DERA GHAZI KHAN The City

Honey business thriving in DGK
From Hasnain Qaisrani
DERA GHAZI KHAN: Enriched with sugar, minerals and instant source of energy, honey is being exported to Gulf States from hilly and sub-hilly regions of the district.
The district is considered to be the home of small bees while their hives are mostly found on jujube or berry trees, besides mustard trees. With the surge in demand of honey due to its good taste, its rate has jumped into in local market where it is being sold at Rs 5,000/kg while the exporters are earning much more. The wild or the indigenous honey also known as the natural honey, extracted from small bees, is considered to be a good source of sugar and protein amino acids. The small bees are found in hilly and sub-hilly areas along Suleman ranges. Due to its good taste, it is popular in Gulf States and is being exported there. The locals, who are employed in United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, are doing the honey bee business at a small scale while the exporters are doing it at a large scale.
Muhammad Zahid Khan, who is working in Dubai, said that the local working there, even gifted the honey to their bosses with proud. He said that though honey was also being imported to the UAE from other countries, yet the honey extracted from jujube tree of Pakistan was the finest in quality.
A local honey collector, Irshad Hussain Lashari, said that honey extraction and filtration was a difficult process as bees stung the collectors. He said that male bees stung more aggressively than the female ones.
After identifying locations of the hives, bees were smoked with coal or woods while a man fully masked handled down a pot as it oozed out slowly from frames with air pressure, he added. He said that quantity of honey extracted depended upon the number of bees and the size of hives. Later, it was packed according the demands of local buyers and exports, he added.
Abdul Ghaffar, a retailer in Taunsa Sharif, said that honey was packed in large containers or fine quality plastic bottles for export. He said that it was exported to Middle East countries due to the easy market access and attractive rates. Due to the increase in honey demand for export, it was a healthy source of income for the poor community involved in extraction.