Traditional Honey Hunters in Nepal

By APD Writer Zhao Huiran

Balancing on handmade rope ladders secured at the top and bottom of the cliff, the Gurung tribesmen in Nepal are the master of honey hunters. They scale massive cliffs to collect the wild honey made by the world’s largest honeybee (the honeybee can grow to be up to 3 cm in length), which is extraordinarily dangerous.

Photograph by Renan Ozturk

Honey hunting is almost the oldest known human activity. Nepalese Gurung tribe members, called “honey hunters”, follow the ancient tradition for thousands of years, which can be traced back to about 11,000 BC. They risk their lives to collect honeycombs in the foothills of the Himalayas, using nothing more than bamboo rope ladders and long sticks, known as tangos.

Photograph by Renan Ozturk

Twice a year, the Gurung honey hunters come to the mountains of Nepal’s Hongu River valley to collect honey. Before starting the hurt, hunters will hold a ritual, praying to cliff gods for their safety.

Photograph by Andrew Newey

Most of the honey bees' nests are located on steep cliff-face to avoid predators. The hunter uses smoke to drive thousands of angry bees out of their nests. Before he grabs the support rope beside him, a misstep could be fatal. He carefully chops at the exposed honeycomb with his bamboo stick to break it from the cliff-face, where the Himalayan giant honeybees are guarding the intoxicating honey.

The honey activity in every harvest season brings about 200 liters of honey for the whole village, which is equally distributed to each villager.

Spring "red honey" is usually more abundant and often exported as a medicine to Japan, South Korea and China.

Photograph by Renan Ozturk

Due to a changing climate and dwindling bee population, this tradition carried on for generations, might not last much longer. Another major threat to traditional honey hunting comes from the large influx of tourists and booming tourism industry.

Processing honey and wax. Photograph by Renan Ozturk

The honey is now harvested out of the normal season. However, honey gathering activities should only be carried out twice a year that can guarantee the quality of honey.

Rhododendron reduction is another reason, which is the result of clearing mountain paths for travelers.