Honey, the new liquid gold for Goan farmers

Panaji: Honey may have shrunk the kids in the famous Hollywood movie, but for a growing number of Goan farmers, apiculture is steadily turning out to be a new form of liquid gold.

Put simply, apiculture is bee-keeping or the maintenance of bee colonies in man-made hives by humans and the manufacturing of honey and beeswax.



While bee-keeping as a hobby may have intrigued people in Goa over the decades, many local farmers are now taking up apiculture as an alternate form of revenue generation.

And with a strong consumer base for honey, commercial-scale production of honey is working out well for them.

“There is great scope for apiculture in the state provided farmers learn the proper technique,” says Mapusa-based beekeeper, Melwyn de Souza.

He maintains a total of seven bee boxes in the balcony of his flat in Pedddem, Mapusa. Additionally, he takes care of the bee colonies at Raj Bhavan, Dona Paula.

The Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) has also appointed Dsouza as a ‘farmer friend’ and resource person to help farmers in Goa engaging in bee-keeping.

ATMA, North Goa project director, Dilip Paranjape says every Goan household must maintain their own bee box to enable them to have access to pure honey that is devoid of adulteration. “Without much effort, one box can yield 5-8 kgs of honey, depending on the number of flowering trees around,” he says

The agency started bee-keeping training from November 2018, with sessions for farmers in Sattari, Bicholim and Pernem conducted by experts from Udupi. In December 2018, a batch of 15 farmers were sent to Honnavar in Karnataka to visit the beekeepers’ society there. About 14 bee boxes costing about Rs 4,500 each were bought by farmers in North Goa and installed in their farms. Recently, another batch of 15 farmers were sent to Shirsai, Maharashtra for similar training.

“Such exposure visits cum training programmes held dispel the normal apprehensions that farmers have regarding bee behaviour and handling bee boxes. Now we have nearly 25 bee boxes being managed by farmers in North Goa itself,” Paranjape says.

In Sanguem, ATMA, South Goa put the first batch of 70 farmers through training last year after which 21 farmers enrolled themselves in the programme. Today, these farmers manage about 40-42 boxes in Sanguem and intend to harvest copious amounts of honey from this venture.

“Bee-keeping is not like planting a tree, the swarms require constant care and attention. Farmers were initially hesitant due to the fear of getting stung. Now, after gaining confidence, they are keen on taking up apiculture,” says ATMA, South Goa block technology manager, Soham Ghate.