MSKVIB mulls 'friends of honeybees' plan for bee conservation

The Maharashtra State Khadi and Village Industries Board (MSKVIB) plans to start an initiative called the "friends of honeybees" to curb the harmful methods employed to remove beehives in urban areas, a senior official said today.

Vishal Chordia, chairperson of MSKVIB, said that these "friends of honeybees" would have proper training for the scientific removal of beehives, without killing the bees.

"Calling pest control agencies to remove beehives, setting fire underneath them are harmful methods. In order to curb these harmful methods, we are exploring the setting up of friends of honeybees," he said.

He said that a dedicated helpline number would be set up on which people could call and inform about the location of beehives in their areas.

These would be important steps for bee conservation as well as to create awareness among people that honey bees are an important factor in our ecology, he said.

The MSKVIB also proposes to set up a "Honey Park" at Mahabaleshwar in western Maharashtra which will act as a tourist attraction as well as research and awareness centre, he added.

"This one of its kind park in the country will act as a tourist destination and as an awareness centre loaded with attractions for kids and adults. The park will underline the importance of conservation of bees," Chordia informed.

He said the park will also serve as a research centre and will have information on beekeeping, business opportunities related to bees, ways to check the purity of honey apart from other aspects.