Mouals (honey collectors) started honey collection and crude wax from Monday (April 1). Although the authorities concerned of the Department of Forestry fixed the date of honey collection from March 15, the mouals failed to procure their permits in due time. Rather, they made necessary preparations including repairing their boats and managing money for their journey to the Eastern Sunderbans to hunt honey and collect wax from April-1.
Department of Forestry (DoF) informed that more than 2,000 mouals or honey collectors are likely to enter the Sunderbans to collect the targeted 600 quintals of honey and 200 quintals of wax from the Sarankhola Range during the current season. During the last year, a total of 541 quintals of honey and 161 quintals of wax were collected from the same range.
DoF sources further informed though the permission for collecting honey and wax from the Eastern Sunderbans was issued to the mouals from March 15, they are reluctant to enter the forest before April 1 since no flowers bloomed on the trees of the forest during the March. Rather, an advanced flowering on the trees of the Western Sunderbans appeared at the end of March and the mouals went to Satkhira and Koyra areas to collect honey and wax from there. Such advanced flowering on some trees in some parts of the Sunderbans is mainly caused by the impact of climate change.
Mouals Aslam Howalder of village Golbuniua, Awal Khan of village Khurikhali, Mofazzel Hossain of village Utter Siouthkhali, Sagir Hossain from Bogi village and Jalal Mollah from Sarnakhola village under Sarankhola Upazila informed more than 1,000 mouals riding on 70 to 80 boats would start their journey for the Southern Sunderbans were to collect honey and wax on April-1. They informed, it would be futile to visit the Sunderbans 15 days ahead since no honey is stored in the honeycombs on the trees during that period.
They further said, they have been hunting honey from the Sunderbans for the last 10 to 12 years and started their journey inside the forest from April-1. They further informed huge flowers bloom after the rainfall but those flowers dried up in the sunshine. The more fresh the flowers, the more collection the honey. A moual can collect 10 to 12 kilogrammes of honey from a standard-sized honey comb.
They said, last year every member of their team collected two maunds of honey. They had to spend Taka 12,000 to 15,000 each for the collection of permits, paying government duties and the cost of food. By selling the collected honey each of them earned Taka 60,000. They expect they would be able to collect sufficient honey this year since there was an advanced rainfall recently.
Honey trader Rusel Ahmed and Jalal Mollah informed, they invested Taka 300,000 last year to purchase and sell honey and sold some 14 maunds of honey. Each Kilogramme of honey was sold at Taka 1,000 to 1,200 according to the quality.
They informed, the best quality honey derived from the Sunderbans is from the flowers of Khalisa and the Goran trees during April. The honey from the Keora and Shaila flowers is collected during the month of May and the honey from the Geyoa flowers is collected through the month of June.
Sarankhola Station Officer Nazrul Islam informed each moual is issued a permit for 14 days. The mouals are required to follow nine instructions to collect honey and wax from inside the Sunderbans. They are never allowed to use fire, fire-torch, any other form of inflammable materials or any chemical to drive away bees. Sarankhola Range Office, Mahbub Hasan informed the mouals would start entering the Sunderbans from April 1 (Monday). Due to the impact of climate change, the times of the blooming of flowers in the Sundarbans fluctuate in various ranges and the flowering in the Eastern range is belated in compared to that of the Western range of the Sunderbans.