A Collective Effort

While Singh quit his cushy corporate job in Delhi to become a certified bee-keeper, Kochupillai is an art-practitioner who works with communities to bridge social schisms with creative collaborations. From the word go, they realised they needed to build a collaborative in order to bring about a systemic change. They partnered with the local honey cooperative, beekeepers, the panchayat, as well as environmentalists and self-help groups. They have also leased a piece of land where they do bio-diverse agriculture.

“Instead of being preachy, the idea is to demonstrate that even with bio-diverse agriculture, you will be able to generate income, you will have the wheat you need, but you will also create an ecosystem for the bees. Our job is to demonstrate those values in making those shifts. It has to be a collective effort,” explains Kochupillai.

An integral part of Tenacious Bee Collective is the Gaddi (a shepherd tribe) women of villages in and around Badsar. Kochupillai and Singh broke the ice with them in 2018 by organising a training programme in soap-making and candle-making. Though they managed to get 15 women to do the training, only six stayed with them.

Today, these six women can not only bottle honey and make candles and lip balms, but also take care of quality control, packaging and shipping with equal ease. They earn ₹6,500 a month, which has given them the confidence of being financially independent. “They have a sense of ownership. They make products and first get feedback from friends. They have become our brand ambassadors. A lot of women are coming and asking for jobs, and that is because these women are talking about what we do,” says Singh.

Business Model

The ₹36 lakh bee collective is eyeing a ₹1 crore in revenue by the end of 2025. Though honey and bee apothecary are the main products, which it sells through its website, it has also started retailing honey through premium food retail chains such as Nature’s Basket and Modern Bazaar. The collective has a consulting vertical, through which it encourages locals as well as institutions and hotels to invest in beekeeping and harvesting honey.

Building a wellness business is also on the cards. In the centre of their leased agricultural land is a cottage with intricate art on the walls that depicts a day in the life of bees. The cottage is built on a bee box -– an apidomik. While one may fear getting stung by a bee while walking into the apidomik, it’s the same logic shared by Kanta Devi. If you don’t trouble the bees, they will not trouble you either. The apidomik has wooden planks, and the moment one lies down on them, one can hear the bees buzzing, which is considered therapeutic.

“There is research which shows that humming of bees corrects your nervous system. Apitherapy is a huge industry globally. Over time, we will have a wellness vertical too,” says Kochupillai, who has also started curating experiential tours around bees and honey in the Kangra valley.

The Tenacious Bee Collective founders admit that they are idealistic, but to build a strong narrative, monetisation is key. Their target is now to ensure their honey enters more homes through a brick-and-mortar retail strategy. But at no point would they play the mass, volume game. “The pure forest honey that we collect is at the risk of becoming extinct in the next five years. Therefore, we want the consumers to pay a premium for it so that we are able to keep the ecosystem alive,” points out Kochupillai, who says that she may eventually be open to launching smaller packs of the premium honey so that more people can consume them. Luxury, after all, is all about rarity.

Tenacious Bee Collective

How Himachal-based Tenacious Bee Collective is reviving dwindling honey culture and bee farming