HONEY BEE
India’s
Would-be National Insect
Class : Insecta
Order : Hymenoptera
Suborder : Apocrita
Family : Apidae
Subfamily : Apinae
Genus : Apis
Species : Apis cerana
“If the honeybees disappear off the globe, then the man would have
only four years of life left. No
bees..no pollination.. no plants.. no animals.. no man..” - Albert Einstein
Honeybees are presumed to have evolved from their wasp-like ancestors, simultaneously or shortly after the appearance of flowering plants on the earth. Flowering plants offer, nectar and pollen to honeybees which is their sole food. Honeybees pollinate hundreds and thousands of flowering plants and assure good yield to crop plants.
Physical and
chemical changes in the environment, however, have accelerated the crisis of
decline in species richness of honeybees and other pollinators. Insecticide
poisoning, has especially threatened honeybees the most important insect of pollination.
The enormous benefits the honeybees silently offer to Forestry and Agriculture
goes unnoticed.
In view of the
importance of honeybees in conservation of natural biodiversity and in human
life, honeybees should be declared as a ‘National Insect’ and efforts must be
made to conserve all species of honeybees in India. This is advocated by a
group of environmentalists led by R. P. Phadke, Retd. Director, Central Bee Research
& Training Institute.
Courtesy:
https://www.change.org
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