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Not all insects are dangerous. Some are beneficial to man, livestock and plants. One of the most beneficial insect is the bee.
Beekeeping also called apiculture is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. It can also be defined as the care and management of honey bees for the production of honey and wax.
Honey bees belongs to the order Hymenoptera and genus Apis. They are  social insects commonly kept for honey and other produce. .
Bees are bred commercially in apiaries. This is an area where  lot of beehives are placed for bee production . Usually, apiaries are set up in areas where there are sufficient bee pastures ( that is, flowering plants) .
Beekeepers (or apiarists) keep bees for honey and other products of the hive such as beeswax, propolis, bee pollen, and royal jelly.
Bees live in a man-made beehive or hive or in their natural house called colony in a tree, in rocks etc.
BEE COLONY
A colony of honeybees is composed of different  cluster of individual bees that perform different functions . These cluster of bees occur as a social caste. There are three social castes which include:
the queen bee, which is a fertile female  capable of laying a thousand or more eggs per day. Among the eggs layed are those that hatch into sexually undeveloped females called the worker bees; and the male bees, or drones. The female are equipped with a venomous sting.

PHASES OF DUTIES OF THE HONEY BEES

Bees go through four phases of job before they die.

PHASE 1: They go to work immediately after they emerge from the metamorphosis ( egg) about 3 weeks after they are borne.

PHASE 2: They clean the cells after they emerge, about 3days, there hormones shift them into nursery mode. They feed the young broods that succeed them. This last for about a week.

PHASE 3: The workers become generally handy. They move away from the honey hive and work by building honey combs, storing foods and guarding the nests. This last for about a week.

PHASE 4: This is the most dangerous phase. It is the foraging phase. The workers leave the nest to find pollen, bring it to the hives and feed the colony. This phase start from day 41 and last for 50 days. After, most workers will leave the nest as death approaches. Those that die inside the hives will be carried out by undertaker bees.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEES

THE QUEEN BEE:  Each hive do have only one queen bee who is the only reproductive individual in the colony. Two queen bees do not live in a colony. When two queen bees emerge at the same time in a colony, the two will fight to death until only one of them survive the fight. The  queen usually mates with more than one drone (called polyandry). She mates with about 20 drones when flying in the air ( that is mating flight). After some days, she begins to lay fertile eggs. sufficient sperm are stored in the Queens  sperm pouch ( spermatheca) , to fertilize all the eggs she will lay for the rest of her life.  if her supply of sperm is exhausted in the sperms pouch, she will lay unfertilized eggs in the cells. The unfertilized eggs will develop to form drones. The process by which the  unfertilized eggs develop to form adult drones is known as parthenogenesis. In the act of mating with the queen, the drones die . The queen can leave for up to five years.
Two circumstances that can make the queen bee leaves the hives are: when the virgin queen wants to mate, and in some cases, when she wants to  swarm with other bees.

DETERMINANT OF MALE AND FEMALE BEES

The queen desides the sex of the bees she produces. If the queen bee wants to lay a male egg, she will release sperm from her spermateca as the eggs leaves the ovaries. But if the queen wants to lay a female egg, the sperm will not be released from the spermateca as the eggs leaves the ovary.

WORKER BEES
Worker bees are sterile females and can live for six weeks to several months in the colony. As the name implies, worker bees do all the work of the hive, except egg laying. They do all of the foraging, feeding of young, honey production and storage, wax production, cleaning, care for the larvae, build cells, attend to the queen, store the honey, pollinate, even feed the male drones and defending the hive against intruders. When a colony becomes queenless may be due to death of the queen or accident etc,  some of the worker bees would lay eggs which will develop into drones. In this case, hardly would another queen emerge in such colonies.

DRONES
They usually live a few Weeks . Their duty is to mate with the queen and with other queens from other colonies to propagate the species. During the mating process, they die. Drones not successful in mating return to the hive to eat honey and pollen. When the  resources are drained  inside the hive, the drones  are evicted by workers. When they are not trying to mate, they eat from the honey reserves and wait for the queen to go on her natural flight.Each bee now what to do because of their genetic make up that tells them what job they have to do etc.

COMMON SPECIES OF HONEY BEES
Common species of honey bees that are reared are as follows:

Apis dorsata: It is also referred to as the rock bee. It is a giant bee and produces about 38 to 40 kg of honey per colony.
Apis indica: It is also referred to as the Indian bee. It can be easily domesticated and is most commonly used for honey production. The annual yield of honey is 2 to 5 kg per colony.
Apis florea: It is also referred to as the little bee. It rarely stings and thus honey extraction from its hive is easy. It produces about 1 kg of honey per colony per year.
Apis mellifera: It is also referred to as the Italian bee. This species has a very typical dance routine to indicate food availability, and like the little bee, stings less. As the common name suggests, this species is not local. However, because of the high amount of honey produced, it is often reared by beekeepers
Other honey producing bees include, Melipona stingless bees

IMPORTANCE OF BEEKEEPING
The main advantages of beekeeping are:

1. Provides honey, which is the most valuable nutritional food.
2. Provides bee wax which is used in many industries, including cosmetics industries, polishing industries, pharmaceutical industries, etc.
3. Plays an excellent role in pollination. Honey bees are the best pollinating agents which help in increasing the yield of several crops.
4. According to the recent studies, the honey bee’s venom contains a mixture of proteins which can potentially be used as a prophylactic to destroy HIV that causes AIDS in humans. The venom also boost the immune system. It has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory capabilities and fighting against the symptoms of COVID-19
5. Used as a hobby or sideline activities.
6. The worker bees produce royal jelly, a whitish food with the consistency of mayonnaise, which can be fed to bee larva
7. It provide occupation which contribute to livelihood security.
8. It can be integrated with other farming businesses like crop production, fish raising, forestry (apiforestry),etc
9. They are indirect pest controllers, they compete for food with phytophagous insects (that is, those that consume plants or their parts) .
10. Produce from bees have several nutritional and therapeutic properties beneficial to health. Such health benefits include anti-inflammatory, antitoxic, antioxidant, anesthetic, stimulant, bacteriostatic, bactericidal, antiseptic, healing, antimicrobial, antitumor, and aphrodisiac properties. etc.
11. honey bee products are a good source of medical and pharmacological preparations (drugs, dietary supplements, and medicated cosmetics).
12. Honey bees can be sold as live beekeeping materials to create a new colony. Dead queenbees can be bought or replaced from another colony. This is usually carried out by commercial bee farmers. Some farmers raise queens, and produce package bees for sale.
PRODUCE FROM BEEKEEPING
1. HONEY: Honeybees collect Nectar (a sugary Solution ) from the pistil of flowers, nectaries on the leaves or stems of plants. Nectar contain about 50 to 80 percent water, but when the bees convert it into honey, the water content reduces to about 16 to 18 percent.
They also collect honeydew (an exudate) from certain plant-sucking insects, and convert it to honey.
Honey serves as carbohydrate diet source for bees.

2. POLLINE: Honeybees do collect pollen (dustlike powdering male gamete) from the  anthers of flowers. Pollen are source of  proteins for young bees. When worker bees are collecting nectar and pollen for honey and feeding the colony,  pollination of flowers take place. Pollen grains are transfered from anther to stigma.     
3. PROPOLIS: Honeybees also collect PROPOLIS from buds of trees. Propolis is a resinous material used for sealing cracks in the hive or for covering foreign objects in the hive that the bees cannot remove. They collect water to air-condition the hive and to dilute the honey when they consume it.

4. BEEWAX: Beewax are secretion from the abdomen of Bees. These wax are produced inform of tiny flakes which are molded to form honeycomb(  thin-walled, back-to-back, six-sided cells) . The  cells are used to store Honey or pollen and queen lays eggs in them (one egg per cell) . The cells where the bees develop from the eggs is called the broodnest. Honey is usually stored at the top of the combs and pollen in cells around the broodnest below the honey for the young to feed on.

5. ROYAL JELLY: This is a whitish food material with the consistency of mayonnaise. It is produced by brood-food glands in the heads of the worker bees. It is used to feed bee larvae that will develop into worker bees. When the cells of the colony becomes crowded and no cells are available for the queen bee to lay eggs, the worker bees would evacuate dozen of tiny larvae from the cells inorder for the mother queen to lay her eggs.  etc.

THE BEE VENOM

Bee venom ” Apis Venenum” is defined as a complex mixture of natural products extracted from honey bees, containing various pharmaceutical components which exhibit diverse therapeutic properties.
It  is also called by diverse names like; Purum, Apitoxin, Apitoxine, Bald-Face etc.
It is made by bees. It is a complex mixture of proteins, enzymes, and peptides (That is, peptide melittin [40–50%] and the enzyme phospholipase A2 [10–12%] of the dry matter mass of the venom). It also contain other peptides including; apamin, secapin, and mast cell degranulating peptide (MCD). The enzyme components include; hyaluronidase, acid phosphomonoesterase, and others. Other components that make up the venom include; Physiologically active amines like histamine, dopamine, and noradrenaline; amino acids; sugars; phospholipids; and volatile compounds. These are the primary and secondary components of the venom.
This bee venom is the poison that makes bee stings painful and not really the sting itself. It can be used to make medicine.
It can also be given as a shot for bee sting allergy, used for osteoarthritis, Parkinson disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), nerve pain, and other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.
When the bee venom is given repeatedly especially when injected under the skin of human, it causes the immune system to get used to the venom, and helps reduce the severity of an allergy to this bee venom.

BENEFITS OF BEE VENOM

i. Bee venom has been used in traditional medicine for its anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and pain-relieving properties.

ii. It has potential therapeutic applications for conditions like arthritis, cancer, and skin diseases,

iii. The peptide Melittin makes up 40–50% of the venom’s dry mass and has been reported for its anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects.

iv. Melittin possesses antiviral action against vesicular stomatitis virus, influenza A virus, and herpes virus.

v. It is used to relief pain and inflammation especially against conditions like arthritis, tendonitis, and chronic pain.

vi. It is used to treat some skin conditions. It is mixed with skin treatment products to treat issues like acne, eczema, and promote skin regeneration.

vii. CANCER: Research is ongoing into its potential to treat certain types of cancer.

viii. It exhibits antimicrobial properties which prevent infections from various bacteria.

ix. NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS: It has potential benefits over conditions like Parkinson’s disease.

x. Bee venom is a complex substance consisting of multiple anti-inflammatory compounds such as melittin, adolapin, apamin.

xi. Bee venom acupuncture has been used in man to treat depression, musculoskeletal and neurological conditions.

xii. Bee venom can cause anaphylaxis and death but the incidence in clinical practice is unknown.

xiii. Refining bee venom to remove harmful substances may potentially limit its toxicity.

xiv. Bee venom has an anti-apoptosis, the anti-fibrosis and the anti-arthrosclerosis compounds.

xv. Due to bee venom’s pharmaceutical characteristics, bee venom therapy has also been used as the therapeutic method in treating rheumatoid, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, liver fibrosis, atherosclerosis, pain and others.

xvi. The mellitin hydrolyzes cell membranes. This substance acts as a detergent to disrupt cell membranes and liberate biogenic amines and potassium.

xvii. Mellitin also alters cellular permeability, and causes histamine release. It is considered the agent most responsible for local pain.

xviii. Mellitin induces catecholamine release, which acts with phospholipase A2 to cause intravascular hemolysis.

xix. Large doses of mellitin cause irreversible contraction of the heart and rapid death.

xx. Peptide 401 (or mast cell degranulating peptide) causes mast cells to degranulate, releasing histamine and vasoactive amines. Histamine release by bee venom is mainly mediated by mast cell degranulation peptide.

xxi. Phospholipase A2 is the major allergenic component of bee venom and acts in concert with mellitin to cause intravascular hemolysis.

xxii. Hyaluronidase in bee venom cause changes in cell permeability by altering cell membranes and disrupts collagen, allowing other venom components to penetrate into the victim’s tissues; This is called the “spreading factor.”

xxiii. Apamin in bee venom is a neurotoxin that acts on the spinal cord. Adolapin inhibits prostaglandin synthetase and has antiinflammatory actions, and it has been postulated that it may be useful in the treatment of arthritis.

xxiv. Mellitin has been shown to produce cardiotoxicity and result in cardiac failure and toxic death in massive honeybee envenomations. The allergen phospholipase is probably the factor most responsible for anaphylactic deaths.

xxv. Unlike phospholipase, mellitin is a poor antigen and antimellitin antibodies are not much produced in the honey bee venom. As a result, antivenom produced by injection of a whole honeybee venom is not likely to be of much effect in saving lives of victims massively envenomated by honeybees. To save the lives of massively envenomated victims, neutralization or blocking of the cardiotoxic effects of mellitin should be carried out.

xxvi. Bee venom is used for healing of chronic wounds due to the main components it contains. Such components include; melittin, phospholipase A2, histamine, hyaluronidase, and serotonin.

xxvii. Bee Venom can modify the immune system functions in the body and contribute to the increased production of cortisol in the adrenal glands. This substance aid the healing potency characteriatics of BV in the treatment of arthritis and rheumatism is initiated after stimulating the production of cortisol.
Recent studies have reported a variety of mechanisms for the anti-arthritis and/or anti-inflammatory effects of BV and its constituents. The decrease in cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and phospholipase (PL) A2 expression and the decrease in the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, nitric oxide (NO) and oxygen reactive species (ROS) are suggested to be associated with the anti-arthritis effect of melittin.

xxviii. In some studies, bee venom acupuncture has been used in man to successfully treat a number of musculoskeletal diseases such as lumbar disc disease, osteoarthritis of the knee, rheumatoid arthritis, adhesive capsulitis, and lateral epicondylitis.

xxix. In the treatment of wounds, bee venom has antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects. It is used against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria through forming cell membrane channels.

xxx. Bee venom has been discovered to reduce the amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in animal blood and wounds and speed wound healing since ROS causes extensive cellular damage and hinders neovascularization.

xxxi. It can be added to products like extracts, supplements, moisturizers, and serums.

INEFFECTIVE USE OF BEE VENOM

i. MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS); Administeration of live bee stings especially when administered gradually and increasing its doses up to 20 stings, three times weekly does not seem to improve multiples sclerosis. Treatment for 24 weeks does not seem to improve fatigue, disability, or quality of life.
ii. INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE FOR STIFFNESS AND PAIN IN THE SHOULDER  JOINT  (FROZEN SHOULDER); Early research suggests that receiving dilute bee venom injections might improve pain and disability in people with frozen shoulder. But this does not seem to improve range of motion.
Note; diluting bee venom and administeration through injection do not seem to be beneficial.
iii. OSTEOARTHRITIS: Early research on the use of bee venom for osteoarthritis is mixed. But one large study shows that injecting bee venom into the skin at certain points in the knees and back might improve pain and function in people with osteoarthritis of the knee.
iv. PARKINSON DISEASE: Early research shows that dilute bee venom injections may improve symptoms in people with Parkinson disease. But if the dose of bee venom is too low, it might not help.
v. STROKE: Bee venom  acupuncture  seems to improve pain but not movement in people with shoulder pain after stroke.

RISKS AND SIDE EFFECTS
i. ALLERGIC REACTIONS: Hypersensitive individuals can experience severe, potentially fatal, allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis.
ii. LOCAL REACTIONS: Stings cause localized pain, swelling, and redness.
iii. Other side effects may include: itching, dizziness, nausea, trouble breathing, chest tightness, heart palpitations, vomiting, diarrhea, sleepiness, confusion, fainting, and low blood pressure. Side effects are more common in people with the worst allergies to bee stings, in people treated with honeybee venom, and in women. Serious allergic reactions such as  anaphylaxis  can occur.
iv. PREGNANCY: High doses may be unsafe for pregnant women due to the risk of uterine contractions. It is considered “possibly safe” when injected by a trained professional at recommended doses.
v. WHEN GIVEN AS A SHOT: Bee venom is likely safe for most people when injected under the skin by a trained medical professional. Some people might get redness and swelling where the injection is given.

VENOM THERAPY
BEE STING ALLERGY; A series of bee venom shots under the skin (bee venom immunotherapy) seems to be effective for reducing reactions to bee stings in people with severe allergy to bee stings. Bee venom immunotherapy provides 98% to 99% protection from reactions to bee stings. Once immunotherapy is stopped, the risk of reaction over the next 5 to 10 years is about 5% to 15%. Purified bee venom for under-the-skin injection is an FDA approved product.

RESPONSE TO ENVENOMATION
Four primary reactions may be seen following a Hymenoptera envenomation. These reactions include:

i. PAIN AND SWELLING: This is the first and most commonly seen reaction. This local pain and swelling reaction occurs in all envenomated (stung) individuals to some degree and is caused by vasoactive components of the bee venom rather than by an allergic mechanism.

ii. ALLERGY: This is the second reaction that can be noticed. It is a larger, regional reaction, mediated by allergic mechanisms, involving parts of the body in continuity with the sting site.

iii. THE ANAPHYLACTIC RESPONSE: This is the third reaction. It is a more severe type of reaction called a systemic, anaphylactic response. It is characterized by varying degrees of urticaria, angioedema, nausea and vomiting, hypotension, and dyspnea, caused by an immediate hypersensitivity reaction. This type of reaction occurs in individuals who have specific immunoglobulin (Ig) E antibodies to allergenic components of bee venom and occurs within a few minutes of the sting.

iv.. The fourth possible reaction is uncommon and consists of skin rashes and serum sickness–like symptoms occurring within 3 days to 2 weeks after envenomation. This type of response is thought to be mediated by circulating immune complexes or a delayed hypersensitivity reaction.

APPLICATION OF BEE VENOM THROUG ACUPUNCTURE
Bee venom is a complex compound consisting of multiple components, some of which are surprisingly anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive despite the well-known pain of a bee sting. This venom consists of more than fifty components, the most common constituent is called melittin. Other components incude; apamin and adolapin etc. This venom can be administered to people through various means. One of which is called the acupuncture method. Another is through natural sting. Bee venom acupuncture is a form of apitherapy used to treat disease in man .
Bee venom acupuncture is a form of acupuncture in which bee venom is applied to the tips of acupuncture needles, stingers are extracted from bees, or bees are held with an instrument, such as a forceps, squeezed to cause the stinger to emerge from the lower abdomen, and then either the needles or stinger is applied acupoints on the skin.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
i. MEDICAL SUPERVISION: Bee venom therapy, especially when administered through live stings, should be done under the supervision of a healthcare professional.
ii. ALLERGY ASSESSMENT: Patients should be evaluated for a bee allergy before starting any therapy involving bee venom.
iii. STANDARDIZATION: There is a need for better standardization of extraction methods to ensure consistent and potent formulations for therapeutic use.

PRECAUTIONS AND WARNINGS

i. PREGNANCY AND BREAST-FEEDING: For safety use of Bee venom, it should be  injected under the skin at recommended doses by a trained medical professional, unless, it may cause serious harm.
High dosage are unsafe during pregnancy because they can increase release of a chemical called histamine, which can cause the uterus to contract. This might lead to miscarriage. Some physicsian has recommended half dosage for pregnant individuals.

ii. People facing the following “Auto-immune diseases” such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or other conditions should not be administered Bee venom because the venom might cause the immune system to become more active, and this could increase the symptoms of the auto-immune diseases.

iii. Bee venom has the capacity to increase the immune system. Thus, decreasing the effectiveness of medications that decrease the immune system. Such medications that decrease the immune system (Immunosuppressants) do interact with the Bee Venom
Some of the medications that decrease the immune system include; azathioprine (Imuran), basiliximab (Simulect), cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), daclizumab (Zenapax), muromonab-CD3 (OKT3, Orthoclone OKT3), mycophenolate (CellCept), tacrolimus (FK506, Prograf), sirolimus (Rapamune), prednisone (Deltasone, Orasone), corticosteroids (glucocorticoids), and others.

iv. DOSING:
For reducing the severity of allergic reactions to bee sting, Healthcare providers give bee venom as a shot (by injection) to “desensitize” people who are allergic to bee stings. Purified bee venom for under-the-skin injection is an FDA approved product.
Also, Bee venom can also be given by live bee stings. This is also safe. Live bee stings can be be safely administered under medical supervision in doses up to 20 bee stings three times weekly for up to 24 weeks. The released venom will build the immune system to prevent further pain.

BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT
Standard tools needed by beekeeper include:

1. THE SMOKER : needed to quell or tamed the bees. It is used during hive inspections, and frame removal for honey extraction. It is made from a small can with bellows attached where newspaper, dried leaves and twigs are  ignited to produce smoke that helps calm the bees.
2. A HAT WITH THE SCREEN VEIL : needed to protect the beekeepers face. the screen veil protect against stinging the face.
3. GLOVES : needed to protect the hands of the beekeeper from being stung
4. A BLUNT STEEL BLADE CALLED A HIVE TOOL : used for separating the frames and other hive parts for examination
5. UNCAPPING KNIFE : used for opening the cells of honey and to slice off the wax cappings from the honeycomb

6. THE EXTRACTOR : for centrifuging the honey from the cells.
7. BUCKET : for transporting the harvested honey comb
8. BOOT : for protecting the leg of the beekeeper
9. PROTECTIVE JACKET OR OVERALL : A white Clothing for protecting the body. It is usually sawn to cover the whole body.

10. A HIVE : The Langstroth Hive, which is made from wood looks like a wooden filing cabinet with Frames lined on top for shaping hexagonal wax cells down the hive frame. Bees use the frames to build brood nests and store honey.

11. UNCAPPING TANK : it is a tank where you rest your frames while uncapping them and where excess honey will fall and be stored.
12. A MESH STRAINER : Used for removeing any leftover wax or bee parts in the honey, and the honey can then be bottled for storing, selling, or gifting.

THE HIVES

The hives serve dual purposes. They serve as homes and where the bees store their honey. The comb in the hives are designed in hexagonal shapes called cells. They do this design to keep themselves safe and store their honey. These cells are storage units. They design these cells using the wax they produce. They need about 8 oz of honey to produce 1 oz of wax. Due to this, they are refered to as the best insect mathematician. They design their cells in hexagonal shapes so that no space is wasted in the hives.

PRODUCTION OF HONEY BY HONEY BEE

The production of honey by the honeybee is a complex and not a simple process. Pollens are to be carried to the pistil of the flower for fertilization to take place. This process is called pollination. Pollens are also needed by the bees. It is a protein packed food for the hives.Bees are hairy ( about 3 million hairs that can carry pollen). These hairs can also bw found at the head region, even around their eyes. At the legs, they are like spiky thorns. When the bee land on a flower, the pollen sticks to the hairs. Those around the eyes are brushed out with their front legs and the front legs transfers the pollen to the hind legs before flying off the flower. As the bee fly from flower to flower, she continues to transfer the pollen to her hind legs. At the hind legs are sack-like structure called Corbicula. All the pollens transfered to the hind legs are stored in this corbicula. She will bend her hind legs after the storage to sqeeze the polln into a ball and pack it together with her saliva and nectar . She can pack up to 200 pollens into a ball.

They then fly into their hive. Thenpollens are not used foe honey making, but rather the nectar. The pollen are eaten while the nectar are used to produce honey. The nectar are deposited in the cell of thw hive and they are covered with a wax which turn to honey. The pollen are turned into bread like food as source of protein.In the hive, the bee carrying the pollen will search for an open spor or empty cell to deposite the ball of pollen. Then, they will allow the pollen to marinade with a hint of honey added to it. This serve as food for the adult and baby bees developing in the neighboring cells. The adult will also drop the bread near the cells as food.

MOST COMMON PREDATORS :

BEARS : Bears love eating bee larvae and honey. In countries where they are found, they destroy hive boxes to get at the honey.
solution :  erect barriers like electric fences. Opossums and skunks:
Small mammals: small predators can crawl pass fences and find their way into hives. Therefore,  hives should be elevated above ground with the legs of the hives dipped in oil and  chicken wire mesh can be spread on the ground around the hives to help keep the mammals at bay.

BIRDS : woodpeckers, sparrows and other birds  love to eat bees. Therefore, birds should be kept off bee hives. Scarecraw can be erected in such areas. Sound producing devices can also be used etc

MICE : mice can burrow into hives and build their  homes in it. Mouse guard, bait, traps etc can be used to control mice.

SMALL HIVE BEETLES (SHB)

One of the biggest threats to honeybee colonies is the Small Hive Beetle (SHB) (Aethina tumida). This destructive pest do disturbe hives across Africa, including Nigeria. It is a small brown-black beetle with clubbed antennae that originated from sub-Saharan Africa. In Africa, the SHB is not a significant honey bee pest species; however, it has also spread to Australia causing a major impact to honey bee colonies especially in the warm and humid coastal strip between Victoria and North Queensland.
It is important for every beekeeper to understand how they operate and how to control them.
Small Hive Beetles are tiny black/brown beetles, about 5–7mm long, that invade bee colonies. Their size can make farmers overlook their damage and destructive potentials. This destruction is usually massive.

MECHANISMS OF THEIR OPERATE OF SHB

The adult beetles enter the hive and hide in cracks where bees cannot remove them. There, they lay hundreds of eggs in the combs, especially in hidden spots. The egges then hatch into larvae and begin feeding on pollen, brood, honey, and the wax. This larval stage of the SHB life cycle causes the majority of damage to active hives.
They are attracted to active hives because of the availability of food. Whilst feeding the larvae also carry a yeast species (Kodamaea ohmeri) which contaminates the honey causing it to ferment. And also produce an ooze slime, making it unsuitable for harvest. As the colony becomes heavy infestated, the hive becomes ‘slimed out’ and may cause the colony to die or abscond.
After they feed, the larvae crawl out of the hive and pupate in nearby soil, then return as adults to continue the cycle.

SIGNS OF SHB INFESTATION
Several signs indicate the presence of the Beetle in the hive. Such signs include;
i. Beetles crawling on combs or frame edges
ii. Slimy combs with a foul smell
iii. Fermented, foaming honey
iv. Weak colonies absconding

CONTROL AND PREVENTION
Long term control of SHB will only be successful if combinations of control techniques are used in active hives and in stored equipment/comb. Control techniques that involve exclusion, good colony management and apiary hygiene will have the biggest impact on SHB management at the lowest cost.
i. Due to the fact that SHB thrives in shady, damp spots, the hives should be located in an open sunny areas.
ii. Hives should be inspected regularly (every 10–14 days).
iii. Keep colonies strong and healthy. Weak hives are easily overrun.
iv. All debris in and around the hives should be cleaned and seal cracks inside hives.
v. Use traps (Beetle Blaster, oil traps, homemade designs) to catch the beetles.
These traps and baits can be commercial products and homemade devices used as traps and to reduce adult SHB populations in the honey bee colony. Some commercial SHB traps include Beetltra and AJ’s Beetle Eater. Beetltra is a semi-permanent attachment which is fitted underneath the beehive (not inside) using screws. It can be accessed without disturbing the hive. AJ Beetle Eater sits between the top bars of the frames of the hive, it is necessary to open the lid of the hive to install and remove the trap.
vi. Treat soil around and beneath hives with insecticides to kill pupating larvae.
vii. Never leave exposed honey or comb around the apiary.
viii. SHB can be subjected to natural predation throughout its lifecycle (particularly as wandering larvae and during pupation). In isolation, this has not proven to be an effective control mechanism.
ix. Maintain strong, health colonies with a young productive queen bee and a high bee-to-comb ratio. This will require beekeepers to regularly replace the queen bee.
This will provide more brood bees and more protection maintained in the hives.
x. Provision of unfavourable conditions for the SHB ro reproduce and develop. This includes minimising the cracks and crevices of the hive, and removing burr comb and propolis, which are all areas the SHB can hide in or lay eggs.
xi. Apiarists should avoid placing their hives in areas of known high SHB population, particularly during high risk times of the year.
xii. Hives may need to be ventilated for short periods (a few hours) to reduce humidity in the hive, but beekeepers should be cautious of robbing, that can occur.
xiii. Reservoirs can be made at the bottom of the trap to kill the SHB that seek refuge inside. But honey bees are prevented from entering.
xiv. HALOGEN TRAPS: Traps can also be placed in storage rooms and extracting facilities to minimise SHB numbers. SHB larvae are attracted to fluorescent and halogen lights. These can be mounted above large shallow containers of vegetable oil or detergent to kill the SHB that crawl into it. These traps can also be inspected regularly to check for the presence of SHB in stored equipment and extracting facilities.

OTHER BEES : Honeybees preyed upon by wasps and yellow jackets insects they feed on the bees because they are carnivorous insects. To control them, meat baits can be set around the hive.

BEETLES , MOTHS , MITES and FUNGUS : They are the most dangerous predators of bees.

TERMINOLOGIES

1. HOMEOPATHY: Homeopathy is an alternative therapy that involves diluted substances to promote healing. There is little to know evidence for its efficacy.

2. DRY NEEDLING : Dry needling is a type of alternative medicine that uses tiny needles to stimulate nerve endings to promote muscle relaxation and pain relief. It can be used for Rheumatoid Arthritis

3. VITAMIN IV THERAPY: Vitamin IV therapy infuses vitamins directly into the bloodstream. It can also offer the body some extra hydration.

4 MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES: Monoclonal antibodies are antibodies similar to those the body produces but they are made in a laboratory. mAbs can target certain molecules.

5. MASSAGE THERAPY: This is the therapy applications that is used for stress relief, insomnia, athletic recovery, pain management, and more.

6. ROYAL JELLY: This is a gelatinous substance produced by honey bees to feed the queen bees and their young.

7. Apitherapy is an alternative medicine practice that uses bee products — including their venom — to treat and prevent illnesses, pain, and inflammation