Good Beekeeping Practices for Sustainable Apiculture

Book excerpt: Through proper breeding and care of social bees, beekeepers can contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Experts always recommend the sustainable One Health approach for apiculture, which results in high-quality bee products and services. These guidelines, produced with the support of Apimondia experts and other international bee experts, define different beekeeping models, types of social bee and their geographical distribution, including Apis mellifera, Africanized bees, Apis cerana, Micrapis, Megapis, stingless bees and the Bombus genus, and good beekeeping practices (GBPs) for each of these types. The guidelines also look at products (honey, pollen, royal jelly, propolis) and services (pollination, environmental monitoring, apitherapy, apitourism, cultural and spiritual services) that social bees provide, and set out GBPs and traceability systems for sustainable management of bees and their products. The full production process is covered, from catching or purchasing bees, to obtaining high-quality bee products and services, with a special focus on smallscale beekeepers. In this way, they aim to guide sustainable implementation of beekeeping in development projects. Topics relevant to the development of the beekeeping sector, such as the role of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and beekeepers’ associations and training in beekeeping, are also discussed in dedicated chapters. Sustainable apiculture requires good knowledge on the proper management of bees to optimize the natural systems and resources beekeepers rely on. Specifically, knowledge of state-of-the-art technologies and innovations can help increase productivity. The last chapter is therefore dedicated to future perspectives and innovations in modern beekeeping such as precision farming, innovative trace ability systems, bee data standardization and blockchain technologies.