Capacity Building Programme on Bee Keeping
A five days capacity building programme on bee keeping was organized at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, ICAR Research Complex for Goa, Old Goa, during 14th to 18th October, 2013. Inauguration of the programme was held on 14/10/2013 and Mr. B.B.Sethi, General Manager, NABARD, Panaji was the Chief Guest and in his address spoke on the various scheme support for beekeeping activities in particular and agriculture in general. Dr. N. P. Singh, Director, ICAR RC, Old Goa, in his presidential address explained the role of KVK and ICAR in beekeeping activities. He also explained the role of bees in honey production and pollination. Mr. V. Y. Gaonkar, Programme Coordinator I/C, KVK, in his welcome address briefed the KVK activities and specifically on beekeeping. The programme was coordinated by Mr. H. R .C .Prabhu, Subject Matter Specialist (Plant Protection) and proposed vote of thanks.
In the technical session Mr. Sridhara Hegde, Secretary, Beekeeper’s Cooperative Society, Hannavar, Uttara Kannada, Karnataka, explained the types of bees and their management. In the afternoon session handing of bees was demonstrated and the participants practically handled the bees.
On 15/10/2013 participants were taken to Tanshikar’s Spice Farm, Netravali, Sanguem, Goa. Mr. Chinmay Tanshikar explained and demonstrated all the aspects like types of bees, honey production, cleaning the hive, handling of bee colony, pests of bees, economics, harvesting etc. He also briefed the role of bee colony in relation to Agro Eco Tourism.
From 16-18/10/2013, Mr. Lenin, Assistant Development Officer, CBRTI, Pune, explained the scientific management of bee colony. He covered the topics like life cycle of bees, pollination, royal jelly and management aspects, division of the colony, development of queen etc...,In the afternoon sessions, Mr. Sawant, CBRTI, Pune, demonstrated the use of smoker, handling of bees, development of queen, sting of bees, cleaning of hive, and use of hive tool. The participants handled the bees, identified different types of bees, Trigona colony, and its management. The participants were also shown different bee videos.
In the concluding session, Dr. Narendra Pratap Singh, Director, ICAR RC, Old Goa, offered all kinds of help to promote beekeeping and other agricultural activities. He also distributed certificates to the participants. The programme was attended by 31 participants from different parts of Goa. The participants also formed-“Farmer’s and Beekeeping Association of Goa”, to promote beekeeping and other agricultural activities in Goa.