Research in apiculture at federal level was initiated by PARC in July 1976 under a coordinated programme of “Honeybee Management” funded through PL-480 grant. After the termination of this programme, the project was transferred to the non-development budget of PARC as its core activity in 1987. A full-fledged Honeybee Research Institute was established with its own building, including laboratories, under another project funded by GTZ in 1989. The Institute was merged into the Institute of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences (INRES) in August 2002 and renamed as Honeybee Research Programme (HBRP). The Honeybee Research Programme was disassociated from INRES on November 1, 2006 and merged into Institute of Plant & Environment Protection (IPEP). Honeybee Research Programme was detached from IPEP and declared as Institute on 24^th October, 2008.

HBRI has practically promoted beekeeping with Apis mellifera in terms of colony management, queen breeding, honey extraction techniques, reduction in post-harvest losses, nutrition, pests and diseases and pollination of entomophiles crops, improving skills of beekeepers, wax recycling for wax foundation sheets through training to agricultural extension staff, beekeepers, universities, research institutes and technical training institutes.