March 2026
As beekeeping in Nepal shifts from a subsistence practice to a livelihood enterprise, improving queen quality has emerged as a key factor for stronger colonies and better productivity. The Beekeeping Development Center in Chitwan is supporting this transition through scientific queen rearing, controlled breeding, and hands-on training, helping beekeepers build more stable and sustainable livelihoods.
Beekeeping has increasingly become an important livelihood activity in Nepal, contributing to household income, crop pollination, and ecological sustainability. Over the years, the sector has gradually evolved from small-scale subsistence practice into a promising agro-enterprise. Yet, many beekeepers continue to face challenges such as declining colony strength, inconsistent honey production, and limited access to quality bee genetics and technical knowledge. These constraints often reduce profitability and discourage long-term investment in beekeeping, especially among small and medium-scale farmers.
The Beekeeping Development Center (BDC) in Bhandara, Chitwan, a governmental organization under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development of Bagamati Province, has played an important role in strengthening Nepal’s beekeeping sector through technical support, capacity building, and genetic improvement programs.
Quality queen bee production
As beekeeping expanded, it became clear that the strength and productivity of colonies depended heavily on the quality of the queen. Poor queens often resulted in weak brood development, unstable colonies, and reduced honey yields, directly affecting beekeeper income. Many beekeepers lacked access to quality queens and were unable to maintain strong colonies over time. Recognizing this challenge, the BDC began promoting scientific queen rearing through the larval grafting technique, which allows the selection and multiplication of desirable traits such as colony strength, productivity, and adaptability to local environmental conditions.
High-performing colonies from different regions of Nepal are selected and maintained as mother and drone colonies at the Centre to ensure genetic quality. Grafting activities are generally carried out during the main season from March to May by trained technical staff. Through this approach, beekeepers have gradually become aware of the importance of queen quality as the foundation of sustainable beekeeping. The program has contributed to improved colony strength, enhanced honey productivity, and reduced colony losses. At present, the BDC, together with trained beekeepers who have completed advanced training in queen production, produces around 1,500 grafted queens annually for distribution among beekeepers in Bagamati Province, strengthening local beekeeping systems.
While larval grafting helped improve queen availability, the need for controlled breeding and long-term genetic improvement remained. Since the introduction of exotic honeybees in Nepal in 1994, formal genetic improvement programs had not been widely implemented. In response to growing interest among beekeepers and stakeholders, the BDC introduced instrumental insemination (I.I.) in Apis mellifera as part of its efforts to improve genetic quality through controlled breeding. A one-week training program was organized for BDC staff and professional beekeepers, facilitated by a bee expert from the University of Florida (USA), with support from the Center for Industrial Entomology, Department of Agriculture, Hariharbhawan, Lalitpur. Since 2023, the Centre has been implementing this program using selected mother and drone colonies collected from different parts of Nepal. By 2025, five instrumentally inseminated queens had been successfully produced. Although still in its early phase, the initiative represents an important step toward strengthening locally adapted bee populations and improving long-term colony performance. The program is supported by a dedicated laboratory and trained technical personnel, laying the foundation for future genetic improvement efforts.
| Box 1: Diversifying beekeeping livelihoods through queen rearing: A case from Chitwan Growing up in a farming household in Chitwan district, Mr. Aabiskar Bhandari developed an early fascination with bees while observing traditional beekeeping practices in his community. What began as curiosity during his youth gradually turned into a long-term livelihood choice. Over the years, through experience and continuous learning, beekeeping evolved from a small activity into his primary profession. Today, after more than a decade in the sector, he manages over 250 colonies of Apis mellifera. Honey production forms the foundation of his livelihood. Floral sources such as rapeseed (Brassica spp.) and butter tree (Diploknema butyracea) provide reliable nectar flows, allowing for multiple harvests each year. Depending on seasonal conditions, he harvests honey five to seven times annually and currently produces around seven metric tons of honey. This generates an annual income of about NPR 2.0 million, making beekeeping his main source of livelihood. While local markets remain important, he also sells honey through agricultural and honey fairs organized in different parts of Nepal and supplies larger urban markets such as Kathmandu and Pokhara. A significant turning point in his enterprise came when he participated in training on larval grafting technology at the Beekeeping Development Center (BDC), Chitwan. The training helped him understand the critical role of queen quality in colony performance and introduced him to scientific queen-rearing techniques. Building on this knowledge, he gradually expanded his activities beyond honey production and ventured into queen rearing as an additional enterprise. During the main season from March to May, he and his team produce quality queens using the larval grafting technique, repeating grafting cycles depending on demand from beekeepers. At present, Mr. Bhandari produces around 550 grafted queen cells annually. These queens are supplied to beekeepers across Nepal at approximately NPR 1,000 per queen, generating an additional income of around NPR 0.5 million each year. Diversifying into queen production has strengthened his enterprise by reducing dependence on honey production alone while supporting the wider beekeeping sector with improved queen availability. Beyond his own enterprise, Mr. Bhandari plays an active role in supporting other beekeepers. He regularly shares his experience and conducts training programs for local and district-level farmers. At the request of local governments and beekeeping-related organizations, he also facilitates farmer-level training sessions, helping others adopt improved practices. Reflecting on his journey, he expresses satisfaction with the progress achieved so far and remains motivated to further expand his activities in the future. His experience illustrates how access to technical skills, training, and institutional support can enable beekeepers to diversify livelihoods, strengthen local production systems, and build resilient enterprises rooted in learning and collaboration. |
Skill Building
The Centre also recognizes that technology adoption largely depends on beekeeper skills. For this reason, a 21-day advanced training program on quality queen production has been introduced. Participation is targeted at professional beekeepers who have completed basic beekeeping training. They maintain at least 100 Apis mellifera colonies, are actively engaged in beekeeping, and are below 45 years of age. The training combines theoretical understanding with intensive hands-on practice, enabling participants to gain confidence in grafting techniques, colony management, and queen handling.
Since a honeybee queen emerges within about 16 days from egg laying, the training duration allows participants to observe and manage the entire process. Trainees perform larval grafting themselves, place grafted larvae into nursery colonies, transfer developed queen cells into nucleus or mating hives, and directly observe the emergence of queens. This practical exposure helps participants fully understand the biological process while developing the technical skills required for quality queen production. Upon completion of the training, many participants are able to produce quality queens independently (See Box 1). Some gradually move beyond honey production and begin supplying queens to other beekeepers, creating additional income opportunities and strengthening local queen availability.
Training programs conducted by the BDC, sometimes in coordination with the Agriculture Training Center following Nepal’s federal restructuring, have shown encouraging outcomes. In 2020, twenty participants attended the training, with six adopting larval grafting techniques afterward. In 2022, eighteen participants were trained, and eight adopted the practice. In 2024, another eighteen participants were trained in coordination with the Agriculture Training Center, Bagamati Province, and six adopted larval grafting methods. These results demonstrate gradual but steady adoption among professional beekeepers and highlight the importance of continued technical support.
Conclusion
The experience of the Beekeeping Development Center illustrates how improving one critical element of the colony—the queen—can significantly influence productivity and livelihood outcomes. Stronger queens lead to stronger colonies, improved honey production, and reduced losses, helping beekeepers build more stable enterprises. At the same time, training and exposure to scientific techniques are enabling beekeepers to move beyond traditional honey production toward specialized activities such as queen production and breeding.
As Nepal’s beekeeping sector continues to evolve, initiatives that combine genetic improvement, practical training, and institutional support will become increasingly important. The work carried out by the BDC demonstrates that strengthening livelihoods in beekeeping is not achieved through technology alone, but through continuous learning, skill development, and collaboration between institutions and beekeepers. By focusing on quality queen production and controlled breeding, the initiative is helping create stronger colonies, more resilient enterprises, and improved livelihood opportunities for beekeeping communities across Nepal.
References
ADC, (2024). Annual progress report, Apiculture Development Center, Godawari, Nepal. BDC, (2025). Annual progress report, Beekeeping Development Center, Chitwan, Nepal. FNBK, (2023). Report on Beekeeping in Nepal. Federation of Nepal Beekeepers, Chitwan, Nepal. MoAD, (2017). Nepal Good Beekeeping Practices Implementation Guidelines, 2017. Government of Nepal, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Singhdarbar, Kathmandu, Nepal. ISBN: 978-9937-0-3553-8. Shrestha, T.K. (2023). Basic Learning for Beekeeping, ISBN 978-9937-1-1503-2. Sigma general offset press, Lalitpur.
Sujan Amgai Beekeeping Development Center, Bhandara, Chitwan, Bagamati Province, Nepal Email: sujanamagai@gmail.com
