Baby C.M, who hails from Thrissur, Kerala, is a honey bee farmer producing natural honey for the past 29 years. He started beekeeping in 1987 after attending a training program conducted by Khadi and Village Industries Board of Kerala (KVIB). He produces first grade quality honey and has been marketing it commercially in the brand name of Kairali since 1990. Beekeeping is a kind of passion and habit for Baby.
Baby's bee farm is set across the rubber plantation which is the most suitable and prominent resource of honey. Baby uses stingless honeybees for producing apiary honey and is extracted using honey extractors. The bee colony is elaborately positioned with combs built on wooden frames. Special care is also taken to keep the bee hive boxes dry and without dampness.
Touches of Baby’s extensive experience in beekeeping can be seen in the farming methods that he has adopted and in the techniques he utilize to keep bee colonies strong and healthy. Flow management and dearth management are well maintained in Baby’s natural bee farms. The farm employs the local people to take immense care of the bee colonies with regular attention and management and in turn ensuring increased and quality yield.
Baby avoids artificial sugar water feeding methods in his bee colonies and depends on natural honey collection of the bees from the rubber plantation and nearby forest region. Being situated below the ranches of Chalakkudi forest, the bee farm has the advantage of its nearby flora and fauna which adds to the medicinal value and quality of the honey as well.
The honey produced has a good local and national market and is also certified with AGMARK (by Central Government of India in 2002) and FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in 2012).
According to Baby, bee farming is a sustainable resource of income for the rural and tribal farmers in India. It requires only modest financial investment that too is subsidized and supported by KVIBs across the states. He is also enthusiastic in conducting classes and sharing his experience and knowledge in honey bee farming to the new beekeepers through training and campaign programs.He thinks those who are keenly interested in beekeeping can have assured yield from its business. He himself started with just three bee hives . Over the years this steadily increased to 30s, 60s, and now to an extensive bee farm with over 800 bee hives and consistently producing about 750 Kg of pure honey every month.