Bee-keeping

Honey and wax

Bee-keeping, or apiculture, is the rearing of honeybees. Bees give us two useful things.

• Honey is a sweet food, and it is also used in medicines.
• Beeswax is used in medicines and cosmetics.

The place where beehives are kept is called an apiary. A bee-keeper keeps the bees in boxes, so that the honey can be collected easily.

Four kinds of honeybee

Four kinds of honeybee are found in India.

The Italian bee has been brought to India to raise the yield of honey. It has these good qualities:

• it collects a large amount of honey;
• it stings little;
• it stays in the combs for a long time;
• it breeds very well.

Pasturage and the quality of honey

Bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers. The flowers that are within reach of the apiary are called its pasturage.

The pasturage decides two things. The first is how much honey the bees can make, because more flowers give more nectar. The second is the quality and taste of the honey, because different flowers give honey of a different taste. So a bee-keeper sets up the apiary where plenty of flowers grow.

An apiary as a business

A bee-keeper earns money by selling honey and wax. The honey from an apiary depends on the number of hives and the honey from each hive.

Move the sliders. With the starting values, the income is $20 \times 20 \times 200 = 80000$ rupees, and the cost is $20 \times 1200 = 24000$ rupees.

Try it in Python

The program finds the honey, the income and the profit of an apiary for one season.

You should see $400$ kg of honey and a profit of $56000$ rupees.

Practise with new numbers

Common mistakes

• Mixing up the bees. The Italian bee is Apis mellifera. The rock bee is Apis dorsata.
• Thinking bees give only honey. They also give wax.
• Thinking all honey tastes the same. The flowers decide the taste and the quality.
• Putting the apiary where few flowers grow. The bees need a good pasturage within reach.
• Mixing up income and profit. Profit is the income minus the cost.

Remember these

• Bee-keeping, or apiculture: rearing bees for honey and wax. An apiary is a place with hives.
• Four honeybees: Indian bee, rock bee, little bee, Italian bee.
• The Italian bee gives much honey, stings little and breeds well.
• Pasturage is the flowers that the bees visit. It decides the amount and quality of honey.

Check yourself

Try each one on your own first. If you are stuck, open a hint. Then check with Show the answer.

1. What are the two useful things that bees give?

2. Name the four kinds of honeybee found in India.

3. Why has the Italian bee been brought to India?

4. What is pasturage, and why does it matter?

5. An apiary earns $9000$ rupees from honey and spends $4000$ rupees. What is the profit?