Stingless Honey a Sustainable Economy in Nagaland

Abstract

Nagaland has a tradition of beekeeping since time immemorial. They practice both apiculture and meliponiculture, while the former is preferred over the latter. Meliponicluture or stingless beekeeping is negligible due to little or no domestication technology. Stingless bee is the smallest honey producing bee. The honey of stingless bee taste sweet and sour and is different from common honey. Nagas use the stingless honey as an ethno-remedy to treat various diseases and usually take it before going out for hard work to get more strength and energy. It has high demand in the market because of its great medicinal value. However demand of the market is not fulfilled due to less number of stingless bee keepers. Nagaland Beekeeping and Honey Mission-NBHM has opened many avenues for the beekeepers to sell their pure organic produce like in Hornbill festival at Kohima, and also to local, national and international tourist. This paper would like to study the economic importance of beekeeper with a special reference to stingless bee in rural areas. The researcher would like to emphasize on how the village livelihood are sustained by rearing bee. It will also cover the farmers with beekeeping as hobby turn into full time prosperous beekeepers.