By Narayan Tumbapo

Phidim, Jan. 30: Initiatives taken by farmers to preserve wild bees have become effective in Sidingwa Gaunpalika Ward No. 2 of Taplejung district, a village that borders with Panchthar district.
To increase the utility of unproductive vertical rock cliffs, the farmers of Sidingwa Community Forest Group of the Gaunpalika have taken initiative for the conservation of the wild bees.
The initiatives of preserving wild bees have been implemented on the rock cliffs of Chhange of Angkhop, Dwandwange of Lingtep, Ojepa of Sadewa, Kalikhola, Ramduwali and Tarebhir of the Gaunpalika.
The vertical cliffs in the area have been a pocket area of wild bees for centuries as more than 500 hives of wild bees could be seen hanging from the cliff. But in the recent past, only a few hives of wild bees could be found in the area.
However, after the conservation initiative of the community forest group, the number of hives in the area has increased to 60 to 70, said locals.
Conservationists said that their efforts to save the wild bees had created a situation in which the number of wild bees would rise to the previous situation.
Chairman of Sidingwa Communist Forest Group Man Bahadur Rai said that they had restricted lighting fire in the habitats of wild bees. He said that they had also restricted the use of pesticides in crops in the pasture area of the wild bees for the protection of the endangered species.
Rai said that these initiatives had created a favourable environment for the wild bees.
Similarly, the forest group has also restricted harvesting honey of wild bees for 10 years for the conservation purpose. The farmers said that positive results had been seen in increasing the population of wild bees after the conservation initiatives were put in place.
Bijaya Chapagain, a local resident of Sidingwa, said that they had a plan to revive the wild bees to their previous state.
For the protection of wild bees through managed harvesting of wild honey, the forest group has also made a provision of taking license from the group for harvesting of wild honey.
According to farmers, a hive of wild bees yields around 25 bottles of honey. The current price of a bottle of such honey is Rs. 1,400, they said. Thus, if 500 hives are harvested, it would yield an income of Rs. 30 million.
Generally, wild honey is harvested during the months of Baisakh (April 15-May 15) and Mangsir (November 15-Decemeber 15) of the Nepali calendar.
Local farmers are expecting to promote tourism and biodiversity of the area by preserving the wild bees.