Lamjung, October 29

Commercial bee farming is increasing in Lamjung district of late.

Bodh Raj Thapa Magar, of Gauda–2, Umliswara, has been generating a decent income through bee keeping in the district. He said he’d started the farming in 1984 and now has 60 bee hives.

“Bee farming has become a profession in the district. A considerable number of local youths are currently involved in the profession,” he said, adding that he earns over seven lakh rupees a year from bee farming.

Meanwhile, District Agriculture Development Office, Lamjung has also launched various youth oriented programmes after assessing the high prospect of bee farming in the district.

Agriculture Conservation Officer at the DADO, Chandra Ram Chaudhary, said they had distributed 200 hives with bees to 20 youths and 350 bee hives in 50 per cent subsidy last year.

According to Senior Agriculture Development Officer of the district, Krishna Bhadra Adhikari, 13 metric tons of honey was produced in the last fiscal and the local bee farmers earned Rs 7.1 million from the honey.

The district produced eight metric tons of honey and it was sold for Rs 5 million in 2013/14.

The district has witnessed a considerable rise in honey production with growing afforestation. Of the total production, four metric tons of honey is sold within the district.