Sweetening livelihoods, one beehive at a time

As wild honey becomes harder to find and traditional honey collection grows increasingly risky, scientific beekeeping is offering tribal women a safer and more sustainable livelihood, with support from the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP).

For Mankidi Prashanthi (35), an SHG member from Ankampalle in S.S. Tadvai mandal of Mulugu district, beekeeping represents a shift away from her family’s traditional livelihood. “My husband has been an expert at harvesting wild honey from the forest. For many years, honey was an important source of income for our family, bringing us around ₹30,000 to ₹50,000 a year. But the forests have changed. The honeycombs that were once abundant have become increasingly difficult to find,” she said.

Prashanthi added that training and technical support from SERP and Buzzworthy Ventures Private Limited, also known as Humble Bee, had helped her gain confidence.