Honey Collection Trip

The Sundarbans Forest Starts to bloom in march. This attracts swarms of the Giant Asian honey bees (Apis dorsata) to move in. They construct singe combs sometimes several meters high in tree sometimes just  in eye-level the honey  is  collected by local honey hunters (Mawalis) from early April onward. They  work in groups of 8 men living together on a boat as floating shelter  While rushing through  the forest the Mawalis keep  contact by calling  each other as soon as a  honey comb is  detected. They light smoke torches prepared from dry leaves for driving the bees away. Then they cut the honey Bearing parts of the comb quickly down, before the bee returns.

The Mawalis can earn a good amount of money within a few weeks from the sale of honey and wax. but the rest of the year they are to find other jobs. Tourist like to join the Mawalis from the opening ceremony at the forest office to the dense forest it’s a special adventure to follow them through mud and Mangrove roots and to share enthusiasm for the golden liquid