Bees/or Development Journal 87

HONEY HUNTING IN THE NILGIRI BIOSPHERE RESERVE Kunal Sharma, Keystone Foundation, Tamil Nadu, India Honey hunting evokes images of death-defying acts. Honey is valuable, and the process of harvesting it is fraught with danger: this has led to myths and legends, so that folklore, superstitions and stories surround honey hunting. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) has a tradition of honey harvesting. Forests here are accorded a high degree of protection, resulting in an abundance of flora and fauna. The dense forests and steep escarpments provide natural nesting places for the giant rock bees - Apis dorsata. These are also the ancestral home of adivasis - indigenous people. The honey hunters of NBR are renowned for their bravery and skill. Combs of Apis dorsata on the cliff: the natural nesting site for this honey bee Numerous adivasi groups hunt honey and each has their own specialised methods. The Alu Kurumbas in the eastern and southern consensus among villagers. It is now that they declare that the comb is parts of the Nilgiris and in Attapady, are renowned for scaling 150 m ripe and the hunt must start. Preparation begins in earnest. Days before high cliffs, while the Kasavas and Mas are adept in harvesting large the harvest, the honey hunter begins to fast, praying and bathing with quantities of honey from giant trees. The Kattunaickens are expert regularity. Any relationship with women is avoided. Observance of these hunters in and around Mudumalai and Muthanga forests, just as the austerities varies between groups. Jenu Kurubas are famous in Nagarhole and Mysore regions. In addition, Adivasis worship their gods before setting out. Spirits are accorded the Cholanaickens (see pages 8 and 9) are renowned for their legendary special status during this period, as there is a belief that disturbing or skills in the New Amarambalam Region, using basic equipment to scale angering the spirits can lead to an unsuccessful hunt or even a death. high trees and cliffs. The village priest is consulted and it is he who fixes the date and time Although geographically adjacent, the groups have formed specialised for the harvest. He conducts a puja invoking the gods and ancestors, skills that differentiate one group from the other. For example praying for their blessings. This signals the start of the entire honey Kurumbas and Irulas often share the same village but one is an expert hunting process. The honey collecting ritual also includes an invocation on rock hunting while the other is a master of scaling trees. This has to the bees to leave their combs so that honey can be collected, resulted in specific 'honey territories' and locally adapted methods of beseeching them to return to bring forth the blossoms in the forest and collection. fields. Traditionally certain cliffs have been venerated and marked as sacred - there is no harvesting of honey from bees nesting on those Methods, rituals and superstitions cliffs. £ When honey hunting starts, legends, rituals and superstitions play an Preparations for honey collection take place by estimating the height or important part. The actual time for hunting is usually reached by the cliff or tree and getting the climbing gear ready. Usually for a cliff

The honey hunter climbs down the cliff Harvesting honey from Apis dorsata HONEY HUNTING IN THE NILGIRI BIOSPHERE RESERVE Bees/o/-Development Journal 87 hunt, a rope ladder has to be made from forest vines using fresh fibre. A buckets or tins and the honey drained from the comb. bundle of dried twigs are tied together with a cover of green leaves, to Keystone has made interventions with these people in the fields of make the smoker. Baskets are made of bamboo. High trees are climbed sustainable harvesting, hygienic filtration and processing of the honey, by either cutting steps into the bark, or tying a bamboo pole on to the quality parameters, improved marketing and value addition. tree trunk. Variations in these methods exist across the different communities. Honey hunting takes place late in the evening or early morning, when the sun is not bright. Thick chunks of honey comb are collected in

FURTHER READING: Honey trails in the Blue Mountains; Honey hunters and beekeepers of Tamil Nadu; DVD - Honey hunters of the Blue Mountains All by Keystone Foundation and available from the BfD web store at www.beesfordevelopment.org

until I started work as the research assistant Initiative Project for almost two years and he WORK OPENS UP for this Project. Now having worked with the shares the information he has learned with his A DIFFERENT honey hunters, I know how their work is done. village people. Previously when he saw honey I also know the forest well and have gained comb he would harvest the honey and eat it. WORLD good knowledge of the tree species in this Now although he does the same, he will look location. I understand the species to see what kind of bee species it is. He is composition of the different forest types, and also able to difference the queen, worker have learnt that this composition contributes and drone bees, which he could not do to the ecosystem. before. I have learnt research techniques and how to He has learned research methodologies, and collect data. My interest in doing the job has beekeeping and nursery techniques. He has increased my skills. The job has broadened started to learn how to use a computer and my horizons and given me opportunities to enter data. He is learning about the attend local festivals and gatherings. I find the relationship between people and the forest. work enjoyable and interesting, and a whole He has had exposure to many places, many new world has opened up for me'. different people and different lifestyles. Translation from the original Kannada Shiny Rehel in conversation with Aradukuttan language by Shiny Rehel A NEW LOOK TO LIFE Aradukuttan is employed as the Field Assistant by Keystone Foundation with the EXPERIENCE SHARING WITH Bees, Biodiversity and Forest Livelihoods MAHADESH Project. Mahadesh works as a research assistant at Araduk'uttan belongs to the Toda community, Keystone Foundation with the Darwin Initiative who have a pastoral culture. Their livelihoods Bees, Biodiversity and Forest Livelihoods are centred on their buffaloes and their milk. Project in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. He is In the past, the Toda community lived in huts from the Sholiga community in Pulinjur shaped like barrels and made of a specific Village, Chamrajnagar District. species of thatch grass, bamboo reeds, 'At the start, I had no knowledge of honey branches of specific tree species and plenty bees or any of the other human indigenous of rattan canes. Today Aradukuttan lives in a communities of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. house made of brick and cement, built by the I have now gained information on both. Also, I government. had little knowledge about honey hunting Aradukuttan has been part of the Darwin Aradukuttan