The protective gear developed for honey hunters

Nagpur, Aug. 10: That isn’t a Nasa astronaut, honey.

But the “spacesuit” is a real honey — it helps you get up, close and personal with the queen bee and no matter how hard they sting, it doesn’t hurt.

The protective gear is the innovation of Nageshwara Charitable Trust (NCT), a Nagpur-based NGO that runs a honey-collection project in the tribal districts of Vidarbha and markets the honey in a venture that has changed the way honey hunters have been going about their job.

The project, supported by Maharashtra’s tribal development department, agricultural development bank Nabard and German-funding agency KfW, has tripled collection and has been bringing in some extra cash for tribals in several villages of Nagpur and Vidarbha, where crop failure has led to over 2,000 farmer suicides.

An NCT survey had shown that traditional honey hunters worked without any protective gear and climbed trees with just a bucket tied to a rope. They would then light a fire under the hive to drive away the bees before breaking the hive.

“Not only do hunters risk their lives, they also destroy the entire beehive. The fire lit below the hive also kills the queen bee sometimes. Bees take up to four months to rebuild a hive. The honeycomb is also clumsily handled, and sometimes falls during collection,” says NCT secretary Bhachandra Murthy.

“We devised a method where the hunters would be protected, the beehive would not be destroyed and hygiene would be maintained during collection.”

The spacesuit-like kit is made of double layers of cotton and has a wire-mesh helmet. The kit includes knives to cut the beehive, gloves, ropes, a ladder, buckets and a sieve.

The new model consists of four hunters, two to remove the honeycomb and two for providing assistance from below.

The hunters first use a thin rope to fix a place closest to the hive and then take a thicker rope and other equipment up the tree. They then wear the protective gear and, in a swift operation lasting three to five minutes, cut the honeycomb, located in the upper portion of the hive. The comb is put in the bucket and transported down the tree.

“This way the bees are unharmed and the beehive is intact. Bees rebuild the cut portion of the honeycomb within 25 to 30 days. This allows the hunters to collect honey three times on an average during a season from a single beehive,” Murthy says.

One season covers the winter months of November, December and January and the other lasts from March to May.

“The honeycomb, which can hold up to 5-7kg of honey, has to be cut into halves properly for the honey to ooze out. Using a sieve, the honey is collected and processed at our unit in Nagpur. We ensure that the pollen grains in the honey are intact during the filtration process, keeping the honey yellow and brown in colour,” Murthy says.

Honey manufacturers often separate the pollen grains from the honey and market them to cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies, making the honey almost transparent.

After processing and testing the honey in labs, the honey is packed and marketed under the brand name Vanamrut (Forest Nectar). The honey is sold at Rs 115 a kg and the gatherers are paid Rs 65 a kg.

“Honey hunters used to be exploited by local traders and moneylenders who paid them between Rs 30 and Rs 40 a kg. We pay them an assured price of Rs 65 and the money is given on the spot in cash,” Murthy says.

A self-help group of 21 honey hunters from Sarabzari village in Yavatmal recently earned about Rs 1.10 lakh during a season.