Keonjhar: There is no dearth of people who take up odd jobs to earn a livelihood. Some also choose a nomadic lifestyle to sustain their families while they are on the go.
A group of people, originally hailing from Hasanpur area of Samastipur district in Bihar, is camping at Gumura village in Keonjhar district, whose traditional occupation is honey hunting.
While people cringe at the thought of going near a beehive, these people collect honey from roadside trees and buildings rather effortlessly. They earn their living from this.
“Pure honey has various medicinal properties. It is also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic medicines. So I buy honey from these traditional honey hunters,” said Ayurvedic practitioner Harekrushna Mohanta.
Dayanand Dhami, a honey collector, said they have been coming to this district for 10 years. They call beehives as ‘Mahu Chhata’. When asked how they locate the beehives, he said bees have a tendency to nest at the same tree or spot where they first nested. “So we don’t have difficulty in finding them. They can also nest in trees in people’s gardens and on buildings. To get rid of them, people often contact us,” said Dhami.
“Removing a beehive is not an easy task. First, you need to identify the queen bee in the hive. Then, she is to be caught and separated from the very tactfully. After the removal of the hive and collection of honey, the captured queen is released at the same place or at a different location. Other bees follow the queen and build a new hive,” he clarified.
He said their collection increases during summer and falls in rainy and winter seasons. Though it is comparatively easy to collect honey during nights, they hunt for it during daytime as well.
Describing the trick they apply to drive away bees from the hives, he said, “First we collect some leaves. After starting a fire, a kind of medicine prepared from herbs and roots is added to it. Once it is added, it starts emitting smoke driving the bees away. During this time, we chant a specific mantra. This practice is being used for generations,” he observed.
Regarding the dangers involved, he said, “There is every possibility of falling from buildings and trees while collecting honey. Many of us have met with accidents. Besides, we also have the experience of being stung by bees,” he claimed.
According to him, apart from Odisha, they also go to West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh to collect honey. Similarly, there are many people from Darbhanga, Madhuban, Begusarai, Bhagalpur and some other areas in Bihar whose only source of earning is honey hunting. They go to different states in groups.
Dhami said their earning was severely affected during the lockdown period. “However, the situation is slowly changing for better,” he added.
PNN