KATHMANDU, April 12: As locally produced honey struggles to find a market, farmers are facing dire circumstances, with some even contemplating leaving the honey harvesting industry altogether. The disappointment stems from Indian honey dominating the Nepali market, leaving indigenous honey unsold.
In the 15 years Chitra Bhan Khatri has been keeping bees in west Nepal, he has never had trouble providing food for his insects, until 2021 when unseasonally heavy rain left his honeybees hungry.
In the 15 years Chitra Bhan Khatri has been keeping bees in west Nepal, he never had trouble providing food for his insects until last year, when unseasonally heavy rain left his honeybees hungry.
Five days of torrential rainfall in Dang district in October sent temperatures plummeting, killing the bright yellow blooms of the mustard plants Khatri grows to provide nectar and pollen for his 300 colonies of European honeybees.
Then, when he took his bees to graze on nectar from chiuri (butter) trees in a nearby forest, the rain had knocked all the flowers off their branches, he said.
As he
Heavy rain, prolonged drought and harsher winters have thrown off flowering seasons and destroyed blossoms across Nepal over the past decade, decimating the country’s honey supply
Erratic weather affects flowering seasons and kills blossoms In 2020, beekeepers produced half the honey they did in 2017 Poor uptake of insurance leaves beekeepers struggling By Pramod Acharya DANG, Nepal, Jan 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In the 15 years Chitra Bhan Khatri has been keeping bees in west Nepal, he never had trouble providing food for his insects - until last year, when unseasonally heavy rain left his honeybees hungry.