Future prospects of insects as a biological resource in India: Potential biological products utilizing insects with reference to the frontier countries

Abstract

The semi-organized insect industry of India primarily includes apiculture, sericulture and lac culture. In the last two decades the production of raw silk, including mulberry and "vanya silk", has doubled. An increasing trend for the country has also been observed with regard to honey and beeswax production. India, moreover, stands in the frontline for lac production, but there is immense scope to expand insect-based ventures. For example, sericultural products other than silk come to mind and with regard to apiculture honey, and beeswax need not be the only bee-based commercial items. Insects other than honey bees can be used as food and feed or in the decomposition of waste; some species can be reared and even domesticated as pollinators. In this paper we discuss these unexplored sections, which could open up promising possibilities for the insect-based industry in India as well as other countries.

Honey bees and their brood: a potentially valuable resource of food, worthy of greater appreciation and scientific attention

“…The reason why honey bees were appreciated was not only related to the use of their honey as food and medicine but also beeswax, too, had its place and applications in the ancient cultures (d'Errico et al 2012). Gradually, humans developed the domestication process of the honey bee and improved and expanded the number of useful hive products beyond honey and beeswax to include bee pollen, royal jelly, propolis, and bee venom, all of which are given attention to, because of their functional properties (Ghosh et al 2021a).…”