Threats and challenges in wild honey bee management

-The development of cash crop-based farming systems increases the need for pesticides. Due to a lack of policies and poor implementation of existing laws and regulations about pesticide monitoring and control, extensive use of pesticides causes poisoning to honey bees during feeding and finally leads to a reduction in the population. This increasing trend of chemical pesticide use in farming hurts the bees.

– It has been reported that an increasing trend of unmanaged harvesting of honey, and a careless type of honey hunting are also the cause of destruction of bee’s nesting sites.

– Higher adoption of the European honey bee (A. mellifera) by farmers for honey production reduces the A. cerana population.

– Loss of traditional knowledge about wild bees and proper honey hunting practices with the loss of generation. This is a widespread problem especially in the agriculture sector as youth do not view traditional agriculture to be remunerative enough to motivate them.

– Cyclic occurrence of some diseases and pests (e.g. sac borer, tracheal mites, and Vespa basalis).