Information from ICIMOD - Please do not steal our honey!

by Faroog Ahmad, Uma Partap, Surendra R Joshi and Min B Gurung

More news of the work of the beekeeping project at ICIMOD in Kathmandu, Nepal, funded by the Austrian Government and jointly managed by ICIMOD and Austroprojekt GmbH in Vienna, Austria. Last time we told you about the successes in reviving Apis cerana beekeeping in mountain areas of India and Pakistan. Here we explain how short-sighted beekeeping development interventions squeeze the space for indigenous pollinator resources, and have impact on traditional honey harvesting systems and the livelihoods of local people.

Mirpur and other adjoining valleys in northern Pakistan provide good nesting habitats for Apis dorsata. This honeybee species makes regular stopovers in these valleys during its migration because of the abundance of nectar flowing from Acacia, Adhatoda and Bombax spp. Historically these stopovers provided enormous quantities of wild honey for local communities: these bees were always linked to people’s livelihoods and socio-cultural events.

Recently, the number of colonies of European Apis mellifera honeybees has been steadily increasing in these areas. According to recent reports, more than 7,000 colonies of Apis mellifera are brought by beekeepers to these valleys every year. The Department of Agriculture and other associated development bodies are content with this situation: honey is being produced and pollination services provided.

While visiting this area a local farmer questioned the whole process of beekeeping development by making a simple statement: “Please don’t steal our honey!” The statement came as a great blow to some people and highlights the wisdom accumulated among the farming communities about nature, its conservation and sustainability. When the farmer was asked to explain “Who steals the honey?” and “What are the sources of information?” his explanation was very simple and straightforward:

Your bees steal our honey. Before your bees were brought to our area we harvested large quantities of honey from our Apis dorsata nests.

This means that the floral resources were sufficient for the colonies of Apis dorsata. With an increase in the number of bees from migratory colonies of Apis mellifera exploiting the same resources, the honey collected from wild bees decreased.

The logic behind the farmer’s statement opens up a new vista of understanding concerning the introduction of exotic species, and competition between different species for the use of limited natural resources. The farmer’s wisdom also emphasises the short-sightedness of agricultural planners and executing agencies, who exclude local voices from their planning and execution processes. The voice of this farmer further tells us how fragile development interventions can be, and how faulty may be the success stories narrated by different development agencies. This needs to be taken care of, especially in the foothills of Nepal and other countries of the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region where the numbers of Apis mellifera colonies are increasing and where decline of indigenous honeybee Apis dorsata and Apis laboriosa populations has been recorded by this project.

Farmers’ comments help us to evaluate our understanding of agrobiodiversity and the compulsions of planning development interventions. One cannot underestimate the importance of people's voices, indigenous knowledge and best practices that must be considered and mainstreamed into policy formulation and beyond.