquire about other permits. Contact your state
Department of Revenue regarding a sales tax license for the sale of your
bee-related products and consult an agriculture attorney about state beekeeping
laws. In the state of Texas, for example, the Texas Agriculture Code outlines
regulations and statutes for beekeeping operations.
Order your beekeeping equipment:
Personal Equipment :
At a
minimum, you’ll need a veil, hive tool and bee smoker. The veil keeps bees away
from your head, since stings on the head can be quite painful. You can purchase
a special hat to hold the veil, but a well-fitting wide brimmed hat will do as
well. The bee smoker keeps the bees from becoming agitated, allowing the
beekeeper to work in peace.
Optional
accessories include a bee suit, bee gloves, and high top boots. Combined with a
veil and hat, a beekeeper can be well protected from bee stings during normal
beekeeping operations.
Extracting
equipment:
To harvest
your honey crop, you’ll first need to separate the combs of honey from the bees
(pulling the honey). Using a bee brush to sweep the bees from each frame is one
option, but can become labor intensive the more hives you have. Bee escape
boards are used to direct the bees into a one way trip out of the honey supers.
You’ll need one escape board for each hive.
Another
option includes using chemicals like Bee Go or Bee Robber, which is placed on
the underside of a special acid board cover. The smell drives the bees out of
the honey super. Finally, a bee blower can be used to blow the bees right off
the frames, out of the super and onto the ground in front of the hive.
Extracted
honey needs to be strained through cheesecloth or nylon and then stored in a
warm place in a tall container. This allows the fine impurities to rise to the
top. The ideal storage container will have an outlet at the bottom so that the
clean, warm honey can be drawn from the bottom directly into the honey
containers.
Wintering
equipment:
Mississippi
is fortunate to have relatively mild winters, so bees can typically winter
outdoors without insulation placed around and over the hives. The key to wintering
your bees is to ensure that they have enough food going into the season.
Obtain your initial bee
colony:
Contact your
beekeepers&rsquo association, and
ask whether a member has a bee colony, or starter package of bees, that he
would like to sell. Another option is to purchase a starter package from an
online supplier. This package should include the queen bee and other bees
necessary to start your bee colony. The supplier should offer overnight
delivery to minimize the time the bees are in transit.
Develop markets for your
honey and beeswax:
Find out as much as you can about the market, products,
services, prices, your customers, relevant law, prior to committing
yourself.
For
example:
- · At what prices are comparable bee products being sold? Are there many competitors? How much supply is there versus demand? Can you compete?
- · Who are your potential customers and how will you reach them?
- · Are there any unexploited niches you can fill?
- · How will your product be different? For example, will yours be the only organic meadow honey in the area, or perhaps the only raw comb honey?
- · Evaluate the feasibility of making beeswax candles to sell in gift shops and at craft shows.
- · Finally, market the beeswax to hardware stores and do-it-yourselfers at craft shows and flea markets.
Keeping a Healthy Hive:
Beekeeping
chores change throughout the year and the yearly “to-do” calendar will vary as
to where a beekeeper lives. “When the bees are actively foraging nectar and
pollen, you inspect your hives several times during the season,” says
Blackiston. “The busiest times are at the start and end of the season, when you
get them going for the year (spring) or put them to bed for the winter
(autumn).”
A beekeeper
conducts inspections to determine the health and productivity of the colony,
Blackiston explains. When you examine frames, you’ll be looking for signs that
the queen is alive and laying eggs like she should: capped brood in a compact
pattern, tiny white eggs at the bottom of cells. Depending on the time of year,
you’ll also assess whether the colony needs additional food stores, more nectar
storage space, increased ventilation, medication, swarm control measures, a new
queen and more.
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