Praveen Kumar Raju released his video on FTB. Praveen starts with wishing all the viewers and farmers associated with Krishi Jagran. He talks of his success story in bee keeping and honey production. He is a resident of district Pathankot in Punjab and owner of the brand Raju Bee Farm.
He started bee keeping in 2008, as a business. He had the option of conventional farming, but he had always been curious towards honey production and started bee keeping. Other reason for not farming crops was the small size of farm he had inherited, which made it economically non-feasible. He has a relative who was active in bee keeping, so Praveen went to his farm and received education and training from him. He started with 20 boxes and the number of boxes increased as each year passed by - to 30, then to 40, 60, 100.
During the period of 2008 to 2015, he faced many ups and downs in this business. Sometimes he made profit and at other periods he suffered loss. He also uses the migration method to produce different flavoured honeys. The bee boxes migrate to various locations in Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir. Since 2017 he had been taking his bees to Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Pathankot. In 2018 Praveen and his wife received training from the Krishi Vigyan Kendra.
State Department of Horticulture and Krishi Vigyan kendra have helped them in expansion of their business. Due to their support and guidance, he now manages 500 boxes each year. He has registered his honey business under the name of Praveen Kumar Raju Bee farm, Pathankot in 2018. The bees collect the parag or pollen from flowers and they have been collecting this parag through bees for last 2 years. And he packs his honey under the name of Ashish honey.
After packing the honey and loading it to his vehicle he has to sell his honey to the traders. The biggest and best stores, suppliers, traders go for the popular trademarked brands and small bee keepers like him do not get the right price for their efforts. So, he decided to get his honey registered with the help of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, which he sells locally and makes a reasonable income. Initially he sold 1-2 quintal honey in the winters and now he has increased his production to 7-8 quintals per winter.
He said migration allows him to grow different types of honey. Mustard honey or cream honey is grown in Rajasthan. Leechy honey is grown locally in Pathankot, Punjab. Multi flower honey is collected from Jammu and Kashmir. They also sell acacia honey and Junglee tulsi honey. So all together he is able to grow 5-6 types of honeys which he packages locally in Pathankot. He always tests the flavour and quality of the honey and only then sells it.
He takes his honey to agriculture fairs held by Krishi Vigyan Kendra and others, to promote and sell. Some of his customers are now regular and order honey directly from him, for which he does home delivery. He is able to sustain himself on this business.
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