Majuwa is a small village nestled in the forest of Pakhribas Municipality-9 in Dhankuta. Surrounded by jungle and hills, this settlement in a ravine has been thinning out due to migration. In search of opportunities, villagers have left their homes empty and moved away.

Even as friends and fellow villagers have departed, 45-year-old Sukra Rai is seeking a professional future in beekeeping, fish farming, goat rearing, and banana cultivation. From early morning until late at night, he is busy tending to his bees, goats, fish, and banana crops. After working in Malaysia for about eight years, Rai returned to his village 15 years ago and, despite the ongoing migration, devised a business plan in his own village. His determination to turn the outmigration into an opportunity is now leading him toward success.

After returning to the village, he has been enjoying beekeeping, goat and fish farming, and banana cultivation. Upon returning from Malaysia, he initially tried his hand at fresh vegetable production but was not as successful as he had hoped. “Although the vegetable yield was good, the market was far away, making sales difficult,” he said. “Even with a bountiful harvest, I found it hard to sell easily, so I gave up vegetable farming and turned to beekeeping.”

The nearest market for selling vegetables from his village is Hile, which is 10 kilometers uphill from Majuwa. Realizing he could not deliver vegetables to the market daily via the steep, rough road, Sukra decided to professionalize the beekeeping trade his forefathers had practiced. At that time, he already had 60 traditional wooden hives. Seeing his dedication to beekeeping, Pakhribas Municipality provided him with two modern hives. After that, he was inspired to transition from traditional to modern beekeeping.

He says he produces up to 5 quintals of honey annually. He has his own customers for honey, and any surplus is sold in the local market. He sells honey extracted from the honeycomb and without the comb for 1,500 rupees, and honey with the comb for 1,200 rupees. The main part of his income, however, comes not from honey but from selling bee colonies and hives. He said, “Last year, I sold 700 empty hives and over 300 hives with bee colonies. There was an election last year, the government changed, and local programs were cut, so sales didn’t go as well.” He sends bee hives and colonies to local governments.

He says he focuses more on bee colonies and hives than on honey production and sales. Sukra sells a modern hive with five frames of bees for 10,000 to 12,000 rupees. The price of bee colonies also varies by season, he said. “In Kartik and Mangsir, a five-frame bee colony and hive cost 13,000 rupees,” he said, “In Chaitra–Baisakh, the same hive sells for 12,000, and in the off-season, I have to sell it for just 10,000.”

He said his household runs on the sale of bee hives. He receives orders for bee hives and colonies from various local governments, farmers’ groups, and individuals in Dhankuta. In addition, he sends bee colonies and hives on order to Terhathum, Bhojpur, Sankhuwasabha, Khotang, and Udayapur as well. He says he sees the potential for income right in the village if one can arrange a plan and initial investment. His son and daughter-in-law live separately. He and his wife keep local Apis cerana bees.

Eight locals from the village have found employment making modern bee hives for Rai. He says, “For 10 months of the year, we make and sell hives.” Bees especially like hives made from the wood of the tun tree. But nowadays, it is very difficult to find tun wood. He complains that since tun wood is no longer available nearby, he has to travel far to get it. Tun wood is especially used for making bee hives. He says, “Now tun wood is not available. The private supply is running out, and you can’t cut from the community forest, so you have to go as far as Pakhribas, Shahidbhumi, and other distant places to find wood.”

Along with bees, he keeps 65 to 70 goats and bucks, which also provide a good income. Of his 60 ropani of land, he cultivates bananas on 40 ropani and has built ponds for fish farming.

He brought 7,000 grass carp from Lalbhitti in Morang and put them in his pond, where they are growing. He plans to expand fish farming by building more ponds with sustainable water management. He has started earning income from banana cultivation on 40 ropani. He is also looking for a regular market for selling fish. Recalling singer Pashupati Sharma’s song, he said, “For me, Japan is right here, Korea is right here.”

Like Sukra, other farmers in Majuwa are also seeking professionalism in beekeeping. Durga Darlami Magar, a resident of Hile in Dhankuta Municipality-1, keeps bees in Majuwa, right next to Sukra Rai’s land. Durga keeps 110 hives of Apis cerana bees. He also sells bee colonies. Durga has been keeping bees for 11 years. He says that before starting a beekeeping business, one must understand infrastructure management and technical aspects. He says, “It’s not people who keep bees, it’s bees who keep people.” He adds, “Beekeeping can be done even on a small plot of land. There’s no worry about damaging others’ crops, but bees must be protected from hornets, wasps, and birds, which are their enemies.”

He says bees require special care during the heavy monsoon months of Asar, Shrawan, and Bhadau. “During that time, rain prevents them from foraging far, and there is a shortage of flowers and food, so bees become irritable and aggressive.” He says bees prefer nectar from chiuri, dhusure, paati, and mustard flowers for making honey.

Darlami says that for professional beekeeping in promising locations, the government and private sector should support farmers not only in hive, colony, and honey production but also in bee by-products. He says, “Bee by-products like pollen, propolis, and bee venom have special value and demand in the international market. But we haven’t received training or technology to produce them, and our capacity alone is not enough. The government and private sector must help us with this.”