Honey bee species (Apis cerana) is very valuable for pollination and well adapted to mountain area conditions: study

Dharamshala, April 24, 2018: Honey bee species (Apis cerana) is very valuable for pollination and well adapted to mountain area conditions . This was revealed by senior entomologist Dr Harish Sharma in Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni in Himachal. Sharma said that university has expertise in rapid multiplication of Apis cerana queen bees and its mass rearing.

Dr Harish Sharma was speaking in a seven-day-training camp organised for the bee keepers of the state ,for rapid multiplication of Apis cerana queen bees. The training was sponsored by the Shillong based Meghalaya Institute of Entrepreneurship (MIE), where besides scientific beekeeping management, participants will be specifically trained in mass queen rearing.

Explaining about the training, senior entomologist and programme coordination Dr Harish Sharma said, “The species (Apis cerana) is very valuable for pollination for small-scale beekeeping. These are also well adapted to local conditions especially the mountain areas of Himachal .”

“The problems in this species with respect to its management, fast multiplication and behavioural problem like absconding can be largely addressed by having a young and prolific queen in a colony and its replacement on a yearly basis. This can be achieved by selecting better performing colonies and production of a large number of queens through mass queen rearing”, said Dr. Sharm added .

A delegation of 17 officers of the line departments and masters beekeeper from the state are presently undergoing training for the rapid multiplication of this bee species at the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni.