The collective is currently offering three varieties: the shisham, litchi and Kangra forest honeys, and will source multiflora honey from Bharmour and Lahaul and Spiti, and Chichiri honey, made from the nectar of the Indian Borage, later in the year

Through extensive research, which involves digging through ethnobotanical and medical journals, as well as consultations with scientists and horticulturists, they go into pristine areas in Himachal Pradesh to harvest the honey. “The honey has the properties of the flower the bee makes it from. We go into areas free of pesticides or other man-made interventions,” informs Singh. “If you go into Punjab to harvest sarson or jamun honey, with their industrial-scale operations and spraying [of pesticides], the bees will bring back honey, which will contain pesticides. Plus, the continuous inhalation of these pesticides make them sick.” The collective currently has three varieties—the shisham, litchi and Kangra forest honeys, and will source multiflora honey from Bharmour and Lahaul and Spiti, and Chichiri honey, made from the nectar of the Indian Borage, later in the year. Kochupillai and Singh have also been able to train local women in allied activities such as harvesting beeswax to make candles and lip balms. Beekeeping has traditionally been a male-dominated profession, which they say, women have avoided for the fear of the sting.

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Malini Kochupillai and Kunal Singh

The pandemic hasn’t hit the collective too hard. While honey sales have steadily grown as people have become more conscious of its immunity-boosting properties, it has also brought them closer to the community, say the former Delhi residents. Being in the village helped them understand the ways in which they could intervene at the local level. “From the get-go, we wanted to develop a private limited company because we wanted to promote the idea that socially- and environmentally-conscious businesses do not need to be based on a neo-liberal capitalist model where you are only extracting for your profits,” says Kochupillai, who believed that even within a commercial model, it was possible to work towards the advancement of all the players. Mountain homes have had the tradition of making niches in walls for bees to make hives in, she says, pointing out how reciprocity has been central to this inter-species relationship. “I think it is possible for businesses to be reciprocal in their actions [too]. If you’re taking honey from the bees, it is only natural that you should do something for them in return.”

To buy the honey sourced by the Tenacious Bee Collective, visit: https://tenaciousbee.com/shop