BEES

Pune Beeman

The death of hundreds of bees in his housing society where a beehive was burnt left an indelible mark on this techie, who left his plum job at a multinational company to take up a task which earned him the nickname: Pune's beeman.

This was three years ago. Today, Amit Godse is doing extensive research and training with the Central Bee Research and Training Institute (CBRTI) under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. Godse was alarmed to know that bees were dying in large numbers in urban areas due to insecticides used by pest control agencies and unorganized extraction of honey in rural parts.

Godse learnt that a simple technique could offset the problem: relocation of honeycombs. "Not many know about the relocation technique. One can easily save bees by relocating hives from residential areas to farmlands," he said.

Godse has been working with his friend, Sujan Kulkarni, in this conservation activity for more than three years now.

The technique involves tying a honeycomb with a clip on one end after a few minutes of controlled smoke and water spray. The comb is then cut and placed in a specially designed net for transport. This is done at night. For relocation, the comb has to be fixed to the selected place with the clip. Godse advises not to try this technique unless you are trained.

"It is natural for people to feel afraid when they spot a beehive on their premises. But, smoking out bees for honey or to disband their hives or even asking pest control services to get rid of them results in killing most of them," said Godse, who pointed out that according to the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, killing bees is an offence.

Environmentalist Sridhar Mahajan said, "Bees are far more important than butterflies or other insects for pollination. It has been observed that crop yield reduces by as much as 50% when there are no bees."

"Bees help improve the crop yield -qualitatively and quantitatively. Hence they are very important to farmers and the entire ecosystem," says KK Kshirsagar, retired senior scientific officer at the bee institute, adding that there was a need to educate people and create awareness about the importance of bees.

Godse, along with Kshirsagar and R P Phadke, former director of the bee institute, have also written a letter to the Prime Minister and the Union ministry of environment, requesting for bee be declared as a 'national insect' which will ensure its conservation. They have also requested the government to start a 'Save Bees' campaign.

An official from the agriculture department said that farmers have started spraying their plants with a bee-attracting agent so that pollination improves and crop yield goes up.