Back to news
25 May 2016 | Himalica

Farmers Learn Beekeeping in Pilot Villages in Bhutan and Nepal

1 min Read

70% Complete

More than one-third of households have two to ten colonies of bees in traditional fixed-comb log-comb, wall-comb, or pitcher hives in the Himalica pilot villages of Barshong geog of Bhutan, Rauta VDC of Udayapur in Nepal, and HICAP pilot villages in Kavre district of Nepal. Farmers catch bee swarms from the wild during the bees’ spring reproduction season.  There are plenty of bee forage resources near the villages for bees to survive and produce honey — citrus, guava, papaya, pear, peach, maize, buckwheat, mustard, cucurbits, Budleia asiatica, Jujube, Engelhardtia spicata (bandre), wild Osmanthus (Eurya accuminata), and Melastoma spp, etc. Farmers harvest honey three or more times per year with an 8-10 kg average per year of honey production per colony. Honey is harvested traditionally by squeezing the combs.

The potential to develop beekeeping and bee-based enterprises as a source of income diversification for farmers and youth in these villages is great. Linking beekeeping with citrus, cardamom, and vegetable farming is another business opportunity as these crops are planted by village farmers and offer pollen and nectar for honeybees and bees, who in turn, pollinate crops enhancing their production and quality. To date, there have been no efforts in beekeeping development in these villages. No farmers are keeping bees in modern movable frame hives in Barshong and Kavre, however, a few farmers in Rauta VDC in Udayapur tried modern hives but failed due to the lack of training. 

To harness this potential, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) conducted a week long ‘Farmers Training in Beekeeping: Improving Rural Livelihoods through Better Management of the Indigenous Honeybee Apis cerana in Bhutan and Nepal’ 10-16 May 2016 at ICIMOD Knowledge Park in Godavari. 

The objective was to support development of community-based beekeeping enterprises as a livelihood diversification option for rural communities in pilot sites in Nepal and Bhutan. Training included strengthening farmers’ bee management skills and knowledge using improved beehives and beekeeping equipment, and the harvesting, processing and value addition of honey and beeswax.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related content

Continue exploring this topic

17 Nov 2015 News
Soil Study in Mustang

  Up to 18 thousand gross tonnes of carbon are stored in worldwide soils, almost double the amount stored in all ...

11 Dec 2015 Water
Springshed Management in the Himalayas

ICIMOD in association with The Mountain Institute, India and Rural Management and Development Department (Dhara Vikas Programme) Govt. of Sikkim ...

18 Jul 2019 News
Combining top–down and bottom–up: Designing a watershed management plan for Dhankuta Municipality

In the first consultation meeting with the vice mayor, there was a consensus that the conservation of water sources is ...

25 May 2015 News
Grave situation in Sindhuli as recovery begins

On 19 and 20 May, a team from ICIMOD visited four northern VDCs of Sindhuli District - Baseshwor, Bhimeshwor, Jalkanya, ...

29 Mar 2016 Gender in Koshi
Mainstreaming Gender and Livelihoods into Water Management

Linking livelihoods and gender issues in the Koshi river basin can improve water resource management, was the key message of ...

Bhutan’s first training on Google Earth Engine

The Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform is increasingly finding acceptance across academic, business, non-profit, and government users for scientific analysis ...

10 Aug 2015 News
Learning to use SERVIR tools and MODIS products

The SERVIR-Himalaya Initiative of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) organized a five-day training on SERVIR science applications ...

24 Sep 2015 News
Landslide early warning system for Chittagong Metropolitan area, Bangladesh

Every year, the rainy season in the Chittagong Metropolitan Area (CMA), Bangladesh brings news of human causalities and property damage ...