ACHIEVEMENTS

• Beekeeping emerged as cottage industry in Pakistan

• Exotic honeybee Apis mellifera established in Pakistan

• The introduced honeybee increased to about 400,000 colonies, at present in all the four provinces and AJK.

• About 9000 beekeepers, trained including women.

• Rural women are successfully generating income from beekeeping.

• Organized 2 International, 28 national and 95 regional beekeeping training courses.

• Provincial beekeeping units strengthened including AJK and Northern area.

• Established Qaumi Idara-e-Nehliyat at Islamabad. Pak Beekeepers Societies in Sindh and NWFP.

• A technology for production of honeybee queens on large scale has been developed by Honeybee Research Institute which has initiated queen production of required characters.

• A new type of bottom board devised which allowed enough aeration in the bee box during hot months of the year.

• Introduced honey production from sunflower and Kalonji.

• Pollination trials in sunflower crop successfully increased the crop yield.

• New type of pollen trap was devised.

• Devised hornet control cage which proved to be quiet effective.

• Soft chemicals like thymol and formic acid were introduced for controlling parasitic mites.

• Essential oils i.e. Neem and Garlic oils proved effective against mites of honeybees.

• Tobacco followed by Euclyspteus smoke also introduced for controlling the mites.

• Production of value added products (royal jelly, pollen, propolis, bees wax etc) demonstrated to progressive beekeepers.

• The honey specifications have been expanded and updated by the advanced countries in view of the possibilities of adulteration and contamination of honey. The international honey standards have changed. The honey quality criteria specified in the European directive and in the Codex Alimentarious Standard have been revised. The better and faster analytical methods are available with HBRI.

• HBRI has synchronize their activities by establishing/collaborating with Pakistan Agro-tech Company Private Ltd (PATCO) for up-scaling and marketing high value bee products by helping small honey producers to have access to marketing and processing facilities. This joint effort is helping farmers to include their product in quality supply chain.

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