Bees - both Indian and Italian - have emerged as the new lifeline for the depressed rubber farmers in South Kerala, in the wake of the continuing decline in rubber prices. For Kerala's rubber growers, honey is money is the new catch phrase.

According to informal reports from farmers, in Thiruvananthapuram district alone, there is an increase of atleast 30 per cent in the number of rubber farmers shifted to honey production. "It is surprising that the rubber growers haven't seen the behavioral nexus between the rubber latex and honey till now," said Anil Mathew, secretary of Poozhikkunu Honey Farmers' Association. Earlier also, bee-keeping was accepted as a viable inter-crop for rubber farms. However, the farmers now recognise the fact that the lean season in rubber production is the honey season, which increases its viability. The bees open their account for the year in December when the rubber trees start flowering. The season continues well into March.

According to Mr Neyyattinkara Sadasivam, a bee-keeper for the last 10 years, most of the farmers have been driven to bee-keeping out of desperation from the standstill in rubber prices. This is only a breather. Unlike the farmers in China who get bee-food and other hive inputs at heavy subsidies from their government, we cannot survive the 8-month off-season with the profits from the 4-months honey season. Once the rubber prices recover, most of these farmers will start focusing on latex, their bread and butter, he s

ays.The Southern Kerala's sudden progress in bee-keeping is also attributed to the introduction of Italian bees in Thiruvananthapuram district by Central Tuber Crops Research Centre (CTCRI) in the late nineties. Apis Mellicera, the Italian breed, was not only found to be 30-40 per cent higher yielding than the Indian variety, but also actually improved its performance in the Western Ghats climate compared to its own native European climate. However, CTCRI failed to support the programme with the introduction of a proper marketing net work.

Although eyebrows are instantly up at new-found aphorisms like "honey is money," more and more growers have started following the trend considering the viability of the plan. A well-cared beehive produces 30-50 kilos of honey. A 750-ml bottle of amber honey yields about Rs 45-50 in the peak-season and upto Rs 60 per bottle in the off-season. However, seasoned bee farmers say that too many players have taken the lustre out of the honey prices in the last couple of years.

Poozhikunnu village, about 70 km south of Thiruvananthapuram, is the hub of the new converts in apiary business. Each farmer has 50-1000 beehives. Not counting the growing beehives in the neighbouring Parasala, Kulathur, Chengal and Kodkara, there are about 2000 bee-keepers in Poozhikunnu.

The honey from Thiruvananthapuram is collected and marketed by organisations in Trissur and Kottayam to buyers in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkotta. Though there are innumerable local horticultural societies to sell bees at heavily subsidised prices, neither government agencies nor private enterprises has taken initiative to set up a local marketing facility for this seasonal product.