Harnessing the golden drops
MANIPUR : The rolling hills of verdant green are abuzz with growing sway of bee culture; here in the Naga-dominated Ukhrul district, nestled in the heart of the hills, hundreds and thousands of bees move in and out of their nests, owing to relentless efforts of a class-10 pass.
Anem Vashi has earned the moniker of the ‘Beeman of Ukhrul’, inspiring local village youth to take up apiculture as means of sustainable livelihood. In some 10 years, he has trained over 1,000 youths across villages in the remote hill district, many of whom now eke out a living by raising and managing honeybee colonies.
Anem, now 51, is a native of Teinem village around 20 km from Ukhrul town; he has made it his mission to encouraging local youngsters to fully utilise what they have been endowed with instead of flocking to the cities in search of jobs. Noting his expertise and success as a beekeeper, government departments utilise his services to train villagers to take up beekeeping as a living.
In promoting apiculture, Anem is also committed to conserving the environment. Now, Jhum cultivation, creating agriculture lands by burning down jungles, is a common practice in the Naga hills; an act detrimental for the environment, and bees in particular as it wipes out the plants and vegetations on which bees thrive. With advent of bee culture, villagers here ensure their surroundings remain green to benefit honey trade, thus furthering the enterprise of sustainable farming.
Some 25 years ago, Anem had left for Rajasthan in search of greener pastures. He took up a job with an NGO that worked towards livelihood generation for slum dwellers. However, he returned home in 2013 with his wife and two children. Soon after, financial difficulties set in.
As a child, he had seen his father keep honeybees. Dire times brought him to follow his father’s footsteps. During a road trip to Imphal, he met a distant relative Yarteo, who had made a living out of beekeeping. For hours, the two discussed the ins and outs of the trade. Anem returned home two days later, determined to make a future in apiculture.
“I collected some timber pieces meant for disposal and fashioned them into a bee box. Honeybees soon made it their home. The first harvest—just one bottle of honey. My father-in-law bought it at Rs 500,” Anem fondly recalls.
More and more bee boxes came up as time passed. He would frequently talk to his mentor, Yarteo, but the latter died a year later. Anem says he had acquired much knowledge, first from Yarteo and then, the internet. His wife Sorei, who now teaches at a private school, has been his constant partner in beekeeping. She is a trainer too.
“We work together. We made a commitment that we will keep our honey pure and organic, and we will sell it at an affordable price. My father-in-law put out the good word for our produce. Money in hand, many would wait to buy our honey every time we harvested. As months and years rolled by, number of customers and bee enclosures kept increasing. One of my cousins makes the bee boxes for me. There are around 50 of them now. Sometimes, people look buy to buy an entire bee box when they look to take up apiculture,” says Anem.
So, how does he attract the honeybees? “The best way is to use traditional boxes made of wood. Bees do not like strong scents; with them around, bees wouldn’t nest in the boxes. I would put some honey wax in the boxes but make sure there is not much sugar content as that will bring the insects and ants too. The bees will feel it is a safe place when they smell honey wax,” Anem explains.
He runs a farmer producer organisation (FPO) by the name of ‘Ukhrul Honey Fed Company’ launched in 2021. Over 100 beekeepers are its stakeholders. The honey form the FPO comes in glass bottles purchased from Gujarat. The price of one kg honey is `1,200. They get their honey from Apis Cerena Indica and Trigona, a stingless bee species. Anem says these bees do not produce much honey but it is of high quality and has medicinal values.
The other day, the forest department invited him and his wife to train 45 villagers. It paid the couple a remuneration of `6,000. Anem, however, does not charge anything when he trains villagers across Ukhrul out of his own volition or at their request. He says he has trained not less than 1,000 villagers in more than 15 villages dotting the Manipur highlands for free and a large majority of them now earn a descent livelihood through beekeeping.
“I often get phone calls from strangers who have seen my videos and reels on social media. They reach out to me either to buy my honey or to gain knowledge in beekeeping. The youth of Ukhrul tend to go to cities to look for jobs. I tell them they can earn more by staying here; not just in terms of money. We own this land. We can make good use of it. Take what is given to you; take up beekeeping as profession. It is a sustainable business that has kept me and my family going. My dream is to involve as many people as possible in this trade,” says Anem, whose name means humble in the Tangkhul Naga language.
He also has dreams to start a bee park where people can come and watch demonstrations on how to nurture honeybees using both traditional and scientific methods.
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