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Practical Manual of Beneficial Insect Farming
Chapter List
- Insect Collection, Pinning and Preservation
- Honey Bee Species and Castes
- Beekeeping Appliances and Seasonal Management
- Bee Enemies and Diseases
- Bee Pasturage
- Bee Foraging and Communication
- Bee Products
- Types of Silkworm and Voltinism
- Biology of Silkworm
- Species of Lac Insect
- Lac Insect Host Plant Identification
- Identification of Important Pollinators, Weed Killers and Scavengers
- Visit to Research and Training Institutions for Beekeeping, Sericulture, Lac Culture and Natural Enemies
- Identification of Natural Enemies
- Techniques for Mass Multiplication of Natural Enemies
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Syllabus
Insect collection, pinning, preservation. Honey bee species, castes of bees. Beekeeping appliances and seasonal management, bee enemies and disease. Bee pasturage, bee foraging and communication, bee products. Types of silkworm, voltinism and biology of silkworm. Species of lac insect, host plant identification. Identification of other important pollinators, weed killers and scavengers. Visit to research and training institutions devoted to beekeeping, sericulture, lac culture and natural enemies. Identification and techniques for mass multiplication of natural enemies
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – Beneficial Insect Farming
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What is beneficial insect farming?
Beneficial insect farming is the scientific rearing, management and utilization of useful insects such as honey bees, silkworms, lac insects, predators and parasitoids for agricultural, commercial and ecological purposes.
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What are the major areas covered under beneficial insect farming?
The major areas include beekeeping, sericulture, lac culture, pollinator management, identification of natural enemies and mass multiplication of biological control agents.
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What are the important species of honey bees?
Important honey bees include Apis cerana indica, Apis mellifera, Apis dorsata and Apis florea. Stingless bees such as Tetragonula spp. are also important pollinators.
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What are the three castes of honey bees?
The three castes of honey bees are queen, worker and drone. The queen is the main reproductive female, workers perform most colony activities, and drones are males primarily involved in mating with queens.
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What is bee pasturage?
Bee pasturage refers to the availability of flowering plants that provide nectar and pollen to honey bees. Examples include mustard, sunflower, litchi, eucalyptus, coriander and citrus.
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What is the waggle dance of honey bees?
The waggle dance is a communication behaviour performed by worker honey bees to provide information about the direction and approximate distance of a food source.
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What are the major products obtained from honey bees?
The major bee products are honey, beeswax, royal jelly, propolis, bee pollen and bee venom.
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What are the main types of silkworms?
The major commercially important silkworm groups are mulberry, tasar, muga and eri silkworms. The mulberry silkworm is Bombyx mori.
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What is voltinism in silkworms?
Voltinism refers to the number of generations produced by a silkworm species in one year. Silkworms may be univoltine, bivoltine or multivoltine.
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What are the developmental stages of a silkworm?
Silkworms undergo complete metamorphosis. Their developmental stages are egg, larva, pupa and adult. The larval stage consists of five instars separated by moulting.
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What is the scientific name of the principal lac insect?
The principal commercial lac insect is Kerria lacca, which belongs to the family Kerriidae.
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What are the important lac insect strains?
The two important commercial strains commonly recognized in lac culture are Rangeeni and Kusumi. They are associated with different host plants and cropping situations.
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Which plants are important hosts of lac insects?
Important lac host plants include kusum (Schleichera oleosa), palas (Butea monosperma), ber (Ziziphus mauritiana) and Flemingia spp.
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What are natural enemies?
Natural enemies are organisms that naturally suppress insect pest populations. Important groups include predators and parasitoids.
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What is the difference between a predator and a parasitoid?
A predator attacks and consumes several prey individuals during its lifetime, whereas a parasitoid develops in or on a single host and eventually kills that host.
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What are some important insect predators?
Important insect predators include ladybird beetles, green lacewings, syrphid fly larvae and predatory bugs. Spiders are also important predators in agricultural ecosystems.
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What is Trichogramma?
Trichogramma is a group of very small egg parasitoids used as biological control agents against the eggs of several insect pests.
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What is mass multiplication of natural enemies?
Mass multiplication is the production of large numbers of healthy predators or parasitoids under controlled conditions using suitable hosts, prey or rearing systems.
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Why is identification of natural enemies important?
Correct identification helps recognize beneficial organisms in agricultural fields, conserve natural enemies, select appropriate biological control agents and support integrated pest management.
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Why are research and training institutions important in beneficial insect farming?
Research and training institutions provide practical training, develop improved technologies and demonstrate methods related to beekeeping, sericulture, lac culture and biological control through natural enemies.
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Last Updated: August 2026
