Guwahati, Aug. 19: On World Honey Bee Day today, the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) introduced low-cost bamboo bee boxes and urged farmers to take up bee-keeping as an additional livelihood activity.

The bamboo bee box, costing around Rs 300, is cheaper than the traditional wooden bee boxes that cost Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000. The bamboo bee box has been developed by the Assam Agriculture University in Jorhat and the IIE is promoting it by encouraging villagers to take up bee-keeping.

"The bamboo boxes are suitable for bee colonies as bamboo maintains a healthy temperature inside the box, which increases the production of honey," said IIE official Sriparna B. Baruah.

In the last seven months, IIE has trained 250 beneficiaries in bee-keeping and honey processing by implementing OIL Jeevika, a corporate social responsibility project of Oil India Limited, Duliajan, in five villages in Diyun circle of Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh.

Bee-keeping is useful in pollination of crops, thereby increasing the income of farmers through increased crop yield and providing honey and other products like royal jelly, bee pollen, propolis and bees wax, among others.

Speaking at the event, IIE director Manoj Kumar Das said, "Keeping bees is a zero input business. Different kinds of bees can be reared in the region as it is a bio-diversity hotspot. The IIE is always in search of new and innovative techniques and we will put a profitable mark in honey production in the entire region."