HONEY BEE AND BEE-FARMING IN THE TOMSK REGION:PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Research on honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) is an important objective ofbee-farming in Russia. Researches are particularly interested in forest dark bees that areresistant to various unfavourable conditions. They live in a number of regions of Russia,including some apiaries in the Tomsk region. The Tomsk region is abundant in forestedareas and other areas with a variety of meliferous plants. Better use of meliferous floraand scientific approach to selection of bee strains best suited to the bee forage and climateof an area can ensure a dramatic rise in honey flow. Thus, the primary goal ofhoney bee research is assessment of plant resources of a region and analysis of the genepool of honey bees and means of its preservation.The article discusses the history of bee-farming in Siberia and gives assessment ofthe current state of bee-farming in the Tomsk region. The latter is characterized by declineof public bee-farming, shift to the private sector and fall in the number of bee colonies.A few regions are taken as examples to demonstrate the productivity of apiaries.Urgent problems of bee-farming are absence of bee breeding farms, bee diseases, lack ofqualified farmers.Establishment of the «Apis» research centre within the Department of InvertebrateZoology at the Institute of Biology of Tomsk State University initiated a research onhoney bee biology and bee-farming in the Tomsk region. The centre sets the objective ofdeveloping methodological foundation for the revival and intensification of bee-farmingin the Tomsk region. Some of upcoming trends are apiary house bee-farming and buildingfarms for breeding forest dark bees as well as other strains of honey bees.

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