World Bee Day 2026: 5 unique honey–hunting traditions in India

When you talk of bees, the first place which comes to mind is the most popular Sundarbans and its traditional harvesting methods. But there are other unique places spread across the geography of India where people use available indigenous methods to harvest honey. This World Bee Day, here’s a quick look at some unique honey hunting traditions in India.

5 honey harvesting traditions followed in India that you should know on World Bee Day

East, West, North, South or North-east, each region has its own geographies and traditions for honey harvesting.

Hanging by the cliff

From deep within the forest to extracting honey from hives built in your backyard or from apiary farms, these are the normal ways of harvesting. But have you heard of climbing the steep Himalayan cliffs in search of the sweetest honey?

In Uttarakhand and neighbouring regions, bee hives are often found hanging by the cliffs. Honey hunters actually reach the cliffs through rope ladders, use smoke to drive away the bees before harvesting the honey. Interestingly, it has also been noticed that these honey variants may have rhododendron nectar, which can cause a person to behave abnormally for a while.

Into the forest

In the Eastern regions of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha, bee-keeping and honey harvesting is a livelihood amongst the forest dwellers. They prefer to go deep into the forest and collect the honey instead of creating any artificial environments for them. They usually use smoke made out of herbs foraged in the forest and venture in bee-hive zones during night or sunrise. By using oral lore and forest cycle mapping, they know the right time for harvesting.  

Mimicking a forest in Southern India

The lush greenery in south India allows traditional beekeepers to keep hollowed tree-log like structures in their farm. This mimics the natural environment of a forest and allows bees to make their hives at a place that they think they are familiar with. Such a process requires minimum to no intervention and the honey-making process continues on its own. This also paves the way for better species of bees to build their hives which elevates the quality of the honey.

Urban integration in Kerala

Some of the most common sightings of a honey bee are when come enters your room through your house window. This is an indicator that there is a beehive nearby. In fact, neglected nooks and corners of houses, old, dilapidated buildings, construction sites etc are natural places for the honey bees to build their hives, and with time, people living in urban or rural areas have made peace with it. Drawing from this principle of co-existence, in many parts of Kerala and South India, people embed clay tubes or wooden hives in the walls of their house. This makes it easier for them to collect honey from the comforts of their home. This can be done by them or an expert can be called in. It also ensures that no other part of the house is damaged in the process.

Bamboo magic in the North-east

Think bamboo is only used to make delicious food in the North-east, then think again. This sturdy shoot has more uses than you can think of. In the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland, bamboo-based hives are prominent. In fact, bamboo shoot honey is quite popular and has a very earthy, rustic and unsweetened flavour. In tribal areas of the North east, the forest and forest products are worshipped and thus emphasis is given on natural methods that restores ecological balance and also ensures man-environment co-existence.

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