ABSTRACT Apiculture is a science-based industry using bees as micromanipulators to harvest n~ectar and pollen from plant sources to produce honey. Even though most plants in an ecosystem produce nectar and pollen, all of them do not contribute to the honey resource. From the ambient vegetation, the bees identify plants for nectar and pollen and collect them for the sustenance of their colonial life. Moreover, these resource preferences are distinct in natural and domesticated habitats. Although we get a substantial amount of honey from Apis dorsata the wild bee, proper beekeeping demands systematic utilization of resources through domesticated bees. It is therefore imperative that knowledge of the bee ecosystem and its ramifications is an essential pre-requisite in apiary management and product development. In spite of the beekeeping potential in the country, apiculture has continued to remain a minor cottage industry. This is because of the poor scientific support and organizational infrastructure provided to this industry. In India, Kerala is the State that produces the largest quantity of honey. But the quality is inferior and this has reduced the price of Kerala honey in the Indian market, due perhaps to the dependence on Rubber (Hevea braziliensis) as the honey source, producing nectar from the extra floral nectaries in the leaf, while the Coconut tree offers pollen. In terms of higher market price and honey quality, the flower sources and forest ecosystems are the most suitable.
Destruction of forests, urbanization and clean cultivation (mono culture plantations) have diminished bee vegetation and rendered many areas barren for bee keeping. Safeguarding and enrichment of bee flora is very much lacking. If this is continued the average yield is likely to go down, however superior the bee variety may be. Investigations in this disciipline impart information on the sources and quality of honey, important honey yielding flora of the region and the significance of bee foraging in honey production. Such information has far reaching implications in apiary and honey based industry. It may be noted that bee foraging of both individual plants and of a specific vegetation unit or ecosystem are essential pre requisites to formulate strategies in honey production and bee management. This will in turn contribute to the altered economy of the forest dependent people as well as of the beekeepers, to result in a forest basedlagro based industry which can contribute to our national income. A field survey on beekeeping in the district was conducted in order to identify the zones of the district where the beekeepers are enthusiastic on the occupation. The potential sites were identified and 100 different samples were collected from different apiaries and forest zones of the district. The tribal settlements of the district were surveyed for the dependency of the 'Kanikkar' tribes for honey as a Non- wood forest product and a case study was conducted by selecting 5 different settlements. For the elucidation of the dietary preference shown by the commercial bee A. cerana indica, three different colonies were sampled for the corbicular
pollen loads at an interval of 6 days by using pollen traps attached to the entrance of the hives for a period of 3 months from September-November, which forms the critical brood rearing season of the honeybee colonies at the area under investigation. For the studies on foraging behaviour of hive bee A. cerana indica, two species were selected based on the nectar and pollen preference of this bee species. Bombax ceiba L. (Bombacaceae) was selected for the behavioural study of A. indica in nec1.ar collection and Dillenia pentagyna L. (Dilleniaceae), a major pollen resource for pollen collection. Studies on dwelling places for individual honeybee species presented strict preferences for host trees. The host preference varied between different bee species. This host specificity was determined by the behaviour of honeybee species, branching pattern, and flowering phenology of preferred species, and tendency of tree species to form crevices in tree trunks. The results showed the preference of Apis cerana indica to 8 different tree species, A. dorsata to 3 species and Trigona irridipennis to 7 species. The study of dietary preference of Apis cerana indica showed preference for just 7 species, out of 110 flowering species occurring at a sample study site. Further, nearly 84% of the foragers utilized only one floral source on each trip leading to unifloral constancies in pollen loads. The percent pollen volume contribution in the unifloral pollen loads was more for Cocos nucifera, followed by Hyptis suaveolens, Terminalia paniculata and finally Mimosa pudica L. and it was found that Cocos nucifera L., Mimosa
pudica L., Hyptis suaveolens L. and Terminalia paniculata were the major sources utilized by A. cerana indica bees in resource limiting period. A critical observation of the periodicity of nectar production and foraging by bees in Bombax ceiba L. indicated that the species offers the maximum resources for the insect and bird visitors during the peak periods of foraging. The observations on pollen loads collected by native bee species have shown the abundance of Dillenia pentagyna pollen in southern deciduous forest zones. The palynological investigation of the honey and pollen loads collected from different localities of the district revealed the preference of honeybees to 84 different species for the colonial sustenance and honey production. Of these 84 species, only 26 contribute as key resources for them. Of these key resources, some are utilized as pollen source, some as nectar source and a few provide both. A comparative analysis of the honey samples with respect to the frequency of occurrence of pollen grains of 58 identified species revealed thal irrespective of the honeybee species and nature, the honey samples showed inter relation ships. The case study conducted in 'Kanikkar' tribal settlements of Southern Kerala presented an overview on the traditional knowledge on honeybees, indigenous management practices, present status and patterns of folk apiculture by this tribe. Emphasis has been given on problems and prospects of sustainable management of honeybee by this tribal community and the study revealed the following conclusions.
The dependency of beekeeping on monoculture plantations like Rubber can be altered by practicing migratory beekeeping to the upland forest zones so that the preference for extra floral nectaries can be modified by the preference for floral nectaries. These areas can serve as the winter management sites for the bee colonies where critical floral resources can provide dietary requirements of the honeybees so that the sugar syrup feeding for the bees can be avoided. The abundant nectar source of the plants like Bombax ceiba L. is important nectar forage for the beekeepers to increase the honey production status of the individual colony. This can modify the honey flow season from November- May. The appearance of anemophilous pollen types along with the entomophilous ones signifies that entornophily is not a pre-requisite for the bees foraging habits but it is the quality and quantity of the pollen or nectar possessed by a plant determines the plant preference for the honeybees. The Palynological investigation revealed the contribution of 84 different species for the nectar and pollen requirements of the bees in the area under investigation and most of these species are not utilized in the commercial honey production as the bee keeping industry depends mainly on the extra floral nectaries of Hevea brasiliensis. Hence a complete utilization of these resources at the forested highlands could be effectively managed through the suggested improvements as follows;
i. Development of expertise in modern methods of apiculture among the forest dependent people. ii. Popularization of apiculture in the forest areas with the total involvement of tribes and other forest dependent people, can transform the village-based cottage industry into a forest-based industry. iii. Enrichment of available resources by planting of the critical honey and pollen plants. iv. The identification of the flowering phenology of critical resources offer round the year hive management for round the year income generation. v. Resource based categorization of extracted honey and the corresponding value assignment can improve the present income status of tribal people. The sustained, scientifically managed utilization of honey as a Non- Wood Forest Product is an important commodity of income generation for the forest dependent people, which can result in the realization of the present day apiary system to a forest based industry.