Adoption of mud hive beekeeping technology

 Context

Farmers have improved pollination by adopting mud hive beekeeping technology which has enhanced apple production resulting in an increase in the income of apple growers 1.25 times.

What is mud hive technology?

• Mud Hive Technology is a combination of wall hive & wooden hive technology, with a habitat like wall hive.
• It has inbuilt provision for putting frames inside the mud hive and more favorable conditions, especially temperature for bees throughout the year as compared to wooden hives.
• Implementing agency: Society for Farmers Development, Himachal Pradesh
• Funding Agency: Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India.

Significance of the technology

• Better colony growth & less swarming: The technology has brought about better colony growth & less swarming as compared to earlier used wooden boxes because of the favourable conditions they created.
• Increase in average productivity: Introduction of indigenous bees, which can survive better in the apple growing areas, to replace the Italian bees through this technology has helped increase the average productivity of apple orchards by around 25 percent.