Unit 4: Bee Economy

1. Products of Apiculture Industry and its Uses

Beekeeping is a valuable industry not only for its primary product, honey, but for a wide range of other marketable goods. The true economic value also includes the invaluable service of pollination.

Primary Products (Directly from the Hive)

• Food: A natural sweetener.
• Medicine: Natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties; used as a cough suppressant and for wound dressing.
• Cosmetics: Used in lotions, soaps, and masks for its moisturizing properties.

• Cosmetics: A base for lip balms, lotions, and creams.
• Candles: Produces a bright, clean, smoke-free flame.
• Polishes: Used in wood and leather polishes.
• Beekeeping: Used to make "foundation sheets" to give bees a guide for building new comb.

• In the Hive: Used to seal cracks, reduce the hive entrance, and mummify intruders. It acts as the hive's "immune system" due to its powerful antibacterial and antiviral properties.
• Human Use: Used in natural medicine (tinctures, sprays) to boost immunity, treat sore throats, and as an antiseptic.

• In the Hive: Mixed with nectar to make "bee bread," which is fed to developing larvae.
• Human Use: Harvested with a "pollen trap" at the hive entrance and sold as a high-protein health food supplement.

Product	Source / How it's made	Uses
Honey	Bees collect nectar from flowers, store it in their "honey stomach," and pass it to other bees who add enzymes. It's stored in wax cells and fanned by their wings to evaporate water until it becomes thick, "ripened" honey.
Bees Wax	Secreted as small, white scales from wax glands on the underside of young worker bees. The bees chew this wax to build the hexagonal comb.
Propolis	A resinous, sticky "bee glue" collected by bees from tree buds (e.g., poplar, pine). They mix it with their own enzymes.
Pollen	Bees collect pollen (the plants' male gametes) and pack it into "pollen baskets" (corbicula) on their hind legs. It is their primary source of protein, vitamins, and minerals.

Other Valuable Products

• Royal Jelly: A high-nutrition, protein-rich food secreted by nurse bees, used exclusively to feed the queen and very young larvae. It is harvested and sold as a health supplement, though its benefits are debated.
• Bee Venom: The "poison" from the bee's stinger. It is collected on electrified plates and used in "apitherapy" for treating inflammation, arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders.

The Most Valuable "Product": Pollination
While not a physical product you can sell from the hive, the most significant economic contribution of apiculture is pollination services. The cross-pollination of crops (like almonds, apples, cucumbers, and berries) by honey bees is essential for food production and is valued at billions of dollars annually, far exceeding the value of honey.