When Basu Dev Bhatta of Chaudali invested in beekeeping 13 years ago, many villagers mocked his efforts and passed discouraging comments that farming insects would never yield any financial reward for him. Today Bhatta is seen as a pioneer apiculturist by the same villagers who derided him in the past.

 

Although he had started with only 11 hives, his bee farm has grown to around hundred hives today.

"When I was running a hotel, I struggled to make the ends meet," said Bhatta, recounting his old days. "I could not go to school because of poverty. Still with the income from the beekeeping business, I have managed to build a home and buy a few acres of land," he added.

 

Bhatta is of the view that the profession was a feasible choice even for the families with poor financial situation. "You can start on a tiny patch of land with small investment," he said.

 

Bhatta's journey from a struggling hotelier to a successful apiarist has spawned a beekeeping revolution of sorts in the village. Not only the number of villagers taking up the profession rising significantly, the villagers have even set up a co-operative under Bhatta's leadership in order to back up the expansion of the beekeeping business.

 

The cooperative, too, seems to be doing well. As of now, 75 individuals associated with the Uragaun Agricultural Co-operative have ventured into the business.

 

It hardly surprises anyone when they hear the village, Pallo Chaudali, being referred as "beekeeping village."

 

Every household has at least one bee hive, with many farmers choosing beekeeping over growing crops. Some villagers who ran out of their income from a season's harvest in three months said selling honey proved to be a more sustainable income source.

 

For instance, Bhatta himself managed to build a home in Mahendranagar and purchase a plot of land in Kanchanpur.

 

The beekeeping also helped him provide his children with good education in Kathmandu. "Had I continued to run the hotel, my economic condition would have never improved" he said.

 

Mahadev Luhar, previously a daily wage earner, shared similar story.

 

"As a laborer, I had to be content with a meager income. But bee farming has helped bring a turnaround in my situation--life has become easier and my children go to a good school," said Luhar. "The good thing is that I started beekeeping with a very small investment."

 

Luhar informed that this year itself he sold 1.5 ton of honey, bringing in an income of Rs 90,000.

 

Beekeeping business still offers room for growth as the supply of honey has not been able to keep pace with the demand.

 

"In the past, we constantly fretted over our poor financial situation. But now steady flow of customers to our homes to buy honey has rid us of that anxiety," said a local Durga Bhatta.

 

The success of beekeeping in the district is often attributed to the abundant vegetation that supports a thriving bee population.

 

Even though demands for honey come from places as far as the Tarai districts and Kathmandu, the production falls way behind the demand.

 

The demand for Chiuri honey is high in the period between September and December.

 

Shunning traditional crop farming, farmers in Shreekot, Deulek, Thalakada, Sivling, Gokuleshwor, Rudreshwor, Mahakali, Mathaiiraj, Sitard, Sharmali and Dungard areas of Dashrathchand Municipality have all turned to beekeeping.

 

Many farmers in beekeeping business have also started to experiment with new ways of raising bees.

 

But like any other business, beekeepers also deal with numerous problems. Bees get infected with diseases frequently causing losses to the farmers.

 

"Just last year, a still unidentified disease wiped out about 143 colonies of bees," said Bhatta.