Bathinda, April 6 -- The ongoing inclement weather has dashed the hopes of apiarists in Punjab. According to stakeholders, the unseasonal rains have caused widespread damage to the wild flora, the key source of nectar for honeybees. Progressive farmers engaged in apiculture say this is the second honey harvest cycle in the past four months in which beekeepers have suffered heavy losses. Jatinder Sohi, president of the Progressive Beekeepers' Association, said that every year from March 20 to April 8, beekeepers take bee boxes to the lower Shivalik mountain ranges where bees collect nectar from rosewood (sheesham), eucalyptus, curry leaf plants, and a wide range of other wildflowers in Rupnagar, Pathankot and adjoining areas in Himachal Pradesh. "Due to rain and hailstorms, the natural nectar collection zone has been ravaged. The short window of nearly three weeks was crucial for beekeepers to get multi-flora honey, but frequent downpours damaged flowers and affected nectar collection," said Sohi. Punjab's estimated annual honey production is around 18,000 tonnes, and mostly marginal farmers or landless entrepreneurs are engaged in apiculture. Unlike the honey variety produced from mustard flowers, natural honey produced from multi-flora does not crystallise and is thus called liquid honey. While mustard honey is an export-oriented product, the other variety is in high demand in the Indian market. "In the absence of any support from the Union and Punjab governments, apiculture in the state has seen a downward trend since 2020. In 2023, too, untimely rains had hit apiaries, but beekeepers were not compensated," said Sohi. He said that owing to confusion over tariffs imposed by the US on honey, the traders are not offering competitive rates. "While the honey sector was waiting for clarity on the tariff scenario in the US-the main consumer of creamy honey derived from mustard flowers-the Donald Trump regime became engaged in a war with Iran. Now, everything is up in the air, and apiarists have no option but to keep the honey in cold stores and wait, which means a rise in the cost of inputs," added Sohi. Kuldeep Singh, an apiarist from Bandi village in Bathinda, said it was a double whammy for beekeepers, as after low rates for mustard, production of other honey varieties meant for the domestic market was severely hit by the unexpected cold weather in April. He said that the temperature in the first three weeks of April should be above 30deg Celsius for nectar collection, but rains have lowered the temperature, while gusty winds and spells of hailstorms have damaged the flora. "It costs Rs.60,000 only to transport a van containing about 300 bee boxes to the lower Shivaliks for nectar collection. A beekeeper easily harvests 7-10 kg of liquid honey from a bee box, but this time, the yield is unlikely to be more than 4 kg," he added. One kg of honey costs about Rs.100. Facing losses in two consecutive honey harvest seasons has hit apiarists hard, he said. "Prior to the current season, export-oriented mustard honey business in winter was also dismal. We had a good harvest, but prices dropped drastically to Rs.85 per kg due to less demand from the US, and at this rate, we cannot even recover the cost," he said. Narpinder Dhaliwal, national-awardee beekeeper from Moga, said that, like wheat and mustard growers, apiarists also suffered due to the rough weather, but the state government did not devise a policy to compensate beekeepers. "The central and state governments have parameters to compensate farmers engaged in crop cultivation, goatry and poultry from natural disaster relief funds, but beekeepers are not included," said Dhaliwal....