With a good mustard crop this year, beekeepers in Barishal are having a busy time, storing large quantities of honey. Farmers say beekeeping beside the fields has produced a bumper mustard crop, and beekeepers say they are getting more honey than last year.

The same scene was seen in almost every field on a tour of Babuganj upazila in Barishal. Beekeepers collecting honey from these fields with bee boxes have drawn wide interest, and both mustard farmers and beekeepers are benefiting financially.

According to the agriculture department, beekeeping beside mustard fields pollinates the crop, raising mustard yields by 25 per cent. Collecting honey from mustard fields has become a profitable business, and beekeepers are earning well from selling honey.

In Rakudia village of Babuganj upazila, a farmer has been keeping bees commercially on a large scale for the past two years because of the mustard grown there. Having heard about it in Tangail district, he set up a honey farm beside the mustard fields.

Md Munna Khan, a beekeeper from Tangail, told Jago News: "I have set up more than 800 combs in 105 boxes. I have already harvested 15 maunds of honey here in one month and expect another five maunds in the remaining time. Honey sells at Tk 500–600 a kg. Local people and those from nearby areas are buying directly from the field. After meeting local demand, I am sending honey to various parts of the country."

Another beekeeper, Aynal Haque, said: "A huge amount of mustard has been grown in Barishal. Hearing this, I came from Tangail and have been keeping bees here for the past two years. I am collecting 5–6 kg of honey from each bee box, and this year we will get more honey than last year."

Nasir Uddin, who came to buy honey, said: "I have never seen honey collected like this. They take it straight from the comb and process it with a machine. There is no chance of adulteration here, so I am buying honey after seeing it with my own eyes."

Another buyer, Parvez, said: "I am taking honey collected directly from the field. There is nothing here that could be adulterated; I can see everything in front of me, so I am buying without hesitation. The price is also lower than elsewhere."

Enayet Karim, a farmer in Rakudia village, said: "Not just this village but every village in the upazila has hundreds of acres of yellow. BINA Sarisha-11 has been sown across the fields. Some fields are full of yellow flowers, and in others the mustard seeds have set. Because of beekeeping beside the fields, yields are 20 per cent higher than before. Farmers are happy with mustard."

Md Muradul Hasan, deputy director of the Barishal Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), told Jago News: "Bees pollinate the flowers while collecting nectar in spring. This has raised production, and both sides are benefiting financially. As a result, mustard cultivation has increased in the district this year, and so has the number of beekeepers."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.