Lecture No.

28
Bee pasturage-foraging-seasonal variations-bee products and
their uses-pest and diseases of honey bees and their management
BEE PASTURAGE/BEE FORAGE
Plants that yield pollen and nectar are collectively called bee pasturage or bee forage.
Plants which are good source of nectar
1. Tamarind
2. Neem
3. Soapnut tree
4. Eucalyptus
5. Pungam

6. Moringa
7. Prosopis juliflora
8. Glyricidia maculata
9. Tribulus terrestris

Plants which are good source of pollen

1. Sorghum
2. Maize
3. Millets like Cumbu, Tenai, Varagu, Ragi
4. Roses
5. Pomegranate

6. Sweet potato
7. Tobacco
8. Coconut
9. Castor
10. Date palm

Plants which are good source of Pollen and Nectar

1. Banana
2. Citrus
3. Apple
4. Berries
5. Pear
6. Plum
FORAGING

7. Peach
8. Guava
9. Sunflower
10. Safflower
11. Mango

Refers to collection of nectar and pollen by bees.

Nectar foragers
- Collect nectar from flowers using lapping tongue
- Passes the nectar to hive bees
- Hive bees repeatedly pass the nectar between preoral cavity and tongue - to ripen
honey
- Later drops into cell

Pollen foragers
- Collects pollen by passing flower to flower. Pollen sticking to body removed - Using pollen
comb
- Packed using pollen press into corbicula
- A single bee carries 10-30 mg pollen (25% of bees wt)
- Dislodge by middle leg into cell
- Mix with honey and store
Floral fidelity
- A bee visits same species of plant for pollen/nectar collection until exhausted.
Bees travel 2-3 km distance to collect pollen/nectar.
Seasonal variations
Honey flow season begins from November and extends to March and again from
May-July. During honey flow season, the colony will have a maximum population at 50,000.
During this season, queen lays more eggs. The queen generally restricts her egg laying to the
central combs as the side combs are reserved for honey and pollen. If the central combs are
full of broods, they may be removed and placed in weaker hives. Empty combs or comb
foundation sheet may be replaced. Remove the combs which are completely sealed or two
thirds capped may be taken out for honey extraction and placed to the supers after extraction.
Two or three extractions are possible during honey glow period. Swarming is a behavioristic
phenomenon during maximum honey flow period. Control measures should be taken against
swarming.
Once the honey flow period is over, the adverse conditions set in. jprovisions of
dummy divisions board, artificial feeding and taking control measures against wax moth and
black ants are the practices to be followed during the dearth period.

BEE PRODUCTS - THEIR PROPERTIES AND USES

1. Honey
2. Bees Wax
3. Royal Jelly
4. Bee Venom
5. Propolis
6. Pollen
1. Honey
- A sweet, viscous fluid - Produced by honey bees
- Collected as nectar from nectaries at base of flower
- Also collected from extra floral nectaries (nectar secreted by parts other than flowers)
- Collected also from fruit juice, cane juice
Collection and ripening of honey
- Bee draws nectar by its tongue (proboscis)
- Regurgitated by field bees
- Collected by hive bees - Deposited in cells in comb
- Nectar contains 20-40% sucrose
- Invertase converts sucrose into dextrose (glucose) and levulose (fructose)
- Invertase is present in nectar itself and in saliva of honey
- Ripening of honey is by action of enzyme and by evaporation of water by fanning of
wings
Composition of fully ripened honey
Levulose
Dextrose
Sucrose
Dextrins
Minerals
Water
Undetermined (Enzymes, Vitamins, Pigments, etc.)

Per cent (Approx.)

41.0
35.0
1.9
1.5
2.0
17.0
1.6

Pigments
Carotene, Chlorophyll, Xanthophyll
Minerals include
Potassium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Sodium, Magnesium, Manganese, Copper, Sulphur, Silica,
Iron.
Vitamins

Vit B1 (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin), Nicolinic acid, Vit. K, Folic acid, Ascorbic acid,
Pantothenic acid.
Uses of honey
1.

As food
One kg of honey is equivalent to 5 kg of milk, 1.5 kg of meat, 40 oranges and 50 eggs.
Honey is used as energy supplier for sports man and also used in baking of bread, cake and
biscuits.

2. As medicine
It is used as laxative and blood purigier. It advocated for cold, cough, fever, ulcers on
tongue and intestine.

3.Other uses
Honey is used in many religious poojas. It is used for making alcoholic drinks, feeding
race horses etc.
Bees wax
It is obtained from the combs of wild hives, frame hives and capping etc. Wax
secreted from 4th to 7th abdominal sterna of worker bees. It is used in the manufacture of
cosmetics (creams, lotions, lipstick, eyebrow pencils), grease and paints, shoe polish, floor
and furniture polish, candles etc.
Propolis
It is a resinous substances of plants collected by bees for ceiling cracks and crevices.
It is a natural antibiotic with medicinal qualities. Used for preparing ointments and Vaseline.
Bee venom
It used rheumatism and nervous disorders. It reduces cholesterol and keeps away heart
problems.
Royal jelly
It is a glandular secretion of worker, fed to the queen and larvae. It increases vitality,
potency and delays ageing in human beings.
Physical properties of honey
1. Honey is hygroscopic, If exposed to air it absorbs moisture
2. Honey is a viscous fluid. Heating of honey reduces viscosity
3. Specific gravity of pure honey is 1.35 - 1.44 gms/cc
4. Refractive index of honey - Helps to find moisture content measured using refractometer
Purity test for honey
1. Measure specific gravity of honey using hydrometer
2. If the specific gravity is between 1.25-1.44, it is pure honey.
Aroma and flavour of honey
1. Acquired from the nectar of the flower
2. Lost if heated or exposed to air for long time
Colour of honey
1. Depends on the nectar of flower (plant species)
2. Darker honey has stronger flower
3. Lighter honey has more pleasant smell
Fermentation of honey

- Honey containing high moisture can ferment

- Sugar tolerant yeast present in honey cause fermentation
- Fermentation more at 11-21oC
- Fermentation lends to formation of alcohol and carbondioxide
- Alcohol later converted into acetic acid
- Fermented honey sour in taste due to acidity
- Heating honey to 64oC for 30 min destroys yeast and prevents fermentation
Crystallization or granulation of honey
- This is a natural property of honey (particularly at low temperature)
- Dextrose present in honey granulate and suffer down
- Levulose and water remain top - More prone to fermentation
- High ratio of Levulose/Dextose (L/D) - Less granulation
- High ratio of Dextrose/Water (D/W) - More granulation
1. PESTS OF HONEY BEES
1. WAX MOTHS
a) Greater wax moth, Gelleria mellonella

(Galleriidae : Lepidoptera)

* Adults brown in colour

* Female moth enters the hive during night and lays creamy white eggs in groups in the
cracks and crevices of the hive and combs and in the gap between super and brood
chamber
* Caterpillar is dirty white in colour
* Egg, larval and pupal periods are 8-10, 30 and 8 days respectively
* Caterpillars tunnel into the combs and feed on the pollen, wax, propolis and royal jelly
and make silken galleries in the tunnels
* Complete damage of comb with numerous black faecal pellets, when the damage is
heavy
* Usually uncovered or partially covered combs and weaker colonies are damaged
* In case of severe infestation, bees may abandon the colony
b) Lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella
* Seen comparatively at higher altitudes
* Caterpillars feed mainly on the debris of the combs
c) Achroia innotatalankella
* Occurs both inside the combs and on the floor boards of working colonies

These wax moths at times decap the sealed cells exposing the pupae and this
condition is referred to as bald brood.
2. ANTS (Formicidae : Hymenoptera)
* Black ant, Camponotus compressus
* Household red ant, Dorylus labiatus
* Monomorium spp.
* Attack weak colonies and carry away the honey, pollen and the brood, leading to
destruction and end of the colony
3. WASPS
a) Yellow banded hornet, Vespa cincta (Vesipdae : Hymenoptera)
* Large wasp with a broad transverse yellow band on the abdomen
* A social insect constructing papery nests in hollows spaces
* It waits near the entrance (alighting board) of the hive, catches bees as they come
out, macerates them for feeding the juice to its young ones
* It captures the bees in the field also
b) Bee hunter wasp, Palarus orientalis
* Black colored with transverse yellow lines on the abdomen
* It catches bees while on flight
* A wasp can collect 80 bees a day, stings and carries them to its underground nests
and places one in each of the compartments of the nest before laying an egg on the back of
each bee. The grub on hatching feeds on the bee
c) Bee hunter wasp, Philanthus ramakrishnae
* Found in hilly regions
* Attacks and carries away bees
4. WAX BEETLES
* Platybolium alvearum (Tenebrionidae : Coleopotera)
* Feed on the debris and on old combs in weak colonies
5. BIRDS
* King crow, Dicrurus sp.
* Bee eater, Merops orientalis
* They capture bees and devour them
6. OTHER ENEMIES
1. The sphinx, Acherontia styx enters the hive and consumes honey
2. Cockroaches enter weak colonies and impart a foul smell to the hive

3. Robber files
5. Dragon flies
6. Preying mantids
7. Lizards
8. Frogs and toads
9. Bears dismantle the hives and eat upon the honey, pollen, brood and the bees
10. Termites damage wooden parts of the hive
KEY POINTS TO PREVENT ENEMIES (Management)
1. Maintain vigorous colonies with adequate food store
2. Regularly observe and clean the hive
3. Destroy the infested comb
4. Remove excess comb from the hive and store them in closed containers
II DISEASES OF HONEY BEES
i. Brood diseases
Honey bee broods suffer from variety of diseases. Loss of brood affects the colony
strength. Adult bees are not affected by brood diseases but they can spread the causal
organisms.
Brood diseases are more serious than adult diseases. Brood diseases are
1. American Foul Brood (Bacillus larvae)
2. European Foul Brood (Mellissococus pluton)
3. Thai Sac brood
4. Sac brood
5. Fungal diseases
a. Chalk brood Pericystis apis
b. Stone brood Aspergillus flavus
6. Protozoan diseases

a. Nosema bombycis- attacks lining of the stomach causing dysentery.

b. Malpighamoeba mellificae infests the malpighian tubules
7. Isle of wight, Acarapis woodi enters through tracheae and feeds upon the body fluids.
The eggs are laid and reared inside the tracheae so that the latter get clogged killing the bee.