In Dinajpur, famous as the land of litchis, there has been a revolution in collecting honey from litchi flowers, with beekeepers gathering a record amount. That is how local beekeepers and those from other parts of the country described the season as they left. But the figures of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and the Uttarbanga Honey Community on the number of beekeepers, boxes, honey produced and its price differ as much as sky and earth. Both sides nonetheless say their statistics show a quiet revolution in honey collection.

The DAE says that just as Dinajpur's litchis are prized across the country, honey from litchi flowers is now in great demand. By the government's count, 23,360 kg of honey was collected from litchi flowers in Dinajpur in 2015. In 2024, ten years later, 167 beekeepers set up 9,182 bee boxes and produced 67 tonnes of honey, with a market value of about Tk 1 crore 1 lakh 50 thousand at Tk 350 to Tk 450 a kg by the government's reckoning. This year's official data are still being collected, but the DAE's preliminary figures say 335 beekeepers set up 12,000 boxes in Dinajpur this season.

According to DAE Dinajpur, litchi orchards cover 5,680 hectares this year, and 4,954 boxes were set up for honey collection last year.

Md Jahangir Alam, director of the Uttarbanga Honey Community, a beekeepers' organisation, said: "About 1,500 beekeepers set up about 1.25 lakh bee boxes this season to collect honey from litchi flowers. Each collected about 3 tonnes of honey on average, which at Tk 300 a kg is worth Tk 120 crore at current market prices."

Asked about the difference, he said: "The figures the government gives are just a formality. We do not know how they calculate them or how they set the price."

Beekeepers said that although the litchi flowering was not good this year, favourable weather drew more beekeepers to Dinajpur than last year. Each brought at least 100 boxes, and a beekeeper with 100 boxes collects at least 3,000 kg of honey.

Mosaddek Hossain, an executive member of the Uttarbanga Honey Community and owner of MBF, said: "About 1,500 beekeepers have set up boxes in the district. About 4,000 tonnes of honey will be produced this time, worth about Tk 100 crore. Honey production is becoming popular in Dinajpur."

Ariful Islam, a beekeeper from Bagerhat district, said: "At the tail end of the litchi flowering this time, I produced 1 tonne of honey in 14 days from 100 boxes, which is a real record. At Tk 300 a kg it will sell for Tk 3 lakh. Travel and food will cost at most Tk 50,000. I have earned Tk 2.5 lakh in just 14 days."

Md Anisuzzaman, additional deputy director (crops) of DAE Dinajpur, said: "Pollination by bees increases litchi production on the trees by 20 percent. At present most honey is collected from litchi flowers, and litchi honey does not crystallise. BSCIC and the Department of Youth Development have trained many young people. If more local people are trained and put to work, production will rise and there will be huge income."

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