Trade in honey from litchi

Beekeepers collected around 700 tonnes of honey worth around Tk 13 crore from the litchi orchards in the district this year.

Uttarbanga Mouchashi Samity President Md Jahangir Alam said around 500 honey collectors from different northern districts came to Dinajpur as soon the litchi trees started flowering. They collected about 700 tonnes of honey from around 40,000 beehives.

The market value of the honey is around Tk 13 crore, said Jahangir.

Horticulturist of Department of Horticulture Imrul Ahsan said there are 3,500 commercial litchi orchards in different upazilas, adding that there are many homesteads that have litchi trees.

Imrul said pollination is needed for plants to reproduce and many plants depend on bees or other insects as pollinators. Pollination takes place when a bee collects nectar and pollen from the flower of a plant, he said, adding that honey bees are the best pollinators for litchi.

Flowering of litchi plants began at the end of February this year, said Imrul. The honey cultivators and litchi orchardists have been benefited, he added.

During a visit to different orchards in Sadar upazila, Biral, Chirirbandar and Ghoraghat areas in the district, this correspondent found that the honey collectors had set up many beehives (boxes) in litchi orchards for collecting honey.

Rafiqul Islam, a honey collector from Joypurhat, set up around 80 beehives at a litchi orchard at Kawgaon village in Sadar upazila on March 15. He collected around 1.7 tonnes of honey till April 5, he added.

“I sold the honey at Tk 175 per kg,” said Rafiqul, adding that he received training on beekeeping from Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC).

Dulal Talukdar, a honey collector from Tangail, set up around 75 boxes at litchi orchards at Amarpur village in Chirirbandar upazila. He said farmers collect honey produced from different crops like litchi trees and mustard plants from end of November to end of March.

He along with four other beekeepers collected around four tonnes of honey from there and sold it for Tk 1.70 lakh, Dulal said.

Different companies in the country buy the honey, he added.