'Honey villages & parks': Maharashtra government working on ‘honey tourism’

Mumbai: With the concept of ‘honey villages’ and ‘honey parks’ slowly gaining place, the Maharashtra government is now working on ‘honey tourism’ and positioning the state among the top honey producers in India and competing in international markets.

The Directorate of Honey, which works under the aegis of the Maharashtra State Khadi and Village Industries Board (MSKVIB) and is working on it, is located in the picturesque hill station of Mahabaleshwar in Satara district.

The MSKVIB is promoting integrated beekeeping, bee-breeding and honey production schemes.

On May 16, 2022, the first honey village (Madhachegaav) was established in Manghar village in Mahabaleshwar. The people of the village have got permanent employment through beekeeping. This was followed by Patgaon in the Kolhapur district.

On February 4, 2024, the first honey park (Madhuban) was inaugurated in the hill station of Mahabaleshwar. It has thirty beehives, honey collection machines, processing tools, swarm nets, queen bee breeding equipment, pollen traps, and bee whales, offering a comprehensive platform for education on honey production.

The second honey park is coming up in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai. The honey park is in a PPP model. The park has 30 bee boxes - and one set is used for demonstration.

“We are now working on the concept of honey tourism,” MSKVIB Chairperson Ravindra Sathe told DH. “We have decided to have one honey village in each of Maharashtra’s districts. We are selecting the villages carefully. We want this to be in the vicinity of popular tourist destinations,” Sathe said, adding that the primary goal is to spread information about honey.

“Our organic honey is sold under the Madhuban brand. We collect honey from registered farmers, beekeepers. We perform various physical and chemical tests in the laboratory for purity as per the quality parameters. Madhuban laboratory has advanced equipment for testing and processing of honey. Processed honey packaged in the glass bottles for sale,” he said.,

“We are undertaking the work of imparting training in beekeeping, supply of bee boxes, providing technical guidance, supply of bee-colonies, distribution of bee queens, capturing of colonies and breeding of new colonies, production of honey through nursery colonies, research, processing of honey, sale of honey and wax,” said Sathe.

As far as India is concerned, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat are in leadership positions in honey production. “However, we must look at Israel and their standing in honey in terms of search, technologies, production despite their geographical size and climatic conditions,” said Sathe, adding that India is extracting only a small part of its potential. “At world level India stands at No 4 position in honey production,” he said.

“To start with, we are collaborating with various departments like Agriculture, Horticulture and Tourism,” he said.

The Pune-based Central Honeybee Research & Training Institute, which functions under Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) too is giving inputs.