PAU HOLDS BEEKEEPING TRAINING COURSE

Ludhiana, June 13, 2017: A five-day basic beekeeping training course for scheduled castes began in the village Andlu, district Ludhiana, under the guidance of the Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). The course has been sponsored by the Rashrtiya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY).

Dr R.S. Gill, Head, Department of Entomology, PAU, said, “The University is a pioneer in successful introduction, establishment and spread of a high honey yielding Italian honey bee in the country.” This has brought about commercialization and industrialization of beekeeping in the country, in general and in Punjab, in particular, he observed. Dr Gill further highlighted, “Punjab is a leading state in the country in honey production. Owing to large scale adoption of Italian honey bee in the country, there has been enormous export of its honey to the other nations.”

Dr Pardeep Kumar Chhuneja, Director of the course, said the training course aims at providing livelihood to the underprivileged and unemployed rural youth of the state, thus, enabling them to earn handsome livelihood towards their social and economic security. He informed the trainees will be imparted training on various aspects of beekeeping through lectures, demonstrations and hands-on-practice. The experts will dwell on hive and apicultural equipment; seasonal bee husbandry practices; management of bee enemies and diseases; swarming, robbing and queenlessness problems in honey bee colonies and their remedies; colony multiplication; and honey and beeswax extraction and their post-harvest handling, he added. Dr Jaspal Singh, a beekeeping expert, is a technical coordinator of the course.