Beekeeping Business Suffers Significant Loss in Chitwan Due to Flood

Chitwan. Heavy damage has been caused to the beekeeping business in the Ratnanagar area of Chitwan due to the continuous rainfall on Monday.

An initial estimate of around Rs 6 million in losses has been reported due to hundreds of beehives being washed away and bee colonies destroyed in the Manikhola and Lalparsa areas of the municipality.

According to Pravin Lama, head of the Agriculture Development Branch of Ratnanagar Municipality, beehives kept in Manikhola in the Panyankanya Community Forest area of Ward No. 11 and in Lalparsa of Ward No. 9 were washed away by the flood and bee colonies destroyed. He stated that further financial losses have occurred as most of the hives were due for honey extraction.

In the Manikhola area, 415 hives were affected, including 250 hives belonging to Shankar Bhatta (Ratnanagar-12), 70 hives of Roshan BK (Ratnanagar-4), and 95 hives of Dinesh Dhakal (Bharatpur-14). Lama mentioned that although some hives might be found in safe condition in this area, most bee colonies have been destroyed.

Similarly, in the Lalparsa area, 270 hives were affected, including 90 hives of Lokprasad Parajuli (Khaihani), 90 hives of Deepak Thapa (Ratnanagar-4), and 90 hives of Ek Bahadur Gurung (Ratnanagar-3). Head Lama informed that about 250 of these hives were completely washed away by the flood, and only a few hives were found and moved to safe locations.

He added that due to the high water flow, it is still difficult to collect exact details by reaching all the locations where the hives were kept.

Lama said, "Although some hives were found after the flood, most of the bee colonies have been destroyed. In Lalparsa, about 250 out of 270 affected hives were washed away by the flood. The average cost of one hive is around Rs 10,000. As it was the time for honey extraction, each hive was expected to produce four to five kilograms of honey. With the destruction of hives, bee colonies, and the honey that was about to be produced, we estimate an initial loss of at least Rs 6 million for the farmers."

He stated that the municipality is conducting further on-site monitoring of the affected areas to collect detailed damage reports.