Honey: Bees are getting shrunk
Worldwide the number of bees is reducing due to various detrimental factors. In the past four years reduction in their numbers have shrunk by as much as 30%.
Honey has so many properties and benefits to humans, that it is considered as the food of Gods. It is full of nutrients and is complete food.
And how is it made? Flowers with nectar, and a beehive and bees do the rest. It was also the first food of the cavemen. Our food will be less diverse and less nutritional without honey.
Not only that they convert the raw nutrients from flowers into the brown colored liquid but during the collection of nectar by visiting one flower after another, they are carrying out the process of cross pollination which results in better kind of fruits.
The bee keepers keep their beehives under the shade of flowering trees or crops with flowers to enhance the pollination rate and thereby the productivity of farm crops. It has been observed that production increases to the tune of 35% due to pollination by bees.
India in this regard has done better with increase in the number of bees. The production of honey in 2014-15 has been 29578 MT as compared to 28376 MT in 2013-14.
The value of export of natural honey was 445 crores rupees in 2013-14 and 555 crores rupees in 2014-15. The major buyer countries are USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Libya and Morrocco.
In India, 500 species of flora exits which are suitable for bees to extract the nectar and pollen. Major areas of production of natural honey are Maharastra and North East India. Some of naturally pure honey types are:
- Rapeseed or mustard honey.
- Eucalyptus honey
- Lychee honey
- Karaj or Pongamea honey
- Multi flora himalayan honey
- Acacia honey
- Wild flora honey
- Multi or single flower honey
The possible reasons for the decline in numbers are the use of pesticides in the farming, pathogens and lack of foraging. There has been marked increase in the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) disease during recent years.
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen.
Even nature is giving us enough indication against the use of methodologies which run counter to the harmonious ways of the nature.
