Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/21442
Title: STUDIES ON THE ORIENTAL BEE .(APIS CERANA F.) AND ITS MANAGEMENT IN PAKISTAN
Authors: Muzaffar, Nasreen
Keywords: Animal Sciences
Issue Date: 1988
Publisher: Quaid i Azam University
Abstract: The oriental bee (Apis cerana F.) produces highly nutritive and immensely valuable honey for human consumption. The other i mportant producLs re nderod by thtR honeybee nrc wax and pollen which have innumberable commercial uses. Total honey production marketed in Pakistan ~as ~bo~t 250-260 tonnes excluding producer's own consumption (Drescher, 1983), Three other honeybee species (Apis dorsat~ F.,~. florea F. and A. mellifera L.) are also invol ved in the honeybee fauna of Pakistan, but the oriental bee colonies, being higher in number,produce a fairly large proportion of honey in the country. The oriental bee has been in wild and semi-wild l'ond i t. ion uu L h ::u-; t~ r a ; r I y good fX)Lc'nt; D:i ('or honey producL ion. It. swarmed accessively and did noL deve]op large colony populations required for higher honey yield. The maximum honey yield was reported to be 29 kg per colony/annum in SWl'1 t (Jehangir, 1985). -Thus there were good prospects ·fdr improvement of this bee for higher honey yield. The beekeepers, except the progressive ones, are using very old honeybee management methods and are not familiar with modern beekeeping technology. Therefore, average honey yield per colony was very low in Pakistan as coinpared with that of ~pis mellifera in advanced countries. Thus Irodern technology needed to be tested and f urther adopted for different ecological areas. - 2 - llonnyl)('\~H :1.t'l' kllOWfI Co 1w LIlC' :nos!. lmporLunL pollinating insects. A large number of crops and fruit and forest trees requires or at least benefits from beepollination. Among these, alfalfa, clovers (forage), apple, some varieties of citrus, musk-meloil, peach, pear, plum, almond (fruit plants), sarson, safflower, some varieties . of sunflower (oil-seeds), onion, radish and turnip (vegetables) are often provided honeybees to supplement pollination and to increase their yield in som advanced countries. For example, the beekeepers obtained 30 million dollars as rental 'fee- of their colonies from farmers hiring the bees for t heir crops to ensure maximum seed set and quality fruit (Mussen, 1987). The populations of insect pollinators particularly those of honeybees were very low in Pakistan as compared with that in other countries (Crane, 1975). Thus it is most important to raise the bee population level for pollination of crops and fruit plants in the country
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/21442
Appears in Collections:Ph.D

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