CHALLENGES FACED BY FARMERS IN BEEKEEPING AND BEE POLLINATION IN HIMACHAL HIMALAYA, INDIA

Beekeeping in Himachal Pradesh plays very important role not only in fruit pollination but also in honey production. The farmers here are facing many problems in bee rearing during recent years.This survey was conducted to assess the problems of beekeepers and orchardists in Himachal Himalaya. It was observed thatbeekeeping is important for securing food, poverty reduction, health, environmental protection, honey production and plant pollination. The farmers here practiced beekeeping as a part time or whole time job and were engaged in this venture for the last many years. Commercial beekeepers stressed on the role of honeybees as honey producers than pollinators of horticultural crops. Most of the farmers also earned extra income from honey and other bee products besides using them for pollination purposes. The farmers had knowledge regarding different aspects of honey production, processing and marketing i.e. constituents of honey, nutritional value, different type of honey containers used for honey storage, honey processing, marketing problems etc. But only some farmers were acquainted with different pests, predators and diseases of honeybees and their remedial measures.

Most of the farmers wanted to have financial support for different horticultural practices and training purposes. They preferred to be trained in orchard management technology and beekeeping practices. There were different types of constraints faced by beekeepers regarding the beekeeping practices which included non availability of bee flora throughout the year, heavy snowfall, shortage of labour, habit of absconding of bees and poor knowledge about medicines. Apiculture requires organizing honey marketing channels and raising awareness on limiting the use of pesticides in agriculture to protect the bees and the environment as well. The renovations and application of improved beekeeping technologies not only benefits beekeepers but also farmers and the general public in pollinating their crops, maintaining plant biodiversity, and the ecology at large.