CHITWAN: Beekeeping businesses in Ratnanagar Municipality of Chitwan have suffered significant losses after floods triggered by continuous rainfall washed away beehives kept in pasture areas.
Preliminary estimates suggest damages worth around Rs 6 million following the destruction of beehives kept in Manikhola and Lalparsa areas of the municipality.
According to Prabin Lama, chief of the Agriculture Development Branch at Ratnanagar Municipality, beehives placed in Manikhola and Lalparsa of Ratnanagar-9 and the Pankanya Community Forest area of Ratnanagar-11 were swept away by floods on Monday. He said the losses have been particularly severe as most of the hives were ready for honey extraction.
In Manikhola, 415 beehives were affected, including 250 owned by Shankar Bhatta of Ratnanagar-12, 70 owned by Roshan BK of Ratnanagar-4, and 95 owned by Dinesh Dhakal of Bharatpur-14. Although some hives may still be recovered, Lama said most of them have been destroyed.
Similarly, 270 beehives were affected in the Lalparsa area, including 90 each belonging to Lok Prasad Parajuli of Khairahani, Deepak Thapa of Ratnanagar-4, and Ek Bahadur Gurung of Ratnanagar-3. Of these, around 250 hives were completely washed away, while only a few were recovered and moved to safer locations.
Lama said that due to the strong water current, reaching all affected areas and collecting complete damage details has remained difficult.
“Although some hives were recovered after the flood, most have been destroyed. The average cost of one hive is around Rs 10,000, and most were producing four to five kilograms of honey as they were ready for harvesting. Considering the loss of hives, bees, and honey production, we have estimated the initial damage at around Rs 6 million,” Lama said.
He added that the municipality is conducting further field inspections to prepare a detailed assessment of the damage.
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