Honey hunting: a high stakes game

The residents of Tapgaon harvest Bhir honey at Pirkwe Che, which is about 5 km from the village and then at Chumdi Koiro (Mahbeer), which is a 20-minute walk away.

2000 meters above the sea level, there are other places around the Koiro. There are 91 households in Tapgaon. Although many are employed abroad, some young people remain in the village.

The 25-year-old Dil Bahadur Gurung, who fell from the head of a 150-meter-high mountain by tearing a rope (rope made of bamboo), did not feel much fear. Every now and then he was looking at the 'harness belt' tied for safety.

While removing the bees, the perungu (a container made of choya) placed on the tip of the big nigalu was brought to the honey by mixing it with the tip of the other nigalu and dropped the honey. When the perungo tied to the rope was dropped to the ground, the beekeeper's snort sounded.

It is a problem if you don't let your voice out while collecting honey, those who live on the river bank don't hear and don't understand the signs. He hung for 6 hours on the chuchadi koiro and harvested a lot of honey. Those who are afraid of honey don't look down when collecting honey, because it makes their head crawl. Those who are afraid of bees and bees while harvesting honey cannot climb the bees.

Bhiramah is celebrated twice a year especially in August-October and Baisakh-May. The demand for this honey is high. Lately, it is also being exported abroad.

Locals worship Simebhoomi (forest goddess) when harvesting Bhirmah. They believe that by doing this, nature will not allow any accidents to happen. According to the Gurung priests, in the legendary 'Kharb Pe' story of the Gurung caste, the sign and relationship between Gurung and Bhirmauri is explained.

Narrator Tirtha Gurung has already written a book called 'Apa Kharp' on this subject. Bhiramah is considered as a health booster and a perfect medicine for cold. The villagers suggest to eat only half a spoonful at a time, as it is painful to eat too much honey.