Apiculture, also known as beekeeping, is referred to as the commercial production of honey. Apiculture is derived from the Latin word ‘apis‘, which means bee. It is the care and management of honey bees for honey and wax production. Bees are commercially bred in ‘apiaries’, which are areas where a large number of beehives can be placed. Apiaries are typically established in regions with sufficient bee pastures, such as areas with flowering plants.
Beekeeping is a popular and ancient occupation that is thought to have originated in the Middle East. Thousands of years ago, the early Egyptians used to keep bees and trade honey as well as beeswax along the East African coast. Beekeepers earn a living by selling honey and beeswax from their hives all over the world, but pollination of fruits, vegetables, and pasture is the essential contribution bees make to the economy and the environment. Beekeepers are also paid for pollination services in various nations.
If you wish to learn more about what is apiculture classification, stay tuned with this guide!
What Is Apiculture Classification?
To understand what is apiculture classification, you need to know about the bee’s colony as well as its organisation. Honey bees are highly evolved social insects that live in a well-organised family group and perform several complicated functions that solitary insects are unable to perform. Honey bees have developed a variety of behaviours to help them survive in social colonies, including communication, intricate nest construction, environmental control, defence, and division of labour.
Bee colonies usually have three types of bees:
- Queen bees
- Worker bees
- Droners
Each member of this apiculture classification has a specific task to complete according to their age. Moreover, individual bees cannot survive without the assistance of the colony. Surviving as well as reproduction requires the entire colony to work together.
1. Queen Bee
Each colony has only one queen, who is the beehive’s fertile female and is responsible for reproduction. Her wings are substantially shorter than her body, and they are unable to cover her entire abdomen. She lays fertilised as well as unfertilised eggs. The spring and early summer are when queens lay the most eggs. They can lay up to 1,500 eggs per day during peak productivity. Early in October, they stop laying eggs and produce few or no eggs until early the following spring. A single queen can lay up to 2,50,000 eggs every year and up to a million throughout her lifetime.
The sting body of a queen bee is covered with gleaming gold hairs. She has a sting, but unlike the aggressive workers, she only uses it to combat rival queens, not hive intruders. She does not go out to collect nectar, pollen, propolis, or water. Therefore, she does not need a large proboscis for extracting nectar, pollen baskets, or wax glands to secrete wax as a worker bee.
2. Worker Bees
Workers are the tiniest parts of the apiculture classification that make up the majority of the colony’s population. They are sexually immature females who do not lay eggs in regular hive settings. During their first few weeks as adults, they clean and polish the cells, care for the queen, handle incoming nectar, make beeswax combs, feed the brood, guard the entrance, and remove the trash and air-conditioning and ventilate the hive.
They have a longer proboscis than queens and drones, making them ideal for sipping nectar from flowers. To transport nectar from the field to the hive, workers have huge honey stomachs. Pollen baskets are attached to their third set of legs to transfer pollen to the hive. They have a well-developed sting that allows them to effectively defend the colony.
3. Drone Bees
Drones (male bees) are the colony’s largest bees. Their primary function is to mate with the queen bees and fertilise their eggs. Drones reach sexual maturity approximately a week after they emerge and die right after they mate. They are considered to be vital for normal colony functioning, even though they do no significant work for the hive.
Drones are larger than workers and lack pollen baskets, a proboscis for collecting nectar, a sting to defend themselves or the colony, and glands to secrete wax for comb formation. They are not required to work in the hive, but they are fed and consume a huge amount of food.
Benefits Of Bee Keeping
Having known about what is apiculture classification, let’s now discuss some of the major benefits of bee-keeping:
- Provides Honey: With the help of apiculture, we can add very nutritional honey to our diet.
- Provides Beeswax: The process of beekeeping also provides beeswax, which is used in various types of industries, including pharma industries, cosmetic industries, and so on.
- Helps In Pollination: Honey bees are one of the best pollinating agents, which further assists in boosting the crop yield.
Most Common Varieties Of Bees
Only those bee species in apiculture classification whose names begin with “Apis” are cared for by beekeepers, as they are the only ones that make honey. The following are some of the most commonly farmed honey bee species:
- Apis Dorsata: The rock bee is another name for Apis Dorsata. It generates around 38 to 40 kg of honey in each colony.
- Apis Indica: The Indian bee is another name for Apis Indica. It’s easy to domesticate and yields around 2 to 5 kg per colony annually.
- Apis Florea: It is also known as the little bee. As it rarely stings, honey extraction from its hive is not that difficult. Each colony of Apis Florea generates approximately 1 kilogram of honey every year.
- Apis Mellifera: Apis Mellifera is also known as the Italian bee. This species has a highly typical dance routine to indicate the availability of food, and it stings less than the little bee.
Conclusion
Honeybees are fascinating insects for a variety of reasons. Their extensive foraging mechanisms, combined with their complicated social life, set them apart from other insects. It is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the nature and behaviours of bees to make beekeeping a successful endeavour. In addition, beehives should be appropriately managed according to the seasons.