Bees for Development |
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Bees and flowering plants have a mutually dependent relationship which has developed over the millennia in a way that benefits both the the plants and the insects; they both need each other.
The bees' food is provided entirely by the plants they visit. To attract the bees to the plant (and consequently as a reward for their pollination services) plants provide bees with nectar and pollen. Nectar is a food source rich in energy, and pollen is a source of protein, used by young bees. Honey bees turn the nectar into honey and store the pollen in the cells of the honeycomb. Storing food allows honey bees to survive in times of scarcity and across a wide range of habitats and climatic conditions, making the honey bee one of the earth's most adaptable species.

While honey bees and other insects are visiting flowers to feed, they spread pollen from one plant to another. This enables flowers to be fertilised and for seeds and fruit to form. People benefit greatly from the natural relationship between bees and plants. Insect pollination is the mechanism that allows us to harvest crops and seeds throughout the world and people frequently harvest surplus honey stored by bees. Other wildlife is sustained also so people are enriched in other ways too.
In most developing countries the main honey sources come from trees so the forest resources available to beekeepers are central to the amount of honey they are able to collect. Beekeepers can protect their honey harvest by protecting the trees and plants that give the bees both food and shelter. Many honey bearing trees have other useful purposes as well, so protecting trees not only helps the bees, but also improves and preserves the local environment and enhances other strands of the bee farmers' livelihood.
List of Articles available on this topic (129):
Title | Author |
A colour guide to pollen loads of the honey bee | Kirk, W |
A Dictionary of Useful and Everyday Plants and their Common Names | Howes, F.N. |
A guide to fruits and seeds | Nathan, A. & Yit Chee, W. |
A Pocket Directory of Trees and Seeds in Kenya | Teel, W. |
Abstract Proceedings: 11th Asian Apicultural Association Conference, ApiExpo & Workshop | Asian Apicultural Assocaition |
Acacia ataxacantha: a nectar plant for honey bees between two dearth periods in the sudan savanna of Northern Nigeria | Dukku, U.H. |
Alarm report - pollination | Bees for Development |
Backyard Beekeeping and Honey Production | Rant, P. |
Bangladesh Major Cropping Patterns Map | IBRD |
Beekeeping in South Africa | Johannsmeier, M.F. |
Beekeeping Technology Adoption and its Effect on Resource Productivity in Southern Kenya Rangelands | Muriuki, J. M. |
Bees and CropPollenation - Crisis, Crosssroads, Conservation. | Stubbs, C & Drummond, F. |
Bees and their role in forest livelihoods: a guide to the services provided by bees and the sustainable harvesting, processing and marketing of their products | Bradbear, N. |
Bees and Trees | Svensson, B. |
Bees in the City | Benjamin A. & McCallum B. |
Behaviour of insects foraging on pigeon pea in India | Williams, I.H. |
Biodiversity of Honey Bees in Thailand Vol.3 | Wongsiri, S. et al |
Common Names of plants in Bangladesh and West Bengal | |
Common Plants of Bangladesh their use to Bees | Day, R. |
Conservation and Management of Tropical Rainforests: An Integrated Approach to Sustainability | Bruenig, E.F. |
Constraints and prospects for apiculture research and development in Amhara region, Ethiopa | Ejigu, K. Gebey, T. and Preston, T.R. |
Coppice | Mottershead,C |
Crop Pollination by Bees | Delaplane, K.S., & Mayer, D.F. |
Das Pollenbild Chinesischer Honige (The Pollen Spectrum of Chinese Honeys.) | Focke E |
Decoding the language of the bee | Frish, K.V. |
Discovering Herbs | Sanecki, K N |
Economic valuation of the vulnerability of world agriculture confronted with pollinator decline | Gallai, N., Salles, J., Settele, J. and Vaissiere, B.E. |
Flora Apicola: Lavalle - La Asuncion, Mendoza - Argentina | Wingenroth, M. |
Flora Polinica de Mendoza | Wingenroth, M. |
Flowering Plants of Islamabad: a Monthly Guide | Malik, S. |
Food and Fruit-bearing Forest Species 1: Examples from Eastern Africa | FAO |
Food Legumes: Distribution, Adaptability and Biology of Yield | Sinha, S.K. |
Forestry for Sustainable Rural Development: A Review of Ford Foundation-Supported Community Forestry Programs in Asia | Ford-Foundation |
Forestry Research in the Asia-Pacific | Nor, S.M. |
Forestry Research Management: Proceedings of the International Seminar held at Dehra Dun, India | FORSPA/FAO |
Forestry, forest users and research: new way of learning | Lawrence,A (ed) |
Fruit Crops Pollination | Jindal, K.K., & Verma, L.R. |
Fruits of the Forest: A Manual for Participatory Research into Non-Timber Forest Product Use | Dorren, G. & van de Veen, H. |
Garden Plants Valuable to Bees | International Bee Research Association |
Globa honey bee disorders and other threats to insect pollinators | Kluser, S.; Neumann, P.; Chauzat, M; Pettis, J. |
Global honey bee decline and its effects on agricultural production | Hayes, J. |
Guide to Plants Tolerant of Arid and Semi-Arid Conditions: Nomenclature and Potential Uses | Weiss, E. |
Guide to some of East Africa\'s Flowering Trees and Shrubs | SHELL |
Guide to some of East Africa\'s Upland Flowers | SHELL |
Gum trees in South Africa | Flottum, K. |
Haynes Bee Manual | Waring, C. & Waring, A. |
Himalayan Flowers and Trees | Mierow, D. & Shrestha, T.B. |
Honey bee biology - back to India (part 2): Giant bees in a giant tree | Mangum, W.A. |
Honey Sources Satellite 2 : Plants Listed Alphabetically and By Family; Common Name Index; Pollen Grain Information | Crane, E., Day, R. & Walker, P. |
Honey: A Source of Nutrition, Medicine and Cash Income for Himalayan Farmers | Ahmad, F, Joshi SR and Gurung MB |
Honeybee Democracy | Seeley, T.D. |
Honeybees in Mountain Agriculture | Partap, U. |
How to find wild bees/Como encontrar abelhas silvestres | Hertz, O. |
How to manage the blue orchard bee as an orchard pollinator | Bosch, J. & Kemp, W. |
IBRA Appendix Pollens Identified in Honey Samples from Bangladesh | IBRA |
Impact of Honeybee Pollination in Enhancing the Apple Production in Nainital District of Uttarakhand | Sharma, HK; Partap, U;Bisht, K; Tewari, P & Phartiyal, P. |
Improved pollination of insect pollinated crops in Bhutan | |
Insect Pollination In Greenhouses | de Ruijter, A & Sommeijer, M (eds) |
Insect Pollination of Crops | Free, J.B. |
Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crop Plants: Agriculture Handbook No. 496 | McGregor, S.E. |
Insect Pollinators of Crops | Atwal. A.S. |
Integrated Value Chain Development as a Tool for Poverty Alleviation in Rural Mountain Areas | Hoermann, B; Choudhary, D & D, Kollmair, M. |
Interaction between melon (Cucumis melo) flowers and honeybees under extreme desert conditions in Israel | Orr, N.; Eisikowitch, D. |
International pollinator initiative | Bees for Development |
Intimate relationships between plants and pollinators | Peebles, S. |
keep Bees without Fuss or Chemicals | Bleasdale, J. |
Keeping Bees in Towns and Cities | Dixon, L. |
Low-cost homes for wild pollinators | Bogatyrev, N |
Lower chinese honey production blamed on flowering delay | Liu, F.L., He, J.Z., Zhang, X.W. and Aiping, W. |
Managed Crop Pollination: The Missing Dimension of Mountain Agricultural Productivity | Partap, U. & Partap, T. |
Management of Philippine Bees | Cervancia C.R: Fajardo A.C; Manila-Fajardo A.C; Lucero R.M. |
Manual de Apicultura para Ambientes Subtropicales: Una Propuesta de: \'La Red de Escuelas del Noroeste Argentina (NOA)\' | Dini, C. & Bedascarrasbure, E. |
Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture | Conrad, R. |
Nectar and Pollen Plants of China | Wanlin, X. |
Of Plants, Hives, Conservation and Computers | Harman, A. |
People\'s Plants. A Guide to Useful Plants of S.Africa | Wyk, B.E.van & Gericke, N. |
Plant with toxic nectar kills native honey bees in SW China | Liu, F.L. and Fu, W.J. |
Planting for Bees in Developing Countries | IBRA |
Plants and Beekeeping | Howes, F N |
Plants and Beekeeping: an account of those plants, wild and cultivated, of value to the hive bee, and for honey production in the British Isles | Howes, F.N. |
Plants and Honey Bees: their relationships | Aston, D. & Bucknall, S. |
Plants and honeybees: An introduction to their relationships | Aston, D. and Bucknall, S. |
Plants For Bees: A Guide to the Plants that Benefit Bees of the British Isles | Kirk, W.D.J. and Howes, F.N. |
Plants from the Markets of Thailand | Jacquat, C. |
Plants of Dhofar: the Southern Region of Oman Traditional, Economic and Medicinal Uses | Miller, A. & Morris, M. |
Plants of the Galapagos Islands: Field Guide and Travel Journal | Schofield, E.K. |
Pocket Pollen Colour Guide: A Handy Guide to Aid in the Identification of Pollen Loads of the Honey Bee | Bees for Development |
Pollen Morphology of Nectar-producing Plants in China | Chang, G T, Wang C L |
Pollination in the tropics | Free, J.B. |
Pollination Management Of Mountain Crops through Beekeeping | Partap, U |
Pollination Management of Mountain Crops through Beekeeping | Partap, U |
Pollination of apples in China | Partap, U. and Partap, T. |
Pollination of Cultivated Plants in the Tropics | Roubik, D.W. |
Pollinators in a Changing Landscape | Alton, S. |
Practical Pollination Biology | Dafni, A., Kevan, P. G. & Husband, B. C. |
Pro-Poor Chain Development for High Value Products in Mountain Regions: Indian Bay Leaf | Choudhary, D; Pandit, B; Kinhal, G; Kollmair, M. |
Prominent Findings of Forestry Research in India | Rai, S.N. |
Public lands task force | Horn,T. |
Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us? | Siegel, T. & Betz, J. |
Rainforests: A Guide to Research and Tourist Facilities at Selected Tropical Forest Sites in Central and South America | Castner, J.L. |
Selected Indicators of Food and Agriculture Development in Asia-Pacific Region, 1976-86 | FAO |
Shofflera octophylla Harms, the Most Important Winter Nectar Flower in the Province of Hwandun | Lian Bai-Tzi |
Some Trees, Shrubs and Climbers of Bijilo Forest Park | Bijilo Forest Park |
State of the World\'s Forests | Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations |
Study on Traditional method of keeping Indian honey bees in Burma and keeping with modern method | Maung Maung Nyein |
Successful pollination of apples | Partap, U. |
Tanzania, Top-bar hives, Miombo Forestry Information Box | Anonymous |
The Asian Hive Bee, Apis cerana, as a Pollinator in Vegetable Seed Production | Verma, L.R. & Partap, U. |
The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping | Davis, I. & Cullum-Kenyon, R. |
The co-evolution of insects and plants | Hunter,P.A. |
The importance of bee-pollination in four genotypes of Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) | Musallam, I. W., Haddad, N.J., Tawaha, R.M. and Migdadi, O.S. |
The Investigation and Study of China\'s Bee Plants | Xu W-L |
The study of pollen | Sawyer, R. |
The \'domestic\' honey bee versus the wild pollinators | Hemmerie,J (translated by Pam Todd) |
Threats to honey bee biodiversity | Cuthbertson,A.G.S.; Marris,G.; Powell,M.E. |
Top-Bar Hive Beekeeping: Wisdom and Pleasure Combined | Mangum, W.A. |
Trees Bees Use - Antigonon leptopus - Coral Creeper | Sadakathulla, S.; Rajendran, R.; Mohan, R. & Jalaluddin, S.M. |
Trees Bees Use - Caylusea abyssinica (Resedaceae) | Latham, P. |
Trees Bees Use - Chromolaena odorata | Adesina, G.O. & Babarinde, S.A. |
Trees Bees Use - Datura stramonium - Jimson Weed | Abila, N. |
Trees Bees Use - Fuchsia - A bee forage plant | Duggan, M. |
TREES BEES USE - Polyscias fulva (Araliaceae) | Latham,P |
Value of Insect Pollinators to Himalayan Agricultural Economies | Partap U., Partap T., Sharma H. K., Phartiyal, P., Marma P., Tamang N., Ken T., Munawar M |
Valuing insect pollination services with cost of replacement | Allsop, M.H. de Lange, W.J. and Veldtman, R. |
Waggle dance controversy resolved | Bees for Development |
Warning signals - from the Apple Valleys of the Hindu Kush-himalayas - productivity concerns and pollination problems - abridged edition | Partap, U. & Partap, T. |
Warning signals from the Apple Valleys of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas: Productivity Concerns and Pollination Problems | Partap,U & Partap T |
What commercial pollination means for the environment | Bees for Development |
Wild flowers as competitors for pollinators in almond orchards | Eisikowitch, D.; Lupo, A. |