Himalayan bees make red honey that has hallucinogenic effects
Apis dorsata laboriosa, the Himalayan honey bee, is the largest honey-producing bee on Earth. Adult bees can be up to 3 cm long.
It has a behavior very adapted to the habitat of the highlands, which is why they have morphologically differentiated from the bee species that live in the valley.
Bees build huge hives weighing 60 kg, on rocks, at heights higher than 2500 m.
High in the Himalayas, giant bees tirelessly make very unusual honey for its psycho effects. This giant Himalayan bees make honey that is one of the most expensive in the world and is known as “crazy honey”.
This is Machapuchare a mountain in the Annapurna massif, one of the ten highest mountains on Earth, located in the center of the Himalayas, Nepal. It is revered by the local population as particularly sacred to the god Shivá, and for this reason climbing is not allowed.
Locals in India and Nepal risk their lives to obtain the golden liquid that drips from very particular hives deep in the Himalayan forest.
This big bees scavenges pollen from the flowers of Rhododendron (Rhododendron ferrugineum). In Ancient Greece the name of this plant comes from the words ῥόδον rhódon “rose” and δένδρον déndron “tree”. Rose Tree.
The scientific surname of this pinkish tree, ferrugineum, tell us that the plant contains ferrum (iron in latin) , fro that is why the honey have thisd particular red colouration, the red honey.
The highland species has access to the flowers, which are normally highly poisonous to humans. The bee has had little alteration to its genes since its habitat is largely undisturbed in the Himalayan Mountains.
“Crazy honey” or “Mad Honey” is reddish in color and of course — sweet, but it has psychotropic effects, and in small doses it is very pleasant.
When taken in small doses, it can have a beneficial effect on blood pressure, helps in the treatment of diabetes, but also in sexual dysfunction.
Giant bees from the Himalayas are also specific in that they can mostly pierce the usual protective suit that beekeepers wear.
Even mountain dwellers with a shrewdness for climbing would have a difficult time gathering honey from the ‘mad honey’ hives, though.
Limited to the Himalayas, it has only been identified in the mountainous regions of Bhutan, the Chinese province of Yunnan, India, and Nepal. It mostly nests at altitudes between 2,500 and 3,000 m, building very large nests under overhangs on the south-western faces of vertical cliffs.
Due to its peculiar nesting behavior, the Himalayan honey bee is also referred to as the Himalayan cliff honey bee.
Those who dare to start collecting “crazy honey” do so at their own risk.
In eastern Nepal, “crazy honey” is traditionally collected by brave individuals hanging on ladders made of bamboo ropes hundreds of meters above the ground.
When taken in small doses it cures, however in large doses it can be highly toxic and even fatal.
There are legends of yogis living in the area that were like medicine men who could administer the right does to humans seeking the flower’s more desirable qualities without killing themselves by eating the honey.
“Crazy honey” has a high price and sells for about 60 to 80 dollars per pound, on the black market. You won’t find it on the shelves in local markets.
It has been determined that the effect of Himalayan giant bee honey comes from the toxins of rhododendron flowers, from which bees feed during the spring.
When it comes to consuming “crazy honey”, two to three teaspoons are usually considered a permissible dose. A higher dose, however, can cause a very unpleasant experience, especially for those who try this honey for the first time.
These unpleasant experiences include the urge to defecate and urinate, vomiting, visual disturbances, blindness, pulsation in the head, tinnitus, inability to move, all day long. Due to an overdose, a fatal outcome is possible.
Although the “last honey hunter” is no more, the collection of this rare psychotropic delicacy continues sporadically.
However, open questions remain about the safety of consumers, but also of the bees themselves, whose population is declining.
THE LAST HONEY HUNTER — Documentary
In the steep mountain jungles of Nepal’s Hongu river valley, members of the isolated Kulung culture have risked their lives for generations scaling dangerous cliffs to collect a wild and toxic honey. Deep and dark, the film glides through a misty world of forest spirits, dreams, and woodsmoke to share the story of the leader of the harvest and his final journey.
We owe our access to this story and the trust of the Kulung community to the decade of work the dZi Foundation dzi.org has done in this remote region of Nepal.
A co-production by camp4collective.com and feltsoulmedia.com, in association with the dZi Foundation and National Geographic
Gold coin — stater 18 mm in diameter and 8.56 gr in weight — struck during the reign of Alexander III of Macedonia, also known as Alexander the Great, between 311–300 BC — Athena’s Treasure
