Honey Hunting Begins in Myagdi's Mountainous Regions

Myagdi. Honey hunting has started in Myagdi. Honey is being extracted from the cliffs of the mountainous regions of Dhawalagiri, Annapurna, and रघुगङ्गा rural municipalities. Motiprasad Paija, a honey hunter from Khoriya, Dhawalagiri Rural Municipality-2, informed that honey hunting started from Friday.

Paija's team hunted honey from two hives in the honey cliff near Khoriya on Friday and will continue honey hunting in other cliffs, he said. The team of 15 people extracted about 70 liters of honey from the honey cliff.

Honey hunting, which starts from the cliffs in the lowlands, reaches the mountains in June, said Lokbahadur Paija, a honey hunter from Swat, Annapurna Rural Municipality-5. Honey hunters extract honey by hanging from dangerous cliffs with the help of ropes where wild bee colonies are found.

While wild honey is as tasty and juicy to eat, it is extremely risky to extract. To cut the wild bee hives on the cliffs, honey hunters hang on ropes (locally called parang) and hunt for honey.

Spring and autumn are considered suitable times for honey hunting. It is the right time to extract wild honey from the lowlands in spring and from the mountains in autumn. Wild honey is sold at a rate of Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 per liter.

To extract honey, hunters are divided into two groups, one from the top of the cliff and the other from the bottom. One group hangs a rope (locally called parang) from the top of the cliff to the ground, while another group at the bottom of the cliff receives and manages the honey.

Bees swarm around the honeycombs. When smoke is applied, the bees flee. At that time, special care must be taken to extract honey. When the hunters who go via parang start blowing smoke into the hive, all the surrounding hunters hide in trees and caves for fear of being stung by the bees. Only after the bees flee elsewhere do they find it easy to come out and extract honey.

The main hunter extracts the honey using tools and brings the pot of honey down to the ground with the help of a rope. Consumers' experience is that it is tasty, beneficial for health, and strengthening, as well as being used for religious purposes.