Indigenous beekeeping for sustainable development in Himachal Himalaya

Abstract

221-225Indigenous beekeeping is the indigenous techniques of harvesting honey and beeswax from bees, using various indigenous styles of hives and other equipments. India and the neighbouring East Asian region are considered to be the centre of origin and evolution of honey bee species. Himachal Pradesh, owing to its varied agro-climate, has a great variety of bee forage sources that provide the basis for development of beekeeping industry in the state. The potential and success in beekeeping development is dependent on the quality and quantity of bees and bee flora available and the technology used. A survey conducted in seven blocks of district Chamba revealed that there are about 2.45 hives per house and occupancy rate of hive is 53.94 % in the region testifying to the rich ness of this culture. The Indigenous wall hives are locally called as Ganari in Chamba district. The dimensions of wall hive was accordingly, made by leaving a cavity in the wall when the house is under construction. On the inside, it is covered usually with a slate or stone plastered with mud. The size depends upon the availability of hollow tree trunk of Toon, Robinia, Bann, Kail trees. Beekeepers of district Chamba prefer the wall hive, however quantity of total honey harvested and ease of harvest is best in log hives. People clean their hives by scrubbing them from inside with scrubbers made of pine needle, Juniperis sp. or old raw combs. This helps in attracting the bees to the hives. Economic efficiency of Apis cerana (Indigenous beekeeping) is shown to be more economic then Apis mellifera. Beekeeping with Apis cerana should be encouraged for rural households with low investment capacity