Beekeeping creates a buzz in Hyderabad

Many beekeepers attribute this rise to the increasing demand for fresh honey

Hyderabad: For generations, tribal communities have braved the challenges and dangers of the wild and collected honey from hives deep in the forests. Traditionally, in Telangana, the Kolam community is largely known for collecting honey from forests during summer and winter. The erstwhile Adilabad district, in fact, is known across the State for its organic honey.

However, over the last few years, the beekeeping business and honey hunting in areas around Hyderabad is seeing a surge. The number of beekeepers, beekeeping companies and honey societies in the city has increased. The organisations that conduct workshops, help people understand the importance of bees, train them on beekeeping and provide them with bee boxes are also increasing in number.

Ravindra Kumar Pydi, Director of Api Culture Technology Centre, said bee farming or apiculture has increased in the last few years and the surge can be attributed to the more urban population including techies showing an inclination towards the agriculture sector. Traditional honey hunters say there was a lot of buzz about bees going extinct and this could be the reason behind the surge in beekeeping activities.

Lakshmi Katabathina, a beekeeper by profession from the city said though there’s a significant increase in beekeeping, we need more people to take up this line of work considering the surge in demand for raw honey.

“There is a vast potential for beekeeping in our country. However, due to lack of knowledge, scientific beekeeping is not being practised largely by the beekeepers,” she added.

Lakshmi is certified in beekeeping from the Ministry of Rural Development. She visits her bee farm ‘The Beekeepers Farm’ in Suraram of Qutbullapur suburb regularly to check the health of the bees. She found her passion for bees from her early years.

“I want to create more awareness over beekeeping by teaching bee harvesting techniques to youngsters. There are many subsidies allowed by the government in beekeeping which makes it easier for anyone to start beekeeping on their own,” Lakshmi said, whose father implemented the traditional way of honey bee pollination to increase crop yield every year. She has European bees on her farm which require 4-7 migrations in a year.

Indira Reddy is a school teacher and an NGO coordinator. But her passion led her to take up beekeeping. Now she has 60 beehive boxes in Vikarabad and Nalgonda and 5 boxes in LB Nagar. “The beekeeping business has definitely increased in the city. It is partly due to awareness of the importance of pollination to increase the yield and other aspects. Even educated individuals are taking up beekeeping as self-employment,” she said.

Beekeeping has a lot of financial potential since it helps produce a wide range of bee products including honey, wax, jelly, and pollen that are in huge demand in the market.

Srinivas, a honey hunter, from Mall village of Yacharam Mandal believes the bee population has increased during the Covid-19 lockdown because there was less human activity. Pointing out the need for government intervention, he said farmers have to be educated more on organic cultivation. “This will help the apiculture field immensely and increase the bee population as well,” he said.

In Telangana, districts such as Vikarabad, Adilabad and Nalgonda have major bee populations. There is a good enough bee population in the city as well.

In recent times, the demand for raw honey surged since the environment watchdog Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said honey sold by some major brands in India was adulterated with sugar syrup.

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