Apis is Latin for bee, and apiculture is the science and practice of beekeeping. The words ‘apiculture’ and ‘beekeeping’ tend to be applied loosely and used synonymously: in some parts of the world, significant volumes of honey are today still obtained by plundering wild colonies of bees – this ‘honey hunting’ cannot be properly described as ‘beekeeping’. Honey hunting still remains an important part of many rural livelihoods and falls within the remit of apiculture and this book. In some parts of the world, apiculture forms part of the work of hunter-gatherers, while elsewhere apiculture is practiced by highly industrialized agriculturalists in the world’s richest nations. The product that most people first associate with bees is honey, although beekeeping generates much more than just honey. The maintenance of biodiversity and pollination of crops are the most valuable services provided by bees. Honey is just one of several different products that can be harvested: others are beeswax, pollen and propolis, royal jelly and venom, and the use of bees in apitherapy, which is medicine using bee products. It is still possible to harvest high-quality, excellent products from bees using simple equipment and techniques, building on the traditions held in almost every society.
