Climate change dents wild honey yield

KALPETTA: Unseasonal rains have sharply brought down the yield of wild honey in Kerala's Wayanad region this year, depriving the hard-pressed tribals of their supplementary income.

Torrential rains and strong winds have caused mass-dropping of flowers in deep forests, forcing the bees to move in drones to greener pastures to nest and extract nectar.

While a total of 15,000 kg of wild honey was collected in the summer last year, the yield was estimated to be as low as 1500 kg this season, Secretary of Sulthan Bathery Scheduled Tribes Co-operative Society, P M Goerge said.

"Heavy downpour at the wrong time of the year had driven away the bees which took shelter on tall trees, rock crevices or termite hills," Kumaran, the tribal chief of Rampally colony, said.

"You won't get honey when flowers are not there. Many of us had made arduous treks deep into the forests only to return with empty hands as we could not spot much beehives this year", Kumararan, who had several years of beehive spotting honey extraction experience, said.

Wayanad district, which accounts for the bulk of wild honey extracted from Kerala, yielded a total of 27,000 kg in 2006-07, but, going by the trend, the output was going to plummet this year, Goerge said.

Wild honey is mostly purchased by ayurvedic drug makers.