Bogura beekeepers busy collecting honey

A vast area of Nandigram upazila in Bogura is covered with mustard flowers that are in full bloom right now. Beekeepers and farmers are passing a busy time setting up bee boxes beside their mustard plantations for collecting honey from the mustard flowers. This will go on till the month of January.

Hundreds of beekeepers and farmers are working together to nurture and collect the best quality honey from the golden mustard fields stretched over hectares of land in the upazila.

The bees not only produce delicious honey from the flowers but also help secure a good mustard harvest through increased pollination. That is why the farmers of the adjacent areas use lesser pesticides on their crops and appreciate the presence of bees as a natural blessing, said the locals.

Adnan Babu, an agricultural officer of Nandigram, said beekeeping in mustard fields increases yields by nearly 15 per cent per bigha, but many farmers were previously reluctant to allow beekeepers in their fields apprehending that it would affect production.

However, that perception has changed a lot in the last couple of years, he said. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) office, mustard cultivation areas have been increasing as a result of production growth from beekeeping. Mustard flowers bloom in 40 to 60 days. As the flowering period is long, beekeepers can collect a better amount of honey from mustard fields than other croplands.

“So, most beekeepers prefer setting their bee boxes in mustard fields, which they lease for the season from the farmers,” said Sadit Hossain, a beekeeper who came to the area to collect honey from Panchagarh.

Sadit and other beekeepers in the region said that they roam around the country all year long but especially in the winter season to set up their bee boxes in leased croplands.

“We prefer Bogura and Sirajganj for mustard, Shariatpur for black cumin, Dinajpur and Natore for litchi, Thakurgaon for wax gourd and Panchagarh for sesame in their respective blooming season,” he said.

The country produces nearly 10,000 tonnes of honey annually, and the main collection season spans from November to April, said Adnan Babu, an agricultural officer of Nandigram.