KVIC distributes 1,000 bee-boxes to Assam tribals to spread sweet revolution mission of Prime Minister

New Delhi, May 23 (KNN) To mark the celebration of World Honey Bee Day, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena distributed 1,000 bee-boxes among 100 people belonging to the Mishing Assamese tribe in the Kaziranga forest.

With this distribution, KVIC has set a new world record of distributing maximum number of bee-boxes in a single day by beating the previous best of 841 in Israel some two years ago, release said.

Answering to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for “Sweet Revolution”, the release reported that the KVIC has came into action to with its “Honey Mission” with a target of distributing 1.3 lakh bee-boxes across the nation before November 2018-right from Narmada Valley of Gujarat to Kaziranga Forest in Assam and from hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir to dense forests of Mysuru.

Aiming to create jobs for youth, KVIC imparted practical training to 100 beneficiaries at Kaziranga in examination of honey bee colonies, acquaintance with apicultural equipment, identification and management of bee enemies and diseases, honey extraction and wax purification and management of bee colonies in spring, summer, monsoon, autumn and winter seasons.

Besides giving them certificates of trained bee-keepers, the KVIC experts also delved upon honey bee species, colony organization, division of labor and life cycle of honey bees; management of honey bee colonies during different seasons.

Also, to start with the sweet revolution, the KVIC distributed 200 gm honey bottles to 500 school kids of Sankar Dev Sishu Niketan, at Kohera village in Kaziranga. Altogether 25,000 honey bottles were distributed across the country by KVIC to celebrate the day.

In this regard, KVIC Chairman Shri V K Saxena, said that besides production of 30,000 kilograms of high-quality honey from these bee-boxes in the zero-pollution Kaziranga area, bee-keeping would open many job avenues for the unemployed youths and aspiring young entrepreneurs.

“Being the nodal agency of Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), the KVIC would provide loans for setting up units of processing, packaging and labeling units for honey”, he added.

In addition to this, he said that the development initiatives taken by KVIC have given a ray of hope to tribal people.

This initiative will also enhance the rich flora and fauna of the Kaziranga forest area through cross-pollination, he added.