Five days' training and 20 boxes for Tk 1 lakh; in a year and a half, Tk 40-50 thousand a month and 200 regular buyers

A young man in Jamalpur town, educated up to HSC, had long been without a steady job. Tutoring, a private-sector job and a small grocery shop all failed to keep the household going. In January 2024, on a senior's advice, he took five days' beekeeping training. With Tk 1 lakh in capital he started with 20 bee boxes. At first he was very afraid and the bees stung him. Now he runs a business named 'Jamalpur Mou Khamar' from home, sells honey retail and wholesale, and has a Facebook page. Honey can be harvested from November to May each year; in this period he takes his boxes to Jamalpur, Sarishabari, Tangail, Dinajpur and Sunamganj, staying for months near mustard, sesame, black cumin, litchi and rubber plantations. He takes honey from each box two to three times a month. Retail prices per kilo are Tk 1,400 for black cumin honey, Tk 1,600 for rubber-leaf, Tk 1,000 for sesame, Tk 600 for litchi flower and Tk 400 for mustard. In his words there is a lot of adulterated honey in the market; he sells pure honey, so anyone who buys once comes back, and in a short time he has about 200 regular buyers. His monthly income is now Tk 40 to 50 thousand. Next year he wants to buy 50 more boxes, and he wants to teach unemployed youth beekeeping.