By -Manha Bathari
Medziphema, to my great surprise, I noticed a large number of small boxes, about 30 in numbers, were attached to a row of wooden poles and walls in one of the house we visited.
Do you know what are inside the boxes?
Bees, yes bees.
What’s really special about these bees is that they are stingless – and known as Trigona or Bere Kusmai in Dimasa . They belong to the family Apidae. They are called Stingless because they lack sting unlike other bees. A swarm of these stingless bees (meliponines) could be seen buzzing inside the boxes and outside in some wild grasses. It was quite an amazing sight.
I was surprised to see people rearing these bees in such a large number. I didn’t know it really prior to my visit. The farmer gave us a bottle of honey and asked us to taste it, took a few drop in my palm and I tasted the honey and my subsequent reaction to the honey was...
“Eh why does it taste sour? And it’s not so sticky, like normal honey? Stingless bee honey also contains much less sugar than regular honey, which is why it has a tangy taste. It’s like honey lemon drink. The farmer then smiled and said, “Yes, it’s different and we use them as antiseptic, hasten healing, relieve cough and in curing burns, boils and in many aspect” and “One litre of this honey cost more than a thousand here in Nagaland”, he added.
I immediately googled and collected some more information regarding these beautiful beneficial creature. Stingless bee honey is twice as nutritious as ordinary honey, according to the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute. Many known health benefits of eating stingless bee honey regularly include anti-ageing, enhanced immune system, fighting bacteria and treating bronchial catarrh, sore throat, coughs and colds. Stingless Bee Honey is called MOTHER MEDICINE and an increasing number of traditional practitioners and researchers suggest its use.
The stingless bees attack the soft part of your skin like eyelids, lips, face and neck. They also tangle in your hair although they don’t sting during an encounter. They can be aggressive too, especially when threatened. The wonderful creature besides pollinating our crops, its honey has tremendous health benefits. This very survey was a great learning experience for me.
Dima Hasao district is totally a virgin area, not yet exploited and is a save place for these creatures to be preserved. Our district is rich of natural resources we only need to know is, how to perceive them. Nature has gifted us with all the wonderful creatures the only thing we need is to know make the best use of them.
( The writer Manha Bathari is a Ph.D Scholar Department of Entomology in Assam Agricultural University, as per his information. His email is - Mannha69@gmail.com )
Do you know what are inside the boxes?
Bees, yes bees.
What’s really special about these bees is that they are stingless – and known as Trigona or Bere Kusmai in Dimasa . They belong to the family Apidae. They are called Stingless because they lack sting unlike other bees. A swarm of these stingless bees (meliponines) could be seen buzzing inside the boxes and outside in some wild grasses. It was quite an amazing sight.
I was surprised to see people rearing these bees in such a large number. I didn’t know it really prior to my visit. The farmer gave us a bottle of honey and asked us to taste it, took a few drop in my palm and I tasted the honey and my subsequent reaction to the honey was...
“Eh why does it taste sour? And it’s not so sticky, like normal honey? Stingless bee honey also contains much less sugar than regular honey, which is why it has a tangy taste. It’s like honey lemon drink. The farmer then smiled and said, “Yes, it’s different and we use them as antiseptic, hasten healing, relieve cough and in curing burns, boils and in many aspect” and “One litre of this honey cost more than a thousand here in Nagaland”, he added.
I immediately googled and collected some more information regarding these beautiful beneficial creature. Stingless bee honey is twice as nutritious as ordinary honey, according to the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute. Many known health benefits of eating stingless bee honey regularly include anti-ageing, enhanced immune system, fighting bacteria and treating bronchial catarrh, sore throat, coughs and colds. Stingless Bee Honey is called MOTHER MEDICINE and an increasing number of traditional practitioners and researchers suggest its use.
The stingless bees attack the soft part of your skin like eyelids, lips, face and neck. They also tangle in your hair although they don’t sting during an encounter. They can be aggressive too, especially when threatened. The wonderful creature besides pollinating our crops, its honey has tremendous health benefits. This very survey was a great learning experience for me.
Dima Hasao district is totally a virgin area, not yet exploited and is a save place for these creatures to be preserved. Our district is rich of natural resources we only need to know is, how to perceive them. Nature has gifted us with all the wonderful creatures the only thing we need is to know make the best use of them.
( The writer Manha Bathari is a Ph.D Scholar Department of Entomology in Assam Agricultural University, as per his information. His email is - Mannha69@gmail.com )
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