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Agricultural
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Aquaculture
Dale Bumpers College
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Beekeeping - Apiculture in ArkansasApiculture is the study of honey bees and the practice of maintaining or keeping bees in order to collect honey or wax, for the pollination of plants, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. The industrious Western honey bee, Apis meliffera, is the Arkansas state insect. Worldwide, around 20,000 species of bees have been described - more than all the species of mammals and birds combined. Most of these bee species are solitary, and do not live in large social communities or make honey. But all are important pollinators of cultivated and wild plants. The Western honey bee is the best-known bee crop pollinator. Its native range extends from Northern Europe, to the Middle East, and throughout most of Africa. Beginning in the 17th century, European colonists spread the honey bee throughout much of the rest of the world, where it has proved to be highly adaptable to a broad range of climates and conditions. According to the USDA, honey production in the U.S. totaled 161 million pounds in 2008. Nationally there were 2.3 million colonies (the USDA counts only producers with 5 colonies or more) with Arkansas having 28,000 reported colonies producing an average of 75 pounds of honey per colony. Arkansas was ranked No. 17 in national production with 2.1 million pounds of honey in 2008. Arkansas currently has over 1,500 registered beekeepers, most of whom are hobbyists who maintain fewer than five hives. Our state’s beekeepers collectively manage over 50,000 colonies. While honey production is an important component of apiculture industry, it is crop pollination that makes bees indispensable to our agriculture. Approximately one third of our diet results, either directly or indirectly, from insect pollination. Honey bees perform over 80 percent of this pollination work. Bees add an estimated $15 billion to the U.S. economy each year in increased crop yields.
For more information on honey bees or beekeeping contact the Apiculture Office:
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