The Tribal Honey Hunters of Vidarbha: Harvesting Wild Honey

Pranay Arya
13 hours ago
9 min read

Tribal honey gatherers in Vidarbha collecting wild forest honey — A tribal honey hunter from Vidarbha collects wild honey using traditional tools

In the predawn calm of a Vidarbha forest, a small group of tribal honey hunters prepares for their climb. They tighten their grip on handmade ropes and torches of dried leaves, eyes fixed on a massive beehive hanging high in the canopy.

For generations, indigenous communities here have ventured into dense forests at first light to harvest wild honey.

This age-old practice is a tradition woven deeply into their daily life. The golden honey they gather is a source of nutrition and income for their families. Today, this traditional honey hunt continues even as new methods and challenges reshape the way these forest dwellers interact with bees and nature.

An Age-Old Forest Tradition

Deep in the teak and sal forests of Vidarbha, tribal communities have long mastered the art of wild honey collection.

The Gond, Madiya, Kolam, Pardhan and other local tribes regard honey gathering as a heritage skill, passed down through storytelling and apprenticeships in the wild.

Well before sunrise, teams of honey hunters trek through familiar forest paths, guided by instinct and memory to trees where giant bee colonies thrive.

They locate the hives of Apis dorsata, the rock bee, often clinging to the highest branches. Climbing without fear, sometimes with nothing but a bamboo ladder or vine rope, they reach the hives that can be dozens of feet above the ground.

Once at a hive, the hunters work in synchrony. Traditionally, a smouldering torch of green leaves is used to billow smoke toward the bees.

This age-old technique encourages thousands of bees to temporarily disperse, allowing the collectors a precious window to cut away chunks of honey-filled comb. A skilled hunter uses a long knife to slice only the parts of the comb rich with honey, leaving portions intact when possible.

The fresh honey oozes into pots or baskets waiting below. Older members recall how their fathers and grandfathers taught them to whisper prayers to the forest and the bees before each harvest, an act of respect for nature's gift. “Collecting honey feels like receiving a blessing from the forest,” one veteran honey collector said, echoing the reverence many feel for this task.

For these communities, it symbolises a bond with the forest and a test of courage, skill, and knowledge of the wild.

High Risks and Traditional Methods

The traditional methods of honey hunting in Vidarbha are as dangerous as they are time-honoured.

Scaling tall trees in darkness or early dawn carries a high risk of falls. Protective equipment was unheard of in the past many hunters wore only minimal clothing or improvised veils, leaving them exposed to hundreds of angry bee stings. Serious stings and occasional fatalities have always been accepted as an occupational hazard in these remote villages. Despite the danger, the tribes persisted, driven by the value of honey and wax and the lack of alternative livelihoods in these forest areas.

Older honey hunters also admit that the methods they inherited were often destructive. In the thick forests of Gadchiroli and Chandrapur, it was common to use fire directly under a hive to smoke out the bees completely, or even chop off entire tree branches to bring down an inaccessible hive.

The result was a complete destruction of the colony, honeycombs charred or shattered, and countless bees killed in the process. In some cases, if a hive lay within a hollow tree trunk, the collectors would not hesitate to fell the tree itself.

A government survey found nearly 30% of the trees illegally cut in certain tribal pockets were felled just to get at honey bee nests high in the branches. Such practices devastated local bee populations over time and led to concern even within the community as they noticed fewer wild hives in their forests.

Beyond ecological damage, the traditional technique was inefficient for the honey hunters themselves.

Burning or crushing the entire hive yielded impure honey mixed with larvae and wax, which fetched low prices in the market. It was not uncommon for a team of villagers to destroy over 20 large combs and come away with only around 20 kg of honey for all their effort.

Experienced foragers recall how the honey flow has declined compared to decades ago, with climate shifts and deforestation making wild bees more scarce.

Yet despite these challenges, the knowledge possessed by the tribal honey hunters of Vidarbha of bee behaviour, forest geography, and seasons remained invaluable. They could find a bee colony where outsiders saw only leaves, and knew exactly when the hives would be fullest. This intimate understanding of nature kept the tradition alive, even as its drawbacks became increasingly apparent.

Towards Sustainable Honey Harvesting

Over the last two decades, a transformation has been underway in the honey forests of Vidarbha.

Tribal honey hunters, once relying solely on inherited methods, have begun adopting sustainable techniques that protect both bees and harvesters.

The change was spurred by a mix of outside intervention and the community’s own desire to preserve its forests. Environmental organisations and local experts introduced improved practices after seeing the damage from traditional honey hunts.

In the late 2000s, the Centre of Science for Villages in Wardha district pioneered a training program for wild honey collectors. They provided full-body sting-proof suits with veiled hoods, gloves and boots, a stark change from the bare-handed climbs of old.

More importantly, the training taught non-violent harvesting instead of burning entire hives.

Honey hunters learned to use gentle smoke and careful cutting techniques that remove only the honey-laden parts of the comb and spare the queen and brood.

The results have been remarkable. Tribals who once risked severe stings now climb confidently in protective gear, and they report that bees are far less provoked when no fire is used. “The process is safe as it does not harm the bees,” said one Gadchiroli villager after learning the new method.

Honey yields have surged, too. Using scientific collection methods, a trained team of a dozen honey hunters can gather as much as 300 kg of honey in a single day from a forest rich in hives, compared to the meagre 20 kg they used to get by wrecking hive after hive.

This dramatic increase is because now the hunters harvest from many more colonies without destroying them. Bees often return to the same hive within weeks, allowing multiple harvests in one season. In contrast, earlier, when a hive was burned or destroyed, it meant permanent loss of that colony.

Several initiatives underscore this shift. In Gadchiroli’s Maoist-affected Etapalli tehsil, the forest department set up a honey processing centre in 2007 and collaborated with local villagers to promote sustainable collection.

Over 100 tribal youths, mainly Madia Gond villagers, were trained in scientific honey collection and provided with equipment like strainers and containers. In the first four years, the community processing unit gathered 11,140 kg of wild honey, yielding a substantial profit used for village development. Instead of selling raw combs to middlemen at throwaway rates, the trained collectors were paid ₹80 per kilogram, double their previous price.

Similar success is seen in Kurkheda and Korchi areas, where local forest cooperatives now organise honey harvests.

At Salhe village, a forest committee gram sabha procured 17 quintals of honey in both 2020 and 2021, all through sustainable methods that left the bees alive. The gram sabha equipped its honey hunters with modern extraction kits and even established its own filtering and bottling unit.

By branding and selling this forest honey themselves, they paid their members a premium of ₹200 per kilo, significantly higher than the market price. These examples show how empowering tribal collectors with skills and tools has turned honey hunting into a more profitable and ecologically friendly pursuit.

Crucially, the new approach still respects traditional wisdom. Many elders in the community long knew that taking all the honey was harmful, and some practised leaving a portion of each comb for the bees.

The formal training reinforced these instincts with scientific reasoning. Now, smoking out bees with natural leaves without burning the hive has become standard in trained villages. Honey hunters are taught to harvest after peak flowering season, to ensure bees have had time to reproduce and fill the combs.

As one honey hunter put it, “we live and let live”, the motto is to take honey while allowing the colony to thrive for the future. Government agencies have also thrown their weight behind this movement.

The national Tribal Cooperative Marketing Federation launched programs to train over 20,000 tribal honey gatherers across India in better collection and processing of wild honey.

In Maharashtra, an initiative supported by the Khadi Commission and UNDP distributed denim overalls, veiled headgear and steel smokers to honey collectors in the Melghat forests. This enabled Melghat’s Korku tribals to start harvesting rock bee honey at night by cutting just a quarter of each giant comb, obtaining plenty of honey while bees calmly regroup on the remaining comb.

The harvest from Melghat is now sold under a local brand aptly named “Hunting Honey”, turning a traditional skill into a marketable product. What was once a clandestine forest activity has become a semi-organised sector with cooperatives, training workshops, and even honey festivals celebrating the tribal harvest.

Sweet Rewards for Tribal Communities

The shift toward sustainable honey hunting in Vidarbha has brought tangible benefits to the tribal communities.

For families in forest villages, wild honey has always been a precious source of nutrition rich in calories, medicinal enzymes and pollen. Now it has become a source of pride and improved income as well.

With better harvesting techniques, the honey that reaches the market is cleaner, purer, and in higher quantities than ever before.

Laboratory tests on rock bee honey from Wardha and Gadchiroli have confirmed that this wild honey meets all national quality standards for purity and moisture content.

Consumers in cities have developed a growing appetite for such organic forest honey, which they see as a healthy, chemical-free product. This rising demand means tribal collectors can command a higher price if they sell under their own labels. In fact, some of Vidarbha’s wild honey is now marketed well beyond the region.

A government bee research centre in Pune sources organic honey from Melghat’s tribal cooperatives and sells 50–60 kg a day in its outlet, highlighting how sought-after this product has become.

Economic empowerment is evident on the ground. Village honey cooperatives report that the profits from honey are helping fund local needs, from buying school supplies to maintaining water pumps.

In one instance, a gram sabha used honey income to construct a small community centre for meetings and training sessions.

Individual honey hunters who once earned a pittance by selling to middlemen now earn a fair wage for their effort. Many families have been able to afford better food and clothing during the lean monsoon months thanks to the honey harvested in summer. Importantly, the younger generation is showing renewed interest in an ancestral practice now that it is safer and more rewarding.

Youths who might have migrated to cities for odd jobs are choosing to stay back in their villages during the honey season, donning bee suits and learning the ropes from elders. There is a sense of dignity attached to being a skilled honey hunter. They are not just labourers, but guardians of a craft that supports both their community and the forest ecosystem.

Conservationists note a positive ecological ripple effect, too. With fewer colonies being destroyed, wild bee populations in protected forests have a chance to rebound, aiding the pollination of both wild plants and crops.

Forest officers in Vidarbha have observed that areas where tribal groups adopted sustainable honey harvesting saw less indiscriminate tree cutting and a more cooperative approach to forest management. In Gadchiroli, some honey hunter groups have formed watch committees to guard key bee nesting sites, realising that protecting the bees ensures their livelihood for future years.

This community-driven stewardship aligns well with official conservation goals. It stands as a compelling example of how traditional knowledge, when augmented with a bit of modern science, can yield a win-win outcome for people and nature.

The journey of Vidarbha’s tribal honey hunters is still evolving. Challenges like deforestation, erratic climate, and wild animal conflicts remain part of their reality. Yet, there is a newfound optimism buzzing in these forests.

What began as a dangerous forest forage has transformed into a sustainable micro-enterprise, without losing its cultural soul.

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FAQ

Q. Who are the tribal honey hunters of Vidarbha and what do they do?

A. They are indigenous forest dwellers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra who collect wild honey from natural bee hives. Communities like the Gond, Kolam, Korku and Madia tribes scale tall trees or cliffs to harvest honey from giant rock bee colonies. It is a traditional practice passed down through generations, serving as both a source of food and income for these tribal families.

Q. How do Vidarbha’s tribal communities collect honey without harming the bees?

A. Traditionally, honey hunters used smoke and sometimes fire to drive away bees, which often destroyed the hive. Today, many have adopted sustainable methods. They wear protective suits and use gentle smoke made from dried leaves to calm the bees. Instead of taking the entire hive, they cut only portions of the honeycomb that contain honey, leaving the rest intact. This way, the bee colony survives and can regenerate the honeycomb, allowing repeated harvests without killing the bees.

Q. What benefits have the tribal honey hunters seen from modern sustainable harvesting?

A. Switching to safer, non-destructive techniques has greatly increased their honey yield and income. They collect more honey per season since hives aren’t destroyed and can be harvested again. The honey is purer, fetching higher prices, often double what they used to get from middlemen. Many honey hunter groups now sell under cooperative brands or to government outlets, ensuring fair payment. Additionally, using protective gear has made honey hunting much safer, encouraging younger members of the community to continue the practice without the high risk their elders faced.