With the ongoing environmental crisis, there is a high possibility of some high-beneficiary beings going extinct. Undoubtedly, the tentatively increasing modern-era courses of action are explicitly, or implicitly worsening the environment. However, modern methods are not only to provide for the vanishing of floras and faunas but also for the age-old traditions and culture of one community or county. Needless to say, within a few decades – many cultural values will diminish and eventually will be gone.
In 2015, a fun trip to the hometown of Lamjung took form into an ambitious project to save the bees and uplift the honey hunters involved in the bee hunting. After the trip, we immediately strived for further research on this honey and proposed a plan.
Therefore, our company is moving forward with a few initiatives to save the bees and the old tradition of the ethnic group of Nepal – Honey hunting.
Saving the Honeybees
Bees are vital organisms for the environment – many medical sources claim that – “ Without bees, there will be no human beings.” The bees help plants to reproduce significantly. When bees suck the nectar out of the flowers, they pollinate the plants – thus the inbreeding. Also, the bees play a vital part in the pollination for maintaining the Himalayan ecosystem.The Himalayan giant honeybees – Apis Dorsata Laboriosa collects mad honey from the nectar of rhododendron flowers. They are found only in a few countries, and Nepal is one of them. As the giant honey bee is the most enormous all over the world, its unique feature makes the mad honey exotic and one of a kind.
According to research on honeybees, “ The honey bees live only up to 40 days, visit about a thousand flowers, and produce only less than a teaspoon.”
Thus, we are now coming up with a campaign solely for the advocacy of preserving the bees. To avoid extinction, we reached out to international scientists to research properly on the Himalayan Giant honeybees. And we are soon to begin the campaign full-fledged.
Sustainable Mad Honey Hunting
During the honey hunting, the honey hunters use no alternatives or mix other methods with the actual technique. Even when they have to distract the bees, they smoulder green grasses to produce smoke and do not use any fatal techniques to risk the lives of the honeybees.
Since the bees keep migrating in monsoon seasons between highlands and lowlands – thus the bees frequently use new hives. Also, the honey hunters do not interfere with this natural process and let the honeybees make their hives to their liking. Although using modern technology might make the process of honey hunting convenient, we seldom encourage or suggest using any such devices to maintain the legacy and purity of the honey hunting art. Hence, we comply with the traditional honey hunting rules.
Helping the Honey Hunters
Currently, we are working with 80+ communities and more than 2100 honey hunters across lamjung, gorkha, jajarkot, rukum, solukhumbu, rolpa, darchula and dolakha for eight years now. We work in coordination with the traditional honey hunters to preserve their sustainable harvesting techniques.Each jar you purchase from us has the hardship of the communities and obviously the bees. Since a single bee collects seven gms of honey in its lifetime, it takes about 36 bees to gather 250 grams of mad honey in a small jar.
Sponsoring Education for the Children
Throughout their childhood and adulthood, the brave honey hunters gave their life to the art of collecting honey. When they would embark on the honey hunting process twice every year, there was always underlying insecurity of not coming home stable or coming home injured. For the honey hunters, the village and periphery around it have only been of utmost importance. Therefore, all the children don’t have the privilege to go to school, and those who have the opportunity – do not get a proper education. Hence, we came up with a concept to illuminate knowledge to the kids of honey hunters. Through a fund, we have initiated to sponsor a project to educate children. Every 100 jars of sales cover the yearly sponsorship of one of the honey hunter’s kid for education. Not only school education but basic requirements like clothing and stationery essentials every year. Till now, we have sponsored three kids as such.
Economical Upliftment of the Honey Hunters
By sharing half of the profit we gain from the sales, we provide financing to the families of honey hunters. Hence, there is upliftment in economical status and social values. Since the youngsters of the communities are half-hearted about joining the tribe of honey hunting, we try our best to educate them about the profitable visions and possibilities of honey hunting. Presently, some young lads show immense interest in the tradition that is running down from their forefathers due to the heavy amount of income and potentially bright future.
Eco-friendly Management, Packaging & Delivery
We have compassionate gratitude towards the environment for it contains and protects us. Therefore we care about the environment by letting us confide in it perpetually and persistently.
Our packaging method is environmentally friendly.
While packaging, we make sure to practise using Nepalese paper packaging boxes made up of loktha paper from the local vendors. We believe in using minimal plastic to ensure sustainable practices.
Our delivery method is smooth and user-friendly.
We provide direct home delivery and there are no hindrances in the delivery process to provide you with supreme convenience.
People, Planet, and Plants Before Profit
More than a profit, we are a social-enterprise company – we consider the welfare of our people, our planet and plants before any profit. We consider people from the community(honey hunters) we work with and the people we work for i.e. the consumers. By using sustainable practices, we try to save the planet and resultantly the plants. Throughout the process from preparing for the honey hunting to delivering it, we make sure we abide by the respect for the people, planet, and plants involved in our little venture to introduce Nepalese local products into the global market.
