Talking to tribals over tea and muffins is not something you get to do everyday. Having the experience at a five-star hotel makes it all the more strange and in several ways, enlightening. “I had no idea that you could use honey in biscuits and desserts,” marvelled an excited Kathinam from Ooty.
The 50-year-old was one among several families of tribal bee keepers who participated in the recently-concluded bee festival, Pollinator 1 in the city. Seated against cushions and bolsters at the Hyatt Regency, these traditional knowledge keepers, performed their traditional dance and sang their songs. All this to an audience filled with artists, scientists and expats and sat proudly as one among the audience for various lectures and films on their pet subject.
“We didn’t know until now how big the demand for honey is,” stated Rashmi (28), who hails from Javadhu hills in Vellore. She added with a smile, “This conference opened our eyes to so many new things like how other countries collect honey and the fact that so many groups are involved in this culture of rearing bees.”
While the profession they admit is seasonal three to four months, a single litre of honey is sold for a good price of Rs 200. “So it is a sufficient day’s pay if we manage to collect around three litres for one day,” she said, adding, “Sometimes on a very lucky day, we even collect up to 10 litres.” Unfortunately, post-September, these bee experts have to make sure their primary income is made with collection of medicinal herbs and agricultural means in the forest. “We didn’t know that we could make a living using products like wax,” commented another woman from the tribe, Madhu (30). She added, “This is something we hope to learn more about in the next bee festival at Hyderabad. Asked about whether they would like anything from the government to make their jobs easier and the first answer is, “ID cards.” Jai Godi (35) explained, “This would make it easier for us to make our daily collection without any problems.” He added quickly, “Also if the government could sponsor pattis (artificial hive boxes) for us to use – maybe we can continue with this profession through the year.” Two pattis per family was the requested number put forward.
Another suggestion by Krishnamoorthy, a social worker who coordinated this visit was the establishment of exclusive stores for natural honey in their villages and surrounding cities, so that their honey may reach more people.
Comments
0 comment