A patch of land sits right in the middle of a picturesque background — snow-capped mountains, tiny homes and clean air. The land is green, tidy, and has boxes placed every two metres. At first, anybody would wonder what is in these boxes. Let’s find out…
In Badsar village in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, bees are shaping something far larger than honey. In fields lined with native flora and homes that still echo older ways of living, a group of beekeepers, farmers and women artisans are rebuilding a relationship that once came naturally to the region.
Tenacious Bee Collective, started in 2018 by a group of nature-loving friends, is working to revive traditional beekeeping practices in the state.
While pesticide-heavy agriculture, climate stress, and falling honey prices are pushing beekeepers out of the profession, Tenacious Bee’s work rests on a simple idea: ecological restoration and rural livelihoods can grow together when built from within the community.
This raises a key question of whether beekeeping can remain a viable rural livelihood without adopting the industrial practices that have contributed to the pressures facing small beekeepers and bee populations.
When beekeeping began to fade
For generations, beekeeping in Himachal Pradesh was woven into everyday life. Practices like maintaining ‘dhalooni’, small niches built into the walls of mud-and-stone homes, allowed bees to coexist with people. Honey gathering followed a seasonal pace, shaped by local flora and an understanding of the surroundings.
Over time, this relationship began to weaken. Low honey returns made it difficult for beekeepers to sustain their work. As concrete structures replaced traditional homes, even the physical spaces that once supported bees began to disappear.
What followed was a gradual decline not just in bee populations, but also in the knowledge systems that sustained them.
Tenacious Bee co-founder, Kunal Singh
Tenacious Bee Collective began its work within this reality, not by introducing something entirely new, but by returning to existing practices and reworking them for the present.
“Caring for bees is essential because they sustain us in return. At Tenacious Bee, the team practises ethical beekeeping across the Himalayas, harvesting only 20 to 30 per cent of the honey while leaving the rest for the bees as winter sustenance,” explains Aditya Singh, Experience and Operations Manager at Tenacious Bee Collective.
Alongside this, they run a village-based workshop where local women craft products such as beeswax lip balms and candles. These handmade goods are then packaged and shipped to customers across India.
Building a women-centred community-based model
Instead of centralising production, Tenacious Bee has focused on building a decentralised, community-led model. Their work begins with people such as small-scale farmers, local beekeepers and women in the village. Today, 45+ beekeepers work with them across their network.
Through training programmes, community members learn ethical beekeeping practices that prioritise the health of bees and their habitats. The focus remains on native bee species, which are better suited to local conditions and play an important role in sustaining biodiversity.
More than 250 farmers have been trained in ethical/native bee-friendly practices. The majority of the trainees have been rural women from far-flung areas like Pangi Valley. They harvest only from the supers, never the brood chamber, and don’t harvest at all if the super isn’t filled.
“Our work centres on helping people understand what bees mean to both humans and the wider ecosystem. If bees can survive in a place, it signals a healthy environment, and ultimately, our own food systems depend on that balance. The use of pesticides and chemicals disrupts this delicate relationship, making it crucial for people to recognise just how important bees are,” adds Aditya.
In a time when both ecological systems and rural livelihoods are under strain, this model offers a grounded alternative.
Tenacious Bee Collective encourages the cultivation of local herbs and bee-friendly flora. This strengthens food sources for bees while creating additional income streams for farmers, who can use these herbs in value-added products.
Women are central to this ecosystem, and those trained through the collective are moving beyond beekeeping. Six are directly employed to cold-process and package honey. They are also involved in producing beeswax-based products such as candles, skin salves, and other small-batch items, adding both skill and value to the process.
“I enjoy working here with the other women from the village. We spend our days together, working and talking, and it creates a warm, supportive environment at the Tenacious Bee workshop. I look forward to coming here every day. It feels meaningful to know that others find inspiration in the work we do,” says Sunita, who was previously a homemaker and farmer and is now one of the beeswax experts.
Here, ecology and economy are not separate. Healthier ecosystems support livelihoods, and community participation ensures that this work remains sustainable over time.
At the heart of Tenacious Bee’s work is a shift in how beekeeping is understood — not just as production, but as knowledge.
In Badsar village, the collective has leased a small piece of farmland to develop a knowledge-exchange space around bees, flora and traditional practices. Beeboxes sit alongside patches of cultivated herbs, offering a living example of how biodiversity and agriculture can work together.
The goal is not only to produce honey, but to rebuild a system of learning. They host workshops, inviting artists, researchers and practitioners to engage with the space. These interactions create new ways of understanding bees as contributors to ecological balance, not just producers of honey.
Speaking about the experiential side of their work, Aditya says, “At the Apidome, which consists of wooden structures with built-in hives, guests can lie on a bed placed above active beehives, experiencing a deep, calming resonance similar to bhrahmi yoga. Visitors can also take part in honey tastings at the workshop, sampling different varieties and learning to appreciate the diversity of honey.”
Rethinking livelihoods through beekeeping
What sets Tenacious Bee apart is the way it approaches livelihoods.
In many spaces, sustainability is often linked to scaling up, such as producing more and reaching larger markets. Here, the approach is different. Production remains small-scale, processes are slow, and growth is measured in ecological and community terms as much as economic ones.
At Tenacious Bee, the economic impact is visible:
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Local beekeepers receive better support.
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Women gain access to skill-based income.
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Farmers find ways to work with their land rather than against it.
Tenacious Bee’s model suggests that small-scale production can work when the value of the final product is increased rather than the volume of honey extracted. The collective pays participating beekeepers premium rates, reportedly up to three times the market price, while building additional revenue through beeswax products, experiences and consulting.
Community involvement has been central to this progress. Early support from the village leadership helped build trust, and participation has grown steadily, with more residents engaging in different parts of the work.
Tenacious Bee’s model suggests that small-scale production can work when the value of the final product is increased rather than the volume of honey extracted.
“We also travel to different pop-ups and events in cities like Delhi. These experiences have really built our confidence, and we feel excited and proud to be part of them,” adds Sheena, who has been instrumental in running all the workshops and interventions in the village.
Sheena’s path to this role, however, has been shaped by a period away from formal work. After her children were born, Sheena stepped back to focus on raising her family. As they grew older, she began looking for an opportunity to return to work and build something of her own.
Tenacious Bee gave her that opportunity. What began as a chance to learn and work with beeswax has grown into a role where she now helps train others and plays a key role in the collective’s work in the village. For Sheena, returning to work has given her a space to use her skills and contribute to something she believes in.
In a time when both ecological systems and rural livelihoods are under strain, this model offers a grounded alternative. Not only does this model prioritise bee health, ecological restoration and small-scale production, but it also provides sustainable livelihoods for the people practising it.
In a time when both ecological systems and rural livelihoods are under strain, this model offers a grounded alternative.
More than just saving bees
The work of Tenacious Bee Collective is often framed around conservation, but it goes beyond that. It is about restoring relationships between people and land, between traditional knowledge and present-day practice, and between local communities and the markets they engage with.
Additionally, diversifying the economy around bees has made small-scale beekeeping more resilient than relying on honey alone.
By focusing on bees, the collective is addressing something larger. Pollinators sit at the centre of food systems and biodiversity, and hence, supporting them means strengthening entire ecosystems.
“Caring for bees is essential because they sustain us in return. At Tenacious Bee, the team practises ethical beekeeping across the Himalayas, harvesting only 20 to 30 per cent of the honey while leaving the rest for the bees as winter sustenance,” explains Aditya Singh, Experience and Operations Manager at Tenacious Bee Collective.
At the same time, grounding this work within the community ensures that it remains non-extractive. It builds ownership, creates skills, and allows people to shape their own livelihoods.
As conversations around climate and sustainability continue to grow, Tenacious Bee Collective’s story reminds us that meaningful change does not always begin at scale. Sometimes, it starts in small villages, through consistent work and through a willingness to rebuild what was never meant to be lost.
