Mustard growers once kept migratory beekeepers away from their fields, believing that bee boxes placed in mustard fields reduced the yield. Over a decade that belief has changed, and the mustard fields of Chalan Beel and the wider Pabna region are now one of the main sources of honey. About 60 tonnes of honey can be collected from this source this year.

The vast Chalan Beel area covers eight upazilas in three districts, including Chatmohar, Bhangura and Faridpur in Pabna, Singra and Gurudaspur in Natore, and Tarash in Sirajganj. In winter the fields are covered in mustard flowers, and migratory beekeepers have set up their boxes beside them. Beekeepers from different districts are collecting honey this way. Agriculture officials say the beekeeping will also improve the mustard yield.

Migratory beekeepers profit every year by collecting honey from mustard flowers, and they have come to Chalan Beel again this year and are busy collecting. More than 700 beekeepers are now in the fields of Chalan Beel with their boxes, aiming to collect 1,500 tonnes of honey. They have come from different parts of the country and set up temporary honey farms. More than 50,000 bee boxes have been placed across Chalan Beel.

Agriculturist Azahar Ali, deputy director of the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said at least 60 tonnes of honey could be produced from mustard in the Pabna region. Because bees visit more flowers, pollination increases and so does the yield; beekeeping can raise mustard yields by 20–30 per cent.

Beekeeper Bakul Hossain said that although a large amount of honey is produced, marketing is a problem, and beekeepers are losing money for lack of proper marketing.

Md Jahangir Alam, president of the Uttarbanga Mouchashi Samity (North Bengal Beekeepers' Association), said beekeepers were suffering for lack of modern training, and there is also a shortage of scientifically designed bee boxes. Beekeepers will again collect several crore taka worth of honey from Chalan Beel this year, he said, and he sought government help in marketing it.

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