All India Coordinated Research Project on Honey Bees and Pollinators, GKVK, Bangalore

AICRP Scheme/ Unit: AICRP on Honeybees and Pollinators

Location: Department of Apiculture, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore

Year of Start: 2009

Mandate:

v Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators (CSUP) and to promote coordinated action across the country:

v Assessing the economic value of pollination and the economic impact of the decline of pollination services to Indian agriculture

v Promote wider use of pollinators, as essential input for cross pollinated crops, to enhance / maintain agricultural productivity

v Monitor pollinator decline, its causes and its impact on pollination services

v Address the lack of taxonomic information on pollinators;

v Promote conservation and restoration of pollinators for the sake of sustainability of agriculture in India

Research Programmes:

Sl. No.	Objectives	Activities
1	Pollination studies in Pomegranate	1. Floral biology of Pomegranate crop 2. Abundance and Diversity of pollinators 3. Effect of different modes of pollination on yield parameter 4. The role of honey bees in enhancing yield 5. Estimation of bee population for pollinating a unit area of pomegranate
2	Standardization of rearing methodologies for stingless bees	1.Standardization of hives for stingless bees 2.Studies on multiplications of Tetragonula irridipennis
3	Field evaluation of alternative pollinators under protected cultivation- Haplonomia westwoodi in chilli	Standardization of technology for mass rearing of Haplonomia westwoodi and utilization in pollination of chilli
4	Bee breeding in Apis cerana– mass queen rearing	Evaluation of indigenous queen cell cups for mass queen bee rearing using Doolittle method in Apis cerana indica
5	Evaluation of pollen substitutes –Apis cerana	1.Evaluation of pollen substitutes enriched with vitamins and minerals 2. Standardization of feeding methods for the pollen substitutes and pollen supplements 3. Evaluation of probiotics enriched sugar syrup and pollen substitutes
6	Studies on bee health- Survey and surveillance	Survey for incidence of pest and disease in major beekeeping areas of Karnataka
7	Bee disease management by Non-Chemical methods	Evaluation of non-chemicals for management of sac brood viruses
8	Preparation and sharing of Standard reference pollen slides	1. To prepare floral calendar for bee keeping areas of Karnataka. 2. Study the pollen and nectar diversity.
9	Morphometric information on pollen	The morphometric measurement of the pollen grains by using ocular micrometry method
10	Selection of better strains of Apis cerana colonies through participatory research	1. Selection of superior strains of Apis cerana through extensive survey 2.Evaluation of selected colonies for the colony performance, biotic resistance and hive productivity
11	Domiciliation of leaf cutter bees	Megachilid bees Studies on foraging behavior and pollination efficiency of mass reared native pollinators in different cropping systems under protected cultivation Development of technology for the management of native pollinators in protected structures for better pollination efficiency
12	Conservation of wild honey bees: Nesting and migratory behavior of giant honey bee, Apis dorsata F	Nesting and migratory behavior of giant honey bee, Apis dorsata F
13	Apis florea domicilation and use in pollination	Evaluation of different prototypes for A.florea

Research Accomplishments:

(Technologies developed)

v Management of Double queen system (DQS) in Apis cerana

Awards / Recognitions:

v Best TSP Centre during biennial group meeting of AICRP(HB&P) in 2016

v Best Demonstration plot Award during Krishi mela in 2019, 2020 & 2021

Facilities Available:

v Maintaining a high quality Apis cerana bee stocks in the UAS, GKVK apiary

v Established bee Park for the conservation of native pollinators

v Conducting Scientific beekeeping Training farmers, beginners and tribals

v Collection of several Bee species

v Pollen bank for palynology and melisopalynology studies

v Marketing of Bee colonies, equipments and Bee products like Honey & Wax

Other Activities:

v Maintaining revolving fund project entitled ‘Madhuvana: Maintenance of high quality bee stocks and direct marketing of bee products, bee colonies and equipments’

Externally Funded Projects in Operation:

No.

Project Title

Principal Investigator

Funding agency

Year of Start

Year of Completion

Significant Outcome

Development and standardization of stingless bee honey extraction method

Dr. K. T. Vijayakumar

UASB

2021

2022

Standard method for stingless bee honey extraction will be developed, which is the first attempt in India

Farm Trail:

Evaluation of 6 frame hive for performance of Apis cerana colonies

Dr. K. T. Vijayakumar

UASB

2021

2022

Evaluation of 6 frame hive for performance of Apis cerana colonies in different location of Karnataka will be carried out.

Suitability of 6 frame hive and honey yield will be estimated as compared to ISI A 8 frame hive

Staff Profile:

Scientific staff:

	Name	Dr. K.T Vijayakumar
	Designation	Assistant Professor, PI and Head
	Academic Qualification	M.Sc (Agri), Ph.D
	Area of Specialization	Apiculture
	Date of joining duty at UAS, Bangalore	30-01-2018
	Date of Joining Scheme /Unit	30-01-2018
	e-mail: University Email ID Other E-mail ID(s)	vijayakumarktagri@gmail.com aicrphbpbangalore@gmail.com
	Telephone with STD Code Mobile	9986051852

Technical staff:

	Name	Dr. Nayimabanu Taredahalli
	Designation	Bee Professional
	Academic Qualification	M.Sc (Agri), Ph.D
	Area of Specialization	Apiculture
	Date of joining duty at UA S, Bangalore	20-01-2020
	Date of Joining Scheme/Unit	20-01-2020
	E-mail: University Email ID Other E-mail ID(s)	aditims66@gmail.com
	Telephone with STD Code Mobile	8222991891

Supporting staff:

	Name	Mr. Santhosh Kumar J
	Designation	Field Assistant
	Academic Qualification	B. Com
	Date of joining duty at UAS, Bangalore	22-01-2010
	Date of Joining Scheme/Unit	10-08-2019
	Mobile	9242706343