Second International Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates 29.2.1980

The stamp shows bees with symbolic representation of a bee-hive. The first day cover illustration is an artist's impression of a bee on a flower. The first day cancellation consists of a line drawing of the bee-hive along-with the caption in Hindi & English. The stamp and the cover were issued to commemorate the Second International Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates.

Apiculture or bee-keeping is an art in the developed countries. In the developing countries its full potential is yet to be realised. The untapped potential for bee-keeping in the tropical countries, with their rich flora and favourable climate, is high. Most of the developing countries in the tropical belt have an urgent need for increasing opportunities for gainful employment and income in the rural areas. Apiculture can make an useful contribution in this respect as the research and developmental work already done suggests that it can be raise to the status of a viable economic proposition ad a source for stable occupation for the rural areas. In order to achieve a widespread impact, there is need to develop an appropriate technological package supplemented and supported by adequate service and developmental efforts. Realising the importance of apiculture for honey production as well as the crop pollination, an international conference was organised in London in 1976 by the 'World Crops' in collaboration with the International Bee Research Association. The recommendations flowing out of the first conference have intensified research and developmental activities relating to apiculture in tropical climates.

The Second International Conference at New Delhi has been organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in collaboration with the Khadi & Village Industries Commission, the Department of Science & Technology and the Indian National Science Academy. The attention in this conference will be focused on identification of the constraints responsible for the prevailing gap between the potential and actual productivity of apiculture systems in the tropics. The conference will also bend its energies in devising a master plan of action for making apiculture a source of gainful employment in the rural areas of the developing countries in the tropics.