Participatory Guarantee System - National Standards for Organic Production

Standard Requirement for Bee Keeping

As bee keeping is considered a part of animal husbandry, general principals of animal husbandry shall also apply on bee keeping. In addition following requirements shall also be met:

• Bee hives shall be made of natural materials free and from toxicity.
  
• Bee hives shall be placed in organically managed farms and/ or wild natural areas, away from the fields or areas where prohibited substances have been used.
  
• Veterinary medicines/ antibiotics shall not be used in bee keeping and no repellents consisting of prohibited substances be used when working with the bees.
  
• For pest and disease control and for hive disinfection use of caustic soda, lactic, oxalic, acetic, formic acids, sulphur, etheric oils and Bacillus thuringensis are allowed.

Source :

Dr. K. Chandra, Director, National Centre of Organic Farming, Ghaziabad.
Dr. Jagat Singh, Regional Centre on Organic Farming, Bangalore.

Updated on : Nov 2014