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Bee keeping, R&D

The researchers note that changes in temperature had more of a negative impact than other factors, such as precipitation or floral resources

According to new research by Simon Fraser University, Canada temperature changes have negatively impacted most species of bumble bees over the past 120 years. The researchers note that changes in temperature had more of a negative impact than other factors, such as precipitation or floral resources.

“Bumble bees are important pollinators for wild plants and for the crops humans rely on for food. That’s why we need to develop conservation strategies that account for the future impacts of climate change on bee populations,” says study lead Hanna Jackson, a Masters student in the M’Gonigle Lab in biological sciences at Simon Fraser University.

Jackson and her colleagues analysed an existing dataset containing records on 46 bumble bee species across North America between 1900 – 2020. They created two occupancy models – one focused on time and the other on environmental factors. They found that six bumble bee species decreased through time, 22 increased and the remaining 18 were stable.

They noted that temperature and precipitation both increased, on average, between 1900 and 2020 in the post-industrial revolution period. Temperature changes had primarily negative impacts on bumble bees, with 37 of the 46 species exhibiting greater declines or less positive increases in occupancy under observed temperature changes compared to if the temperature had remained constant.

Therefore, researchers concluded that changing temperatures are a major environmental factor driving changes in bumble bee community composition.

Study collaborators include US-based Pollinator Partnership, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, and the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California.

The researchers note that changes in temperature

Bee keeping

The event emphasised on the need to take strong measures to increase the export and production of honey and generating employment for the beekeepers

In a bid to highlight the importance of beekeeping as part of the Integrated Farming System in the country, India Honey Alliance (IHA) in collaboration with the National Bee Board, hosted a webinar – ‘Hive to Home 4.0 – The Busy Bee’. It witnessed participation of experts from across the honey value chain and emphasised on the holistic development of the beekeeping sector and creating a more enabling environment for the bees and beekeepers. 

The session was moderated by Somit Mukherjee, Senior VP, Supply Chain-Dabur and the opening remarks were given by Namrata Khanna, Director, India Honey Alliance.

In his keynote address, Dr Naveen Patle, ED-National Bee Board (NBB) said that the country has achieved 21 per cent growth in export this year as compared to last year. He also stressed on the fact that while the country has more than 48 lakhs bee colonies, only 19 lakhs colonies are registered in the Madhu Kranti Portal. He urged that beekeepers should register themselves for better traceability and holistic growth of the beekeeping ecosystem. Dr Patle informed that the NBB has recently set up 8 mini labs in Gujarat and the organisation is in the process of creating many more such regional testing labs and mini-testing labs across the country.

The other experts pointed out that it is a very fragmented and unorganised sector and that the government along with the entire honey ecosystem should collaborate to take strong measures in increasing the export and production of honey, creating sustainable income and employment for the beekeepers. 

The event emphasised on the need to

Agro Universities, Bee keeping

The objective of this conclave is to create awareness about the production of other high-value beekeeping products

A National Conclave on Production of Bees Wax was organised by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Gujarat in collaboration with the National Bee Board (NBB), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The conclave was supported by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) & Tribal Co-Operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED). The objective of this conclave is to create awareness about the production of other high-value beekeeping products viz. bee wax, bee pollen, royal jelly, propolis, bee venom, etc.

Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, said that beekeeping, besides pollination support, also provides extra income and creates employment opportunities for rural/ landless farmers and beekeepers. NDDB, NAFED & TRIFED have been identified as implementing agencies under NBHM for implementing beekeeping activities through a cluster-based approach by making Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) on beekeeping.

Abhijit Bhattacharjee, GM, NDDB informed that NDDB is always committed to bringing policies/ schemes beneficial to farmer/ milk producers with the aim to uplift the economy of rural farmer/ milk producers. NDDB has a wide approach that the economy of Indian farmers/ milk producers will only increase if farmers/ milk producers will utilise the resources present in their local area and do not import resources from outside.

Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB, Anand suggested that engaging beekeepers in multiple streams of income through diversified activities is important for building economic resilience. Scientific beekeeping is one such activity that can provide additional income not only from honey production but through the production of other beehive products. He informed that NDDB is promoting beekeeping by using dairy cooperative channels present in the country and creating FPOs by organising beekeepers with the support of NBB.

Dr Prabhat Kumar, Horticulture Commissioner, DA&FW advised beekeepers to work in the field of value-added products in beekeeping to get more financial benefits and uplift their economy.

Dr NK Patle, Executive Director, National Bee Board (NBB) has briefed about the central sector scheme entitled National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) and practices aspects relating to beekeeping. He invited beekeepers to avail the facilities available under NBHM and adopt beekeeping in a scientific manner to get additional income through honey & other beehive products. He assured full support to beekeepers across the country under the NBHM scheme.

Dr Balraj Singh, Project Coordinator, Honeybee and Pollinators (HB&P), IACR said that in India, beekeeping is mainly practised for the production of honey only and therefore there is a need to create awareness about the diversification of beekeeping for the production of various other beehive products.

Dipenkumar C Patel, Progressive Beekeeper & Director, One Bee Organic, Gujarat introduced the participants to different types of honey, various bee products, its collection methods and types of equipment/machinery used.

Jaswant Singh, Tiwana Bee Farm, Ludhiana, Punjab inform that their firm is involved in the production of all kinds of bee products and equipment/machinery. His firm is involved in the production of Comb Foundation Sheets (CHS) from bee wax.

Jai Prakash, Senior Manager, Indian Bank has informed that to address the issue of adulteration in honey & other beehive products, National Bee Board has launched online registration and developing a blockchain /traceability system of the source of honey and other bee products. He showcased the procedure of online registration on Madhukranti Portal and requested all beekeepers/ other stakeholders to come forward and register themselves on this portal.

The objective of this conclave is to

Bee keeping, R&D

The results showed blueberries pollinated by Beeflow were substantially bigger – more than a 50 per cent increase in average berry size by gram

Washington State University (WSU) Department of Horticulture, Beeflow has announced the first-round results of research involving Beeflow pollination services for blueberry crops. The study, led by Dr Lisa Wasko DeVetter, PhD, Associate Professor, Small Fruits, was conducted across two farms in northern Washington in 2021, using the Duke variety of blueberries, and showed larger berries on the plants pollinated by Beeflow bees.

The results showed blueberries pollinated by Beeflow were substantially bigger – more than a 50 per cent increase in average berry size by gram – than berries pollinated through conventional pollination approaches. Additionally, the research team observed greater foraging by Beeflow bees on sub-optimal weather days, when the air temperatures were colder, than non-Beeflow bees, which increased the flight hours of the Beeflow pollination.

“Our goal is to innovate in order to optimise pollination in a way that has not been done before,” said Matias Viel, Beeflow Founder & CEO. “We know how important our work is to increasing biodiversity and helping to build an agriculture system that is more harmonious with nature, so these positive results are monumental to achieving this goal.”

Studies of this nature require researchers to conduct their work over three cycles in order to validate and confirm the results. The next round of field trials, which have been funded by the WA Blueberry Commission, will be conducted by Dr DeVetter and her team during 2022 focusing on the Liberty variety of blueberry, a notoriously more difficult variety to pollinate.

The results showed blueberries pollinated by Beeflow

Agro Universities, Bee keeping

The registration of Bee Revolution Portal was done by Dr Jagdeep Singh, Nodal Officer

Under the guidance of Dr Ashok Kumar, Director of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has organised a monthly webinar for the members of Progressive Beekeepers Association (PBKA). A total of 68 participants attended the webinar.

Dr TS Riar, Additional Director Communication and Programme Associate Director, while reviewing the activities of the club, said in view of dwindling income, many entrepreneurs be it farmers, farm women and youths are adopting beekeeping as a subsidiary occupation. Entrepreneurs are getting remunerative returns from this enterprise, he said, while stressing upon the members to motivate fellow farmers and youths also to adopt apiculture on commercial level.

Dr Jaspal Singh, Entomology expert, explained the management of honey bees in summer season. The registration of Bee Revolution Portal was done by Dr Jagdeep Singh, Nodal Officer.


The registration of Bee Revolution Portal was

Bee keeping

NBHM has the aim to create a network of honey testing labs covering all parts of the country and for this 100 FPOs of beekeepers will be proved as the centre.

National Bee Board (NBB) has organised a National Conference on Beekeeping Sector in collaboration with National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED), Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) & National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) on January 24, 2022. More than 600 participants from Government as well as the private sector, State Agricultural Universities (SAUs)/Central Agricultural Universities (CAUs), Beekeepers and other stakeholders involved in beekeeping occupation, etc attended the conference.

During the conference Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India spoke on National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM), a central sector scheme launched by Government of India for overall promotion & development of scientific beekeeping in the country.

Likhi expressed that NBHM will help in filling gaps in infrastructural facilities for honey and linking marginal beekeepers in an organised way for dealing with adulteration in honey. NBHM has the aim to create a network of honey testing labs covering all parts of the country and for this 100 FPOs of beekeepers will be proved as the centre. He suggested including honey FPO beekeeping society/cooperative/firms for better sustainability in the honey sector.

NBHM has the aim to create a

Allied Industry, Bee keeping

The award was presented in Basel, Switzerland at the 16th Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM) organised by the IBMA

International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association (IBMA) has recognised Bee Vectoring Technologies International (BVT) with the Bernard Blum Award for novel biocontrol solutions, awarding Bronze for BVT’s VectorHive system.

The award was presented in Basel, Switzerland at the 16th Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM) organised by the IBMA and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture. Ashish Malik, CEO, BVT and Christoph Lehnen, BVT Business Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa attended the conference. 

“BVT being recognised with a Bernard Blum Award is a strong indicator of the robustness and sustainability of our natural precision agriculture solution,” said Lehnen.

BVT’s Vectorite with CR-7, a biological fungicide, controls fungal diseases including Colletotrichum (anthracnose), Botrytis (grey mould) and Monilinia (mummy berry).

As bees exit the hive during normal pollination activities, they walk through BVT’s VectorHive system, picking up trace amounts of the biological product (which attach harmlessly to their bodies), then carry it directly into blooms. As the bees pollinate crops, they efficiently deliver the microbe directly to where plants are most susceptible to many fungal diseases: the flower. Once on the flower, the microbe colonises the plant and protects the crop against various diseases.

International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association (IBMA) has recognised Bee