Rajakkad: Beekeeping or apiculture is practised on a small scale in Kerala. It has been found honey production falls by as much as 60% during summer as the bees hardly find the flowers from which they can suck the nectar. But O Babychan, a farmer at Rajakkad in Kerala's Idukki district, has overcome this problem by setting up a sunflower garden.
He now grows sunflower on 25 cents of land and earns a tidy profit from the over 50 honey beehives at his farm.
Three months ago, Babychan had sown the sunflower seeds that he had brought from Tamil Nadu. By the start of the summer season, the sunflower plants bloomed. The honey production in his beehives also witnessed a significant increase.
Meanwhile, the sight of the flowers at Babychen’s apiary is attracting a large number of visitors.
Recently, Onmanorama had reported that Thachampara village in Palakkad district could be dubbed as a honeypot of sorts as hundreds of apiarists are based here.
It is said weather conditions in this hilly area have made honey its ideal farm product.
