Bee Responsible India

Bee Responsible India

Benefits and Use:

Providing farmers and beekeepers with the information they need to protect pollinators.

Indian Beekeepers manage the Indian honey bee Apis cerana indica as well as the introduced European honey bee, Apis mellifera. They also hunt honey from the Rock Bee Apis dorsata, The Red Dwarf Bee Apis florea, and the Dammar bee Tetragonula iridipennis. These pollinators provide honey and other hive products, and are essential for crop pollination and maintaining the biodiversity of India’s amazing flora.

Pollinators experience many threats, including pesticide exposures.

Indian pesticide labels do not include environmental precautions, which makes it challenging for farmers to choose bee-friendly crop protection agents which also safeguard beekeepers’ livelihoods. Our app is designed to provide Indian farmers and beekeepers with the accurate scientific information they need.

Multiple initiatives are increasing the proportion of rural Indians that own and use smartphones in order to link farmers to agricultural expertise and increase access to markets. Bee Responsible India will enable Government agencies such as the National Bee Board and the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC) to leverage this effort to protect pollinators.

Protecting India’s biodiversity

In addition to managed bees, India is home to many wild bees and pollinating insects. Birds, bats, and other animals also carry pollen from plant to plant as they collect sweet nectar.

Many flowering plants are dependent on pollination to reproduce, and ecosystems are in turn dependent on plants. Protecting agricultural pollinators helps the wild ones too, which can help sustain India’s megabiodiversity.