Four farmers in Dinajpur have succeeded in producing honey from drumstick (sajina) flowers with the help of bees, surprising many with their first-ever harvest from the flower. The honey was being collected in a drumstick orchard next to the Horticulture Centre in Sadarpur village of Sundarban union, Sadar upazila. In the first harvest they collected 150 kg of honey, worth an estimated Tk 1.5 lakh.

An official of the bee production centre said drumstick flower honey is tasty, sweet, healthy and nutritious. Drumstick leaves, flowers and pods are also favourite vegetables in Bengali households and have many medicinal qualities. Growing drumstick needs little capital or labour; the tree is easily planted in yards, on unused land, along roadsides and on field ridges, and produces plenty of leaves, flowers and pods. Honey has now been added to that list.

The agricultural extension office has no statistics on how many drumstick trees there are in Dinajpur, how many hectares are under the crop or how much is produced. Production in the district is nevertheless large; traders say Dinajpur's drumstick meets local demand and goes to other districts. Its flowers, however, had been of no use.

Last year, bee boxes were placed on a trial basis under the drumstick trees at the Khamar Bari in Dinajpur to use the flowers for honey. Some young men set fire to those boxes, so no result was obtained. In the same year, beekeeper Hira Lal Roy of Khansama upazila set up bee boxes on a trial basis in Sadarpur, Sadar upazila, to collect drumstick honey and succeeded, collecting 5 kg.

Because the honey was of good quality and in demand, he teamed up with three other beekeepers and set up 75 bee boxes for commercial collection. Hira Lal Roy, Rifat Islam, Arif and Sagar harvested the honey on 26 February, 22 days later, getting 150 kg in the first harvest. They can harvest once more from this flowering. The honey is estimated to be worth Tk 1.5 lakh, and they said it will sell at Tk 1,000 a kg.

Beekeeper Hira Lal Roy said: "This time we will make a profit of over a lakh taka after all costs. In future we will look for new orchards to collect honey from drumstick flowers, and we will encourage other beekeepers to do the same."

Rifat Islam said: "In Dinajpur honey is usually collected from lychee, mustard, coriander, black cumin, cucumber and pumpkin flowers. This is the first time we have succeeded in collecting drumstick flower honey in Dinajpur. We hope beekeepers will make use of this new source in future."

Azmain Fahi, a chemistry student at Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University in Dinajpur, said: "I am researching honey. In terms of honey grades, drumstick flower honey is of a good grade. It is suitable for human health."

Ruhul Amin, extension officer at the bee-keeping centre of BSCIC Basherhat in Dinajpur, said: "Last season a small amount of drumstick honey was produced in Dinajpur on a trial basis. This is the first time beekeepers Hira Lal Roy, Rifat Islam, Arif and Sagar have succeeded commercially. In future beekeepers will be trained and encouraged to collect drumstick flower honey."

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