This Alappuzha beekeeping centre to host Kerala’s first honey museum

Mavelikkara/ Alappuzha: As the Kallinmel Beekeeping Centre completes seven years of sweet success, a new milestone is in the making with a Honey Bee Museum coming up on its three-acre campus. Located in Thazhakkara Panchayat, the centre functions under the aegis of Horticorp and has become a symbol of sustainable rural enterprise.

The honeybee park is Kerala’s first government-run modern honey production and purification unit. The centre earns a daily income of ₹25,000 and has so far collected and processed over half a lakh kilogram of honey from local farmers, marketed under the brand name, Amrit Honey.

Announcing the upcoming developments, M S Arun Kumar, MLA, said, “We are planning to transform Kallinmel into a tourist destination with the establishment of a Honey Bee Museum. Over 10,000 farmers have already benefited from the centre’s services. Approval has also been secured for setting up a honey quality testing lab for he farmers, and the works are expected to begin within two months.”

The sweet revolution of Amrit Honey
The operations of the centre revolve around three main areas comprising scientific cultivation of honeybees, collection of honey from farmers at government-fixed rates and processing and marketing the product. The centre houses over 200 beehives, consisting of both stingless bees and Indian honeybees, producing around two tonnes of honey annually.

Farmers supplying honey to the centre are assured a fair price, with the processed honey being marketed as Amrit Honey at competitive rates. A kilogram of honey is priced at ₹380, while a 5-kg pack is available for ₹1,375 at the Amrit Honey outlet.

Beyond raw honey, the centre also offers a range of value-added products from honey, including herbal items like Liquorice (Irattimadhuram), Indigofera tinctoria (Neelayamari) and select varieties of traditional rice.

Aspiring beekeepers trained at the centre receive bee cages and related equipment at a 40 per cent subsidy under schemes supported by both central and state governments. Training sessions, for batches of 30 farmers, are also organised at the block level in coordination with agricultural officers.

Taking things a step further, Horticorp has also introduced infusion technology to extract speciality honey from different fruit varieties. Equipment tailored for this advanced method has also been developed in-house.