Nepal is often known as "the biggest natural museum in the world". Besides, mountains, jungles, lakes, rivers and great diversity of flora and fauna, there are numerous cliffs beneath the high snow-clad mountains too. And, those cliffs are the habitat of cliff bee -Apis laboriosa. They are far from the madding crowd, completely in natural surroundings. Because of the richness in bee flora there is a great diversity in honey types. Honey produced from each plant species and from each geographical area has its own color, flavor, aroma, texture and medicinal properties. As this is the most nutritious food, honey is essential for healthy body and healthy mind.

Among the honey, Laboriosa bee honey is considered as of high quality honey because of its natural taste and medicinal importance. The cliff bee suck nectar from high Himalayan herbal plants like Yarsagunba (Cordyceph , Sinensis) & Paanchawle (Danctytorhiza, Hatagirea). Remember! These herbs are sold at more than 1,000 USD / Kg. Honey produced specially during spring by Apis laboriosa, is toxic. These bees collect nectar from the flowers of some plant species like rhododendrons (Rhododendron anthopogon, R. cinnabarinum and R. panticum), bikh (Aconitum spp), pangra (Entada spp), pieris (Pieris formosa), which have intoxicating properties. The toxins present in the nectar of these plant species accumulate in honey and make it toxic to human beings. Intoxicating honey is reddish in color and has very high medicinal value and relaxing properties.

REASON OF GREAT VALUE OF HIMALAYAN ROCK BEE HONEY

• Rich in natural taste. Completely different in aroma and taste than other honey. It is toxic.
• Possess high medicinal value (sucked nectar from precious herbs like Yarsagumba & Paanchawle)
• It is a medicine of gastric, Ulcer, allergies, Sinus, arthritis, asthma, blood circulation, burns & wounds.
• Honey hunters' challenging task. They have to climb 250 / 600 mtrs high cliff justs with the help of ropes.
• Honey hunters have to walk 2 / 3 days long walk with food, tents and necessary equipment's for honey hunting. * Honey harvest is performed in all traditional method. Takes much time, patience and courage.
• \Organic production / completely free from chemical use.
• Best to eat for 10 years from the time of honey harvest without using any chemical preservation.
• Very low amount of honey harvest and supply. One can not get big amount as they wish.

Honey Hunters / Honey Hunting
The practice of honey hunting is very ancient and still exists in the Himalayan region of Nepal. Although it is a challenging task, the traditional value of this practice is an important element of life style of Razis & Kurumbas in Nepal.

As shown in the picture most of the tools / equipment's used for hunting honey are evolved locally and is made of local materials like: bamboo ladder, basket, bamboo fiber rope, ropes with hook, Sickle, shack etc. Each area has its distinctive style of hunting honey to suit local resources and bees. However, the basic method of lighting fire under the bee cliff to smoke the bees and repel from the honeycombs seems to be the most popular.

For more Information Please Contact : Mr. Rajesh Shrestha Pension Tushita Lakeside Pokhara, Nepal Tel: 977-61-531793 cell:977-9856025232 Email: info@tushitanepal.com Costs : US$ 65 / Kg including tax and delivery cost.

Honey hunting technique
As seen in the given picture, about a dozen men-with ropes, ladders, poles, baskets and pots proceed to the cliff. This work is considered as men's work. First, a worship and sacrifice is performed and cliff god is offered with flowers, fruits and rice grains. At the base of the rock a fire is made from wood and foliage, so that the smoke rise to disperse the bees upwards from the lower edges of their combs, leaving the brood and honey sections of the combs clearly visible. A ladder is suspended from the top of the cliff, tightly secured to trees at both upper and lower ends. Honey hunter is fastened to the ladder by a rope and descends the rope ladder while others at the top of the cliff make sure that the rope is held securely. Two to three persons are responsible for checking, raising and lowering the rope to send items down from above and pull items up from the floor as necessary. One person, who perches on overhanging tree, looks the event carefully and gives signals to others. Near the ladder a large woven collecting basket is lowered to the nest site through another rope. When the honey hunter gets near the nest to be harvested, he uses a long stick to balance the collecting basket exactly under the comb. Its base is guided by a rope held by the people at the base of the cliff. First the brood portion of the comb is separated. The honey hunter uses a bamboo stick to pierce a hole in the brood comb area of the colony to be harvested. By piercing the comb and attaching hook to the comb, honey hunter cuts the brood portion of the comb safely. After that, wooden or iron sickles fixed to the bamboo stick cut honeycombs. Basket is guided to catch the chunks of honey as they drop down. When full, the basket is lowered down to the ground, emptied and used again. The whole operation from start to finish is very delicate. It may take 2-3 hours or more just to harvest one of the many colonies.

Traditional beliefs, superstitions and local practices in Nepal

• Tuesday is the best day for initiating honey-hunting event while Wednesday is not suitable for this event.
• Honey hunting is not allowed in 8th, 11th, 23rd, 26th and 30th day of moon cycle.
• Honey hunters believe that there are two gods in the forest i.e. local god, who looks after local events and the real god of cliff. Worshiping of these gods is mandatory by sacrificing, goat, sheep or chicken for giving blood in the name of god. Worship is also performed for those who passed away from the village.
• Either morning or evening time is considered good for honey hunting.
• In some places there is practice of pouring milk to the cliff before initiating honey hunting.
• Women are not even allowed to watch honey-hunting event in certain communities. They have to stay quite far from cliff site. It is believed that if they participate then the bees will be very aggressive.
• Leader honey hunter gets a head of sacrificed animal and meat-cooked during the event. And, he has the right to taste the cooked food first.
• One cannot join honey-hunting team if his wife is menstruated or pregnant of over 6 months.