Develop better bee-keeping practices to get higher yield in honey production- develop medicinally important herbal based honey production

Nepal has rich bio and pasture diversity, with variety of bee species. There are four known native honeybee species found in Nepal some of which have been domesticated. Beekeeping and honey production in Nepal has dramatically increased in the last 10 years with some natural honey being exported in global market. Beekeeping has specifically contributed to the rural economies where marginalized landless farmers often reside. Beekeeping has also helped in higher agriculture productions and yields because they play an important role as pollinators; their contribution in maintaining the natural biodiversity from southern flat lands to high Himalaya is highly significant.

However, there are some challenges in beekeeping and honey production in Nepal. Like in poultry, honey production in Nepal is hindered by inefficient production methodologies. Starting from selection of proper species of bees to hive construction, we can greatly enhance and increase quality honey production which is directly going benefit small and medium rural farmers. In essence, we are conservationist and we believe beekeeping and honey industry will greatly help in conserving our biodiversity and nature.

We propose to set up integrated beekeeping and honey production research and training project within our site where:

• We will do extensive study on endemic bee species and their suitability for quality honey production;
• We will also experiment on producing medicinally valuable honey production using local Himalayan herbs, thereby, producing high value honey for domestic and global market;
• We will provide comprehensive integrated beekeeping and honey production training to farmers from Nepal and beyond using Permaculture principle