Statistics on honey production to be maintained in Jumla

Jumla. Skill-based training along with necessary materials have been distributed to beekeepers of Kanakasundari Rural Municipality-1 of the district. Ten beekeepers have been provided with five-day training along with necessary materials, informed Ward Chairman of Kanakasundari-1 Bhim Bahadur Bhandari.

He said, “The training was provided to farmers who earn their livelihood from beekeeping from the ward’s budget of one lakh. These villages are ahead of the local level villages here in honey production.” The ward will be declared a bee pocket area. According to Ward Chairman Bhandari, there are currently 504 beehives in the ward.

Narayan Chaulagain, District Secretary of Karnali Beekeeping Cooperative Society Limited, informed that the training participants were taught about the opportunities, challenges, processing, labeling and packaging of quality honey production.

## Professional skill-based training is essential to become self-reliant, said Kanakasundari Rural Municipality-1 beekeeper farmer Chandra Bahadur Bhandari. The ‘Serana’ breed of bees is kept in the district. Farmers from all eight local levels here have recently started getting attracted to beekeeping.

According to the Karnali Beekeeping Cooperative, there are more than eight thousand beehives in the district. It has not been possible to keep statistics on honey production in the district. The Karnali Beekeeping Cooperative Society has stated that accurate data on honey produced from all local levels here will be collected in the coming fiscal year.

Ramkrishna Budhthapa of Kholikot, Chandannath Municipality-2 here has been active in beekeeping since 2052 BS. Budhthapa, who started the business with two hives, now has 150 beehives. He said that in recent years, he has not been able to protect the bees from diseases, insects and wild animals.

In the district, bees often die due to cold in winter. In recent years, the number of bee hives has been decreasing after pollinators (the season when bees make honey) started dying from June to August. Although it is possible to earn more income with less investment, beekeepers are facing challenges due to lack of timely hives, lack of equipment, lack of skills and technology, use of pesticides, lack of grazing areas, deforestation, and climate change, according to beekeeper Budthapa.