Punjab: Beekeepers are facing losses

Punjab: Beekeepers in the state’s Malwa region are facing losses as the cost of preserving mustard honey is likely to increase with exporters offering low rates in the absence of a mechanism to ensure a minimum support price for it. A drop in production due to sudden change in weather has also added to the woes of beekeepers. Three-fourth of the total honey produced in the state is mustard honey. It is a variety produced by bees collecting nectar from mustard plants and is mostly exported to the US and Europe. Jaswant Singh, president of the Malwa Progressive Beekeepers Association, said they recently held a meeting with exporters based in Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in which the price was fixed at Rs 118 per kg. Last year, a kg of mustard honey cost Rs 145. “They (exporters) have not yet started procuring it, while extraction of mustard honey takes place from mid-November to end of February,” he said. He said that these days beekeepers have to frequently move their bee nest boxes closer to mustard fields to increase production.

We are currently storing honey at room temperature. In March we will have to store it in cold storage. This will increase our input cost. Beekeeping requires hard work and money. However, exporters usually form cartels and fix the price. There is hardly any marketing support from the state government,” Jaswant Singh said. Some beekeepers said the production of other varieties like eucalyptus honey, wild flora and multi flora honey is comparatively less. A senior official of the horticulture department said that currently there are 6,000 beekeepers in the state, who have around 4 lakh bee nest boxes. Beekeeping is mostly in Bathinda and Muktsar districts. “The central and state governments provide subsidy on bee nest boxes and bees. However, there is no minimum support price for honey. Mustard honey is in great demand in other countries, especially the US and Europe. Exporters and traders fix the price according to their requirement,” the official said. The input cost is likely to increase if the current situation continues, the official said. “Honey does not perish quickly in nature. However, it is extracted with certain precautions. Even a small amount of dust or other contaminants can cause fungus,” he said.