World Bee Day 2025 celebrated in Jalukie

NBHM team along with participants and others after observing World Bee Day 2025 in Jalukie town on May 20.

• MOKOKCHUNG — The Nagaland Community Conserved Areas Forum (NCCAF), in collaboration with the Nagaland Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM), celebrated World Bee Day 2025 in Jalukie town under Peren district on May 20.
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• Bringing together village leaders, grassroots communities and stakeholders, the programme underscored the vital role bees in conserving biodiversity, food security and sustainable rural livelihoods. It also urged action to protect pollinators amid global threats.

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• Delivering the keynote address, Khuvozoyi Vese, NBHM deputy team leader, described bees as ‘architects of life on earth’ and warned that the ecosystem would collapse without them.
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• Vese noted that bees pollinate 90% of flowering plants and 75% of global food crops, underscoring their role in biodiversity and nutrition. Highlighting Nagaland’s 13,500 sq. km of bee-forage area and native species like Apis cerana and Tetragonula, he called for urgent measures against habitat degradation, pesticide use and climate change.
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• “Bees are bio-indicators; their decline signals an environmental crisis,” Vese said.
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• The first session, chaired by Seve Vadeo, secretary of NCCAF, began with an invocation prayer said by Rev. Kuzierang Thou, former state chaplain, followed by a historical overview of NCCAF’s conservation efforts by chairman, Heirang Lunglang.
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• The second session, facilitated by Setsachem Sangtam, treasurer of NCCAF, focused on scaling apiculture through practical and policy strategies.
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• Bokali A Chikhe, NBHM team member, outlined beekeeping’s transformative potential with Nagaland’s current 440 metric tons of honey (INR 39.6 crore) poised to reach 30,000 metric tons of honey and 50 metric tons of beeswax, potentially injecting INR 750 crore into the rural economy.
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• “Beekeeping is inclusive, requiring minimal land and empowering women, youth, and landless farmers,” she said.
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• Chikhe highlighted bees’ role in pollinating wild flora and supporting agroforestry, citing ‘Eco-Api Villages’ that integrates apiculture with organic farming, fisheries, and terrace agriculture.
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• To address the challenges like market volatility and high organic certification costs, she stated that NBHM is in the process to train 22,000 beekeepers, promote eco-friendly hives and strengthening local value chains via village beekeeping committees and women self-help groups.
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• The special guest and deputy commissioner of Pern, Hiazu Meru, emphasised the critical role played by bees in organic farming.
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• “Bees are the backbone of chemical-free agriculture, ensuring ecological balance and sustainable incomes,” he said.
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• Tokugha Sumi, NCCAF vice chairman, advocated reviving traditional ecological wisdom and forest stewardship, reinforcing bees as guardians of biodiversity and food systems.