A young entrepreneur of Dhalavaipuram near Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu has made bee-keeping a joyful hobby and a means of livelihood. He has taken apiculture to the drawing rooms of homes and offices. The beehive designed by him with wood and glass can be kept inside a home or an office and children, even adults, can watch with amazement the process of honey collection and storage. Bees enter and exit the hive through a passage provided outside.
The glass beehive is part of the efforts of C. Jeyakumar, who owns Shamee Bee Farm, to provide quality honey to consumers. What was started as a hobby in his eighth standard has now become a full-time vocation. His traditional bee boxes are now found in many parts of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
The boxes, made of wood, are placed in farms on specific months for nectar collection as Mr. Jeyakumar specialises in extracting flower-wise honey for sale. It is the nectar from leucas aspera (thumbai flower) in January; moringa oleifera (drumstick) and rubber in February-March and Jamun in June in the southern States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In the northern States, nectar is collected in sesame, mustard, orange, saffron and red date farms.
“The summer yield in Kashmir, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh is high, compared to the yield in Kodaikanal or Udhagamandalam of Tamil Nadu,” he says. There is also a unique ‘white honey’ from Kashmir.
Wooden boxes with Italian and Indian bees are placed in farms for fortnightly collection of nectar. The collected nectar is brought to the processing unit at Dhalavaipuram, where it is filtered and packed in attractive containers as honey. With the knowledge and training gained from the Central Bee Research and Training Institute, Pune, Mr. Jeyakumar also provides training to farmers in apiculture.
Though the yield is good, he is concerned about the impact of pesticides and mobile phone towers on the lifecycle of bees. “They adversely impact pollination, which is essential to sustain life,” he says.
Each box yields nectar weighing 10 to 15 kg. Besides keeping bee boxes in his own farms, Mr. Jeyakumar also encourages farmers to maintain apiaries to improve their yield. Glass beehives cater to those interested in apiculture as a hobby. He produces 10 tonnes of honey a year from his own farms and 140 tonnes from other farms. Four retail outlets in Tamil Nadu sell nine varieties of honey, pollen grains, bee wax and bee-keeping equipment. He plans to open more showrooms across the country, and also export honey and other bee products.
More details can be had from Shamee Bee Farm, 3/223 B. Nakkanari, Dhalavaipuram 626188. E-mail: naturalbeefarm@yahoo.com. Website: naturalhoneyfarm.com. Phone: 04563 244149, 94433 02674.
