Subscribe
Beekeepers across Kashmir say erratic rain and temperature swings have sharply reduced honey production this season.
Some producers reported losses of up to 90%, with the valley’s important acacia bloom badly disrupted.
Experts say the decline is linked to climate change, pesticide use, cold spells during the bloom season and the stress of seasonal hive migration.
The fall has raised wider concerns for Kashmir’s orchards, where honeybees play a major role in pollination.
A season of erratic rain and temperature swings has hit beekeepers across Kashmir, with some reporting honey production losses of up to 90 per cent.
Experts and officials say the decline is linked to disrupted flowering, cold spells during the bloom season, pesticide use and the stress of seasonal migration. They say the fall in honey production has also raised concerns over pollination in Kashmir’s orchards, especially its apple-growing belts.
About 15 kilometres southeast of Srinagar, in Balhama village, 21-year-old entrepreneur Sania Zehra keeps 650 beehives in the Khonmuh hills. Known locally as the ‘Bee Queen of Kashmir’, she has been in the business for six years.
Until now, she says, beekeeping had grown steadily enough to feel like a stable livelihood. This year, however, her yield fell from 300 buckets of honey to just 30. Zehra said she had not seen such a steep fall in production since she began keeping bees on the same hillside. The hives remained, and the bees were alive, but there was little honey.
For a young entrepreneur who had built a name in the trade, the loss is not only financial. It has also raised questions about the future of beekeeping in the valley.
About 40 kilometres south of Srinagar, in Pulwama district, brothers Abid Ali and Sher Ali have faced a similar setback. The two migrated with their hives to Rajasthan in December and then to Pathankot in Punjab in March, before returning to Kashmir in late April — a route they have followed for years to keep their colonies alive through winter.
”We have more than 200 hives. Every year we get around 200 buckets of honey, but this year we could collect just 40,” Abid Ali said.
The decline is notable because the brothers live in a horticultural belt of Pulwama, where flowers usually bloom in greater numbers and variety than in Balhama. Abid Ali said the family’s business depends largely on Kashmir’s acacia honey, which fetches a higher price than honey collected outside the valley.
”The honey we extract outside Kashmir is not of good quality. That sells for Rs 500 per kg,” he said. ”Our main business depends on Kashmir, particularly acacia honey, which ranges from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 per kg.”
Entomologist Shabir Ahmad said the scale of the decline was significant. Kashmir has 2,120 registered beekeepers, of whom nearly 90 per cent migrate to warmer parts of India every winter. The valley produces more than 1,200 metric tonnes of honey annually, he said.
Ahmad said final production figures for the current season would only be calculated in March 2027. But he said the acacia season, a key source of Kashmir’s honey, had been badly disrupted this year. ”We witnessed almost a 90 per cent drop in honey this year, which is huge,” he said.
The April-May season is critical for acacia, known locally as kikar. The species, Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known as black locust, was introduced in Kashmir in 1919.
”Most of the honey we extract comes from these trees. This year, unseasonal rains disrupted acacia flowering, and that is the reason April-May honey production dropped significantly,” Ahmad said.
Some honey was collected from the upper reaches of Ganderbal and Kangan, where acacia flowering began later, but he said the output was minimal.
The fall in production may have been caused by a combination of factors. Noor-ul-Islam, agriculture extension officer at the District Agriculture Office in Pulwama, said many farmers across the valley had reported lower honey production this year.
He said erratic weather during the peak bloom months of March, April and May weakened bee activity and washed nectar off flowers. Cold spells reduced movement by bees, while higher-than-normal temperatures at other points shortened the life of blossoms and reduced nectar secretion.
He also cited the widespread use of harmful pesticides, which he said had affected bee activity and increased honeybee mortality.
Mohammad Anees-ul-Mehmood, a Kashmir-based environmentalist, said nectar availability is highly sensitive to temperature. Sudden shifts between warm spells and cold days and nights during April and May can reduce nectar secretion, limit bee activity and affect pollination during the critical flowering period, he said.
This could affect not only honey production but also fruit set — the process by which pollinated flowers develop into fruit — in apples and other temperate crops.
Beekeepers describe the pattern more simply. A warm spell causes flowers to open early, but a sudden cold spell arrives before bees can collect enough nectar. By the time the weather settles, the bloom has thinned out or nectar has been washed away by rain.
Kashmir’s harsh winters, marked by sub-zero temperatures and snowfall, force many beekeepers to migrate seasonally with their colonies because there is little nectar or pollen available in the valley.
An apiculture official said around 1,500 to 2,000 beekeepers move their colonies out of Kashmir each year.
“Seasonal migration comes with significant risks. Our conservative estimates suggest that 30 per cent to 40 per cent of honeybee colonies suffer mortality during transit. These challenges discourage many people from adopting beekeeping,” the official said.
Gulzar Ahmad Mir, a 50-year-old beekeeper from Srinagar, said beekeepers spend large sums each year moving their hives to warmer states, including Rajasthan and Punjab, from November until summer begins in Kashmir around May.
He said the costs of trucks, fuel, labour and other expenses could reach about Rs 350,000 a year. When production fails, such costs become difficult to recover.
Scientists at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine say beekeeping in Kashmir does more than produce honey. Around 70 per cent of pollination in the valley is carried out by honeybees, and the region is known for acacia and lavender honey.
Under the CSIR Floriculture Mission, the institute is developing winter management protocols to help beekeepers maintain colonies within Kashmir and reduce the need for seasonal migration.
Researchers are working on ways to manage moisture, temperature and ventilation inside hives, while also meeting bees’ nutritional needs through winter. The technology has not yet been transferred to farmers, and the protocols are still being finalised.
The decline in honey production has wider implications for Kashmir’s horticulture sector, particularly apple orchards. Farmers in Pulwama and Shopian, the centre of Kashmir’s apple belt, have reported patchy blossoming this year. Final fruit yields will only be known closer to harvest.
Arjumand Wani is a mentee at Climate Change Media Hub, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.