चित्रकूट (उत्तर प्रदेश) के जंगलो में इस बार मधुमखियाँ जल्दी आना शुरू हो गयी थी। मैंने और शुभम ने २७ मार्च, २०२३ को वहां जाने का प्लान बनाया और वहां के गांव वालों से बात करके सारी वयवस्था करवाना शुरू कर दिया था। अभी मै बस्तर में था और २५ मार्च को दिल्ली पहुंचना था जहाँ से मुझे ट्रैन से चित्रकूट पहुंचना थ। शुभम रॉयल बी ब्रदर्स की टीम के साथ कतर्नियाघाट (उत्तर प्रदेश) के जंगलो का आस पास शहद निकलवा रहे थे और उनको लखनऊ से २७ मार्च को ट्रैन लेनी थी चित्रकूट के लिए।
साजो सामान लेकर मै शाम ८:०० बजे नई दिल्ली रेलवे स्टेशन पहुँचता हूँ तो पता चला की ट्रैन निज़्ज़ामुद्दीन रेलवे स्टेशन से है और महज ३० मिनट बजे है ट्रैन छूटने में। बाहर निकल कर फटाफट टैक्सी लेकर स्टेशन के लिए भागता हूँ लकिन वहां पहुंच के पता चला की ट्रैन ५ मिनट पहले छूट जा चुकी है। मन बहुत उदास हो गया , पिछले १५ दिन से बस्तर के जंगलो में जड़ी बूटियों और शहद का काम करवा रहा था , थकान बहुत ज्यादा थी , सोचा था ट्रैन में आराम से सोते सोते चला जाऊंगा।
शुभम को फ़ोन किया तो पता चला की वो लखनऊ से ट्रैन में बैठ चुका है। खैर , वहां से मै आनंद विहार बस स्टैंड आ गया की कोई बस मिल जाये लकिन पता चला की बस सुबह जाएगी। मै ज्यादा समय बरबाद नहीं करना चाहता था। वापस निजजामुद्दीन रेलवे स्टेशन आकर वहां से झाँसी का जनरल डिब्बे का टिकट लेकर रात ११:०० बजे ट्रैन में चढ़ गया। प्लान ये था की रात २ बजे तक झाँसी पहुंच जाऊंगा और फिर झाँसी से चित्रकूट की बस ले लूंगा। झाँसी से चित्रकूट की दूरी ३०० किलो मीटर है जो बस दवारा ६ -७ घंटे में पूरी होती है।
मै लगभग रात २:३० बजे झाँसी पहुंच गया और चाय वगैरह पीकर बस स्टैंड चला गयाऔर वहां से ३:३० बजे चित्रकूट की बस मिल गयी। चित्रकूट पहुंचते पहुंचते लगभग दोपहर के बारह बज गए , वहां शुभम मेरा इंतज़ार कर रहे थे।
चित्रकूट से हमें मानिकपुर जाना था जो वहां से लगभग ४० किलोमीटर था। मानिकपुर से फिर हमें रानीपुर गांव जाना था जो मानिकपुर से लगभग २५ किलोमीटर था।
Anyway, both of us were utterly exhausted, so we decided to stay in Chitrakoot for a day at a guesthouse and plan to go to Manikpur the next day. We found a decent guesthouse near the railway station for 700 rupees. After lunch, we grabbed our beds and took a nap.
In the evening, we went to visit Chitrakoot Dham and the nearby temples. We were amazed to see that under almost every bridge across the river, there were 10–12 beehives. This gives you an idea of how incredible the ecosystem of Chitrakoot’s forests must be for the bees.
The next day, we took a bus to Manikpur and reached there by 1:00 PM. From Manikpur, we still had to go to Ranipur village, which was about 25 kilometers away. The forest starts right after Manikpur, and there is only one bus that goes from Manikpur to Ranipur at 8:00 AM and returns at 3:00 PM; there are no other transport options.
Fortunately, our small three-person team had already arrived in Ranipur, so we didn’t face much difficulty. One member of our team had come to Manikpur earlier on a Splendor bike from the village, and now the three of us had to travel to Ranipur on that single bike, carrying a lot of luggage.
From here onward, the journey became dangerous, and we were a little scared. Chitrakoot borders Madhya Pradesh, and in this belt, Naxals are very active. Kidnappings by Naxals are quite common here. We were also informed that about 20 tigers had been released in this forest last month, and two man-eating tigers had been very active in the area for several days. In the past month, these two tigers had killed eight women, two children, and six cows.
The path to the village was nothing more than a narrow foottrack, and at times it was difficult to find the way. Passing through this dangerous forest, we reached Ranipur village in about an hour. We had arranged to stay with a local contractor there. The entire village consisted of mud houses with roofs made of khappar (palm leaves) and thatch. For the first time, we saw a two-story house with a khappar roof. The whole area seemed extremely underdeveloped—it felt as though we had traveled back to India of 50 years ago.
It was 3:00 PM. After having some tea, we set out with our team and four villagers to visit the place in the forest where the bees had built their hives. This spot was about 7 kilometers from the village on a hill, and we had to reach it on foot.
We had barely walked 2 kilometers when it started raining heavily. We waited under a tree for a while, hoping the rain would stop, but soon realized it wasn’t going to let up quickly. It was also getting dark. After waiting for about an hour, we returned to the village, drenched, and decided to plan the honey collection for the next day.
In the evening, we lit a fire and, sipping tea, sat with the villagers, listening to countless local stories and learning about the herbs found in the forest.
The mobile network worked only intermittently, and there was no electricity. After having dinner, we went to sleep. Throughout the night, it rained on and off, accompanied by strong winds.
Since the house was made of mud and the door was barely functional, every time there was a knock or creak, it often felt like an animal had entered the room.
In the morning, the weather was clear and the sun was out. After having breakfast and packing lunch, the eight of us set out to collect honey at 9:00 AM.
After walking for about two hours, we reached a small hill where we saw that 30–35 beehives were concentrated in one spot. The problem was that all these hives were located under a rock, hanging in the air, making it difficult to reach them directly.
Our team went up and made a rope ladder, which was then lowered down. Meanwhile, the other team gathered grass and other materials to create smoke, and then we began climbing up using the ropes.
As the smoke rose, the bees started flying around, and since it had rained the previous day, the wild bees were extremely agitated and aggressive. Although we had created a smoke barrier around and were wearing netted caps and protective clothing, somehow the bees found a way through and attacked everyone. Chaos erupted, and everyone ran for their lives. By then, each of us had been stung by 15–20 bees, and they continued to chase us relentlessly.
Shubham had also been stung 15–20 times. To protect himself, he was lying quietly on the ground under a mosquito net while dozens of bees swarmed over him. One member of our team had jumped into a nearby pond to escape the bees, but whenever he raised his head, the bees hovered right above him. I too had been stung on my face and hands in multiple places and was trying desperately to intensify the smoke.
Occasionally, someone would scream, and this chaos continued for about an hour. I somehow managed to make the smoke stronger and gathered more grass to build a small fire, then went to Shubham. The smoke drove the bees away from him, and we lifted him up and moved toward the rest of the team, clearing the bees along the way. All of us had multiple swellings and were in pain from the stings.
About a kilometer away, we all washed our hands and faces and ate the lunch we had brought from home. We decided to proceed again, this time with extra caution. Although dealing with bees is part of our daily routine, today had been particularly intense.
When we reached the spot, we saw that, thanks to the thick smoke, most of the bees had already left the hives. We added more smoke and then started climbing up again to cut the hives.
There are two rules for honey collection:
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Only 50%–60% of the hive is harvested.
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The part of the hive containing larvae is never cut.
Following these rules ensures that the bees return shortly after the harvest to rebuild their hives.
Working quickly, the team completed the task within the next two hours, although the bees had already started returning.
Within the next 15 minutes, we gathered all the equipment and hives and quickly left the spot. One member of our team, who had jumped into the pond earlier, had somehow reached the village first to ensure his safety and was now coming back with the villagers to meet us. It had started raining again.
Once back in the village, everyone applied a herbal paste that a local had brought, and then we all sat together to recount the day’s experiences. Today, we managed to collect approximately 130–150 kilograms of honey. We also learned that there is a spot deeper in the forest where 300–400 kilograms of honey could be found. We plan to stay here for three more days, and hopefully, this time we can collect around one ton of honey.
A Bolero jeep has been arranged from Karvi, which will transport us and our equipment further.
The next part of the journey will be presented in Part 2.
