Category Archives: Bees and honey

“Without [bees] there would be no pollination. Without them there would be no future food. And the small farmers are the primary source of food.” – Video message by Vandana Shiva in support of The “Save Bees and Farmers!” European Citizens’ Initiative (28 February 2020)
https://www.savebeesandfarmers.eu/w/files/videos/200219-vandana-supports-the-eci_smaller.mp4
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=12161

“Living in the Nilgiris, the Kattunayakans are one of the last few remaining honey gathering communities of the world. Over many generations they have mastered the skills required to tap honey and they take great pride in their knowledge and expertise. For the tribal community, honey gathering is of social, cultural, economic and spiritual relevance. […] With their lives in the forest being steadily pulled away from under their feet, communities like the Kattunayakans are losing their sense of culture and meaning. Without the ritual of tapping honey, a rich history of song and dance associated with the practice will have no place in their lives.” – Priyashri Mani in “Home is where the forest is….” (At the Edge of Existence, 29 August 2013)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=12436

“[D]eforestation and landscape change [have] negatively impacted communities [and resulted in] unavailability of gum karaya Sterculia urens, kunkudukaaya Sapindus emarginatus, and honey as the larger gum and nut yielding and beehive preferred trees like Adina cordifolia and Dalbergia sissoo have been cut down.” – Vikram Aditya in “Displaced from the hills: Livelihoods of tribal communities in Eastern Ghats under threat” (Down to Earth, 24 February 2021)
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/forests/displaced-from-the-hills-livelihoods-of-tribal-communities-in-eastern-ghats-under-threat-75657
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=29829

“Constructing these bamboo-ladders [used to extract honey from beehives] is an architecture itself. Building them is a secret. It is done only at night. Non-community people will not be allowed to be present when tribals build them. These ladders can be sometimes 200 feet tall.” – K.T. Gandhirajan quoted by T.S. Subramanian in “Ancient rock art dating back to 1500 B.C. found in Tamil Nadu” (The Hindu, 28 September 2016)
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/Ancient-rock-art-dating-back-to-1500-B.C.-found-in-Tamil-Nadu/article14769223.ece
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=21555

“Living in the Nilgiris, the Kattunayakans are one of the last few remaining honey gathering communities of the world. Over many generations they have mastered the skills required to tap honey and they take great pride in their knowledge and expertise. For the tribal community, honey gathering is of social, cultural, economic and spiritual relevance. […] With their lives in the forest being steadily pulled away from under their feet, communities like the Kattunayakans are losing their sense of culture and meaning. Without the ritual of tapping honey, a rich history of song and dance associated with the practice will have no place in their lives.” – Priyashri Mani in “Home is where the forest is….” (At the Edge of Existence, 29 August 2013)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=12436

“Constructing these bamboo-ladders [used to extract honey from beehives] is an architecture itself. Building them is a secret. It is done only at night. Non-community people will not be allowed to be present when tribals build them. These ladders can be sometimes 200 feet tall.” – K.T. Gandhirajan quoted by T.S. Subramanian in “Ancient rock art dating back to 1500 B.C. found in Tamil Nadu” (The Hindu, 28 September 2016)
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/Ancient-rock-art-dating-back-to-1500-B.C.-found-in-Tamil-Nadu/article14769223.ece
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=21555