Bindaram Momin is an apiculture farmer, wellknown for making honey in Chitchotcheng a village in North Garo Hills. His honey is popular amongst the locals and this livelihood is presently his primary source of income. But back in 2006 he spent most of his time on his paddy fields, making a megre living by growing and selling paddy. His two daughters along with his three sons helped at home by collecting firewood from the nearby forests while his wife spent most of her time in the kitchen.
In 2006, Bindaram was approached by a Cluster Supervisor of the erstwhile Meghalaya Rural Development Society (MRDS) offering him an opportunity to be a part of new Self Help Group (SHG) to which Bindaram readily accepted. With the MRDS guiding him, he became a village level promoter in the same year. On seeing his dedication and enthusiastic participation in all activities of the SHG, the then Project Manager of MRDS made him a Cluster Level Supervisor overseeing activities under the project in over 25 villages. In this new role, he quickly gained prominence amongst people in his cluster. He, along with several other cluster level supervisors, all hailing from North Garo Hills, was given a series of trainings at Balipara Aragaon in Assam, Rongram in West Garo Hills and Williamnagar in East Garo Hills, to enhance his basic managerial and Book Keeping skills.
In one of the trainings, Bindaram learnt about bee keeping and was taught how to make bee boxes.This intrigued him and upon his return, he decided to start rearing honey bees. Using his new technical skill, he constructed two bee boxes on his own for the very first time. Then along with his friends, explored a nearby forest in search of Queen Bees and was able to find and catch two.Fast forward six months later and Bindaram has extracted his first honey.
At first, the thought of selling his honey did not cross his mind and he mostly used the honey for his own consumption. Sometimes he would share it with his relatives and neighbours. But as word about his honey spread, the people in Chitchotcheng village started approaching him for honey. In Meghalaya, honey is not only used for consumption but also as a beauty product, and for its health benefits. It soon struck Bindaram that this activity might potentially provide him with extra income, and so he set out to pursue this opportunity. Within a few months, his customer base grew exponentially. Many of them came from towns in neighbouring districts including Tura, Williamnagar and Bajengdoba.
On seeing his progress, MRDS inducted him as a Master Trainer and Model Bee Keeper to inspire and train other potential bee keepers in the state. In 2012, as the MRDS was wrapping up, its employees introduced him to the Integrated Basin Development and Livelihood Promotion Programme (IBDLP) at the time when it was just launched. The Meghalaya Institute of Entrepreneurship (MIE) under this programme noticed Bindaram and identified him as a progressive bee farmer. He was invited to register with MIE during one of their workshops conducted by the renowned Prof. L.R Verma, one of the leaders of the Apiculture Mission in the state under the IBDLP programme.
In the same year, MIE in collaboration with the Commerce and Industries Department sent Bindaram and four other farmers to the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore for advanced training on Bee Keeping where he gained further knowledge on bee keeping methods including how to segregate bee colonies. Using this new technique, he was able to create 62 bee colonies for himself.
With his reputation growing, one of the Border Area Development Officers (BADO) approached him in 2014 and invited him as a resource person to impart training to other farmers at the Raksamgre Training Centre, to which Bindaram accepted. During the training he also assisted the Officer in making bee boxes. Bindaram made 150 bee boxes and each box sold for Rs. 1,500 against a manufacturing cost of Rs. 1,000. In return, the Officer gave him 10 bee stands as a token of appreciation. Similarly, the Department of Commerce and Industries on learning about Bindaram, invited him to participate and assist in a workshop on apiculture that was held at the Rural Resource and Training Centre (RRTC), Umran for a week. The training was attended by 30 master trainers.
By the end of 2014, Bindaram’s 62 Bee colonies were producing 250 kgs of honey annually which he extracts twice in a year - October to November being first season and December to May being the more productive second. Bindaram’s bee keeping business was thriving but what transpired next was completely unforeseen as tragedy struck Chitchotcheng. On 22nd of September after 24 hours of incessant rainfall, a flood broke out in Chitchotcheng and all areas in its vicinity. The water level rose so high that all his bee colonies were washed away in the flood. The very next day as water levels receded, he quickly searched the area to retrieve what was left of his bee boxes and after an entire day of searching, he could only save 24 boxes. The rest of the boxes and all the bee colonies were lost.
This was a big blow for Bindaram who had spent years raising his bee colonies which were also his only source of livelihood. With no options left, Bindaram went back to nearby jungles hunting for Queen Bees. Slowly, with dedication and perseverance, he was able to restore 27 bee colonies. Today, Bindaram has a farm of 30 bee colonies. With further support from the Basin Development Unit (BDU) in North Garo Hills District, he has been able to package and label his honey which has added significant value to it. Bindaram packages the honey himself but takes the support of the Basin Development Unit (BDU) under the IBDLP for labelling. A 300 gm. bottle of honey sells for Rs. 100. His 30 colonies produce about 100 Kgs of honey in a year from which he earns about Rs. 30,000. He hopes this will improve his income from bee keeping.
In addition to selling honey, Bindaram has also started selling honey extractor tools. In a recent exposure visit to Dimapur, he sold Rs 1,500 worth of tools. For now, Bindaram is content with beekeeping, adding that it is sufficient to support him and his family. In the future, whenever he gets financial assistance, he hopes to diversify his livelihood activities and maybe take up piggery and poultry as well.