Come winter, Kashmir beekeepers, with all apiary, move to Rajasthan

Erratic climate changes in Kashmir are affecting organic honey production, which has been thriving in the region in the past few years. The sudden rain, warmer winters and unpredictable storms lead to bee mortalities and hamper production in the 70,000 bee colonies that have cropped up all over the region.

This is one of the reasons many beekeepers take their precious colonies of bees and move to warmer climes like Jammu, Punjab and even further south to Rajasthan during winter months. It is an annual pilgrimage the beekeepers of Kashmir undertake to ensure they keep producing honey and generate big bucks.

Beekeepers traditionally move outside Jammu and Kashmir, especially to Rajasthan and Punjab, in December every year and return in March-April to Jammu before moving to Kashmir in the last week of April.

Ishfaq Ahmad Mir heads to Jammu armed with bee boxes in November to escape the harsh cold weather in Kashmir.  “We bring beehives to Jammu in November and remain here till mid-April. It is an arduous journey but filled with joy to be with honeybees…,” he says, according to an article in TRT World on the busy beekeepers of Kashmir.

Similarly, another beekeeper, Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, who hails from Kupwara, and has 100 apiaries, moves to Jammu to get his third harvest for the year.

“I get two harvests in Kashmir and another in Jammu. Though at times due to climate changes bee mortalities lead to losses,” he says, adding that most of the times, he generates good profit. According to Sheikh, Kashmir nectar has become popular because it comes from the organic flora in the vast forests, reported TRT World.

Also read: Kerala fishermen bear the brunt of climate change

With every passing day, the demand for our pure honey goes up, he says, according to an article in Hindustan Times.

As more and more young people in Kashmir have jumped into the business to establish beekeeping units, wholesalers are buying locally rather than getting it from other states. Moreover, demand for quality honey from Kashmir is also growing in leaps and bounds.

Over the last few years, Kashmir has become a major player in honey, with the UT yielding 7,206 quintals of pure honey with Anantnag district alone producing 2015.06 quintals followed by Srinagar (1415 quintals).

In fact, Kashmir’s agriculture department has designed and drafted Detailed Project Reports for promotion of high altitude honey in J&K under ‘Honey Mission’.  The government’s target is to create seven lakh colonies, even as they working to get a GI tag for Kashmir honey.

Many beekeepers like Abid Hussain, who take their bees to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan during the winter, make as much as ₹9,000 rupees during that time, says an AFP article. He transports tens of millions of bees to feast on the sprawling mustard farms in Sri Ganganagar, known as the food basket of Rajasthan.

Hussain travels 750 km with his bees so that he will be able to get four harvests instead of just two if he had stayed back in Kashmir. According to scientists, the region can produce more money but the freak storms and unpredictable changes in weather like more heat have hit production in recent years, added the AFP article.

In Jammu, Bhaderwah has turned into a hot spot for honey production as businesses here have been operating here for the past two to three decades. This is largely due to the flowering plants that are available in the region, including in areas like Sarthal and Bhalla. Scientists in the region believe that bee colonies usually prefer crops like mustard, toria, citrus, maize and eucalyptus.