
The Last Death-Defying Honey Hunter of Nepal - nickles
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/honey-hunters-bees-climbing-nepal/
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noisy_boy
Anecdote: my grandfather's house had a tree with a pretty big beehive. The
bees would be everywhere in the garden. He was least bothered by them and
considered bee stings to be only marginally more annoying than mosquito bites.
However, me and mom were not so nonchalant about the bees (this was during our
annual visit during summer vacations in school so we were not really used to
the bee scene).

A honey collector happened to be going around looking for honeycombs and
grandpa called him to collect honey from the hive (probably to get rid of the
bees). We watched as the guy skillfully climbed the tree (the hive was located
fairly high) with just a net as mask while wearing normal clothes - no
protective suit etc. Bees probably stung him hundreds of times but he didn't
really care - if he flinched, we didn't see any of that from that distance. He
got a whole lot of wax and three jars of honey of which he gave us a jar as
payment. I enjoyed the honey but couldn't have too much of it at any time.
Once I had more than a few spoons and started feeling hot and sweaty. Grandpa
told that it was an indicator of it being "good" honey. He would daily eat a
spoonful of it during winters.

~~~
BuildTheRobots
> I enjoyed the honey but couldn't have too much of it at any time. Once I had
> more than a few spoons and started feeling hot and sweaty. Grandpa told that
> it was an indicator of it being "good" honey.

Your comment set me off googling, trying to link "good honey" with the
symptoms you were describing. The furthest I got was the reminder that raw
(unpasteurised) honey (as yours certainly was) can contain all sorts of pollen
and spores, and commonly gives people food poisoning. In fact, it turns out
that the health service in the UK recommends _not_ giving any honey to babies
because of this.

tldr: Your Grandpa might be grading honey based on its botulism content.

[1] [https://www.livestrong.com/article/167554-side-effects-of-
ra...](https://www.livestrong.com/article/167554-side-effects-of-raw-honey/)

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dharma1
There was a Vice documentary about this a couple of years ago too
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDOvmhqvIA8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDOvmhqvIA8)

The honey is from Rhododendron pollen and apparently very easy to overdose on.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayanotoxin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayanotoxin)

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vram22
I had read another article (may or not have been in NatGeo) some time ago,
about another tribe in Nepal, roughly similar to the one mentioned in this OP,
in the sense of living off the forest and land (honey gathering, fishing,
etc.). The tribe was called the Raji. I remember a rather stark quote from a
Raji tribe member in the article:

"You fall when your life is over."

He was referring to the fact that sometimes the honey gatherers who climb high
trees to get it, slip and fall.

Though it might sound fatalistic to some Westerners, who think that Asians are
so, I thought it was, rather, realistic, in acknowledging that not everything
in life is in our control, though many people like to delude themselves that
it is.

~~~
cknoxrun
I spent time in a remote village in Western Nepal back in 2009. During the
70's, the Peace Corp had installed 2 hydro generators to provide electricity
for the village. Over time the generators broke down, and no outside notice
was given, or request for assistance. My understanding from conversations with
some of villagers was that the prevailing attitude was "alas, such is life",
and they wen't back to no electricity. They had no electricity in 2009, but
people seemed content enough.

~~~
vram22
Yes, I agree, that happens a lot in Asia, and it bugs me no end. That's not
what I meant by my Raji example, though.

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TheSwordsman
The part about the changes in barometric pressure / the camera failing is
interesting. At first it sounded like a dramatic enhancement to the story, but
intriguing that things went back to normal once leaving the enclosure.

~~~
CapitalistCartr
I bought a sturdy camping lighter. It was the most reliable lighter I'd had,
first time every time. Until I tried to use it at 14,000 feet. Nothing.
Wouldn't work at all. Luckily I had a cheap, disposable lighter as backup. It
worked fine above 20,000 feet.

~~~
redler
Where were you climbing?

~~~
CapitalistCartr
Aconcagua.

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peterwwillis
FYI this is not the last guy harvesting psychedelic honey. My girlfriend was
just in Nepal, tons of families have it. They sold it to her in a used Pepsi
bottle. It kind of fermented once we got it home. Kind of... Zingy.

~~~
jhiska
Maybe he's the last one desperate enough to defy death for it? But it's
possible that they just lied or are wrong.

~~~
vwcx
He's the last in the lineage of those who do this within this specific group:

"“For the Kulung, the ethnic group that lives in Saadi, for them to be able to
go onto the cliff and touch the honeycomb and the honey, you have to be
selected by this wrathful forest spirit called Rongkemi through a special
dream. And Mauli Dhan was the last person in the village to have this dream.
There’s a very specific narrative dream you have to have about being stuck in
a spider’s web on the cliff, and you’re rescued by this large white monkey. So
he told his father and the village elders about the dream, and they said,
‘You’re the one. You’re the honey harvester.’"

