Introduction

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is distinguished in beekeeping and honey production, aided by its vast area of ​​225,000,000 hectares, its climate, diversity of terrain and vegetation, with about 2,250 plant species of which about 70% were recorded in the Asir region (Collentte 1998, 1999), adapted in its distribution to a large extent on the terrain, its intensity is highly dependent on the amount and seasonality of the rains. It is also distinguished by the diversity in the terrain, there are mountain heights in which the Sarawat mountains are the most important that extend from the Kingdom's borders with the Republic of Yemen in the south to the city of Taif in the north, where the height ranges between 800 to 3000 meters above sea level, from where large valleys descend from it and head towards east and west, such as Wadi Jizan, Wadi Najran, Tathleeth Valley, Wadi Bishah, Wadi Rumah, Wadi Yanbu, Wadi Fatimah. These mountains, whose length is more than 1,000 km, are considered one of the most important beekeeping areas in the Kingdom due to the availability of mountain ranges that are very suitable for beekeeping, especially in the spring and summer seasons as a result of the rains in the winter and early spring and summer, where the annual average in Jizan ranges to 400 mm and in Khamis Mushait 207.9 mm in Namas 442.3 mm, and 368.5 mm in Baljurashi and in the eastern side of the Sarawat mountains along the Red Sea extends the coastal Tihama Plain, which is about 1,100 km long and 60 km wide where rain falls with an average of 100 mm, and therefore beekeepers go to the coastal areas with the beginning Rainfall fell in the late fall and winter to avoid the cold weather in mountainous areas and to take advantage of the annual bee pastures that spread after the rain, which are characterized by the abundance of pollen that the beekeepers exploit to strengthen the cultures that were exhausted in the honey harvest season, which is characterized by a lack of pollen grains (Abulfatih, 1984; Moustafa and Alwadi, 2010,2016).

Beekeeping and its industry are experiencing rapid growth and remarkable development throughout our dear homeland as a result of the efforts being made by individuals and related bodies such as the newly launched Ministry of Agriculture to take some measures that will contribute to the advancement of beekeeping, such as preparing a law regulating the beekeeping profession and working on preparing a strategy for advancement In the bee industry, and in recent years it has also been used by advisors from universities to contribute to the development of strategies, training and guidance. The presence of Saudi faculty members specializing in the field of bees in the universities of the Kingdom has helped in research and research projects that aim to develop the beekeeping profession and solve problems and obstacles facing breeding bees and their industry are facing those in charge of this profession, which has made a number of government and private agencies adopt support for small projects related to beekeeping and adopt the use of bees as one of the permanent sources of income for poor families as part of local development programs that take place in different regions in Saudi Arabia.

Hence, King Khalid University has taken it upon itself to submit a project to establish a bee research unit to contribute to the scientific and industrial development witnessed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the field of bee industry, and in a manner consistent with our dear homeland orientation represented in Vision 2030 by focusing on the transition to a knowledge economy, and based on these data We present a project to establish a scientific unit for bee research and honey production, through which we aim to convert research results into products and industries of value to the national economy in the field of bee science and honey production, and for these products to be a strong factor in advancing our precious country scientifically, economically and industrially, and to spread awareness of the importance of bees honey and the nutritional, therapeutic and economic value of its products.