Profit flows as honey from water lily gains popularity

Many residents around Lal Shapla Beel in Barishal are now moving towards honey cultivation from water lily as it has proved to be a profitable venture for small-scale entrepreneurs in the area.

During a visit to Durgapur village of Satla union under the Wazirpur upazila of the district, The Business Post found that most houses had built wooden or tin brood boxes to house honey bees.

Abdul Halim, owner of a bee breeding farm in the Satla-Bagda area of Wazirpur upazila in Barishal, has turned his fortune by bee keeping after starting the venture in 2000.

“After understanding the bee breeding process, I opted for modern methods of bee farming and installed a brood box adjacent to the Lal Shapla Beel in my area. As I was able to secure a good profit over the years, I took a lease of some 20 decimal of land and established my farm,” said Halim.

He said that he has 32 of these boxes at his farm and collects 10 to 12 kilogrammes of honey each week. These boxes act as beehives where honey is collected, and once full, farmers collect the organic sweetener for sale. Besides, they can earn some extra money by breeding queen bees for other farmers.

“The honey sells for Tk 3,000 to Tk 3,500,” he added.

As this initiative proved to be profitable and less laborious and requires less capital, honey farming has expanded commercially from house to house in the area for the past decade, local bee collectors said.

Another such farmer, Sekandar Miah, told The Business Post that their natural reservoir of Shapla (water lily) had been proved to be a blessing for them as they can place their brood boxes by the side of the water body and collect honey from them.

“Not only that, as winter arrives, I will shift to Faridpur to collect honey from the mustard plants, which grows in abundance in the area and the honey collected from mustard flower has great demand,” he added.

“If the government facilitates the beekeepers and honey collectors, we can produce a lot more honey and export it abroad,” added Sekandar.

Many unemployed people can be involved with honey bee farming and the marketing process, which will ultimately help reduce poverty apart from boosting the country’s export earnings, he further said.

Wazirpur Upazila Agricultural Officer Md Zakir Hossain Talukdar told The Business Post that the growing interest among the locals can alleviate poverty and boost empowerment. However, he opined the commercialization of honey farming would take at least two to three years to take shape.

“Honey farmers need technological support, financial assistance and a sound marketing system. We assist the farmers with our expertise and suggestions if they come to us. We will help them in the future as well,” said the agriculture officer.

Md Rafiqul Alam, deputy director of Run, a non-governmental-organization (NGO) and an environmental activist, told The Business Post that climate change has contributed to a sharp drop in bee populations across the region.

“Not only that, bees are disappearing fast due to the use of toxic substances in farming and other human activities, seriously threatening the food chain as well as the natural ecosystem,” he said.

Engineer of Department of Agriculture Extension, Barishal, Md Moshiur Rahman, told The Business Post that honeybees produce various commodities, such as honey, beeswax, pollen, and jelly.

By selling these items at local markets, beekeepers can get good economic returns, which ultimately help enrich the local economy.

“We are providing training and other facilities to the beekeepers, honey farmers of the area so that more people get encouraged to start their own farms,” added the official.