19-year-old Kashmiri girl turns around family beekeeping business; earns Rs2 lakh monthly

As a kid, Saniya Zehra would travel with her father when he took his honey bee colonies to Punjab and Rajasthan during the winter months in Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir is known for producing some of the finest honey in India but the bees, kept in wooden boxes, have to be taken to warmer places to keep them alive and sustain honey production between December and April.

She grew up seeing her father working hard to harvest pure organic honey from 180 colonies. 

“However, the bulk buyers paid us a pittance and sold honey at a four times higher rate. Plus, they adulterated the honey to make more money. I was determined to change this,” 19-year-old Saniya tells 30Stades.

“Our family’s connection to beekeeping gave me insights about transforming the traditional practice into a modern, sustainable business,” she adds.

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After completing her 10th class, she enrolled for a diploma in physiotherapy under parental pressure as woman entrepreneurs, especially in beekeeping, are a rarity in Kashmir’s conservative society. “But my heart was always in beekeeping. When I discussed this with my family and friends, they opposed my decision. Ultimately, my father (Gulzar Ahmad Mir), also my inspiration, gave his nod to go ahead and I jumped into beekeeping,” says Saniya.

Making a new start

In 2022, she applied for a subsidy under Jammu and Kashmir’s Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP) which aims to transform the region's agricultural economy. “The government is playing a big role in supporting entrepreneurial ventures like mine,” she says.

“My initial investment was Rs 1.5 lakh in buying 35 honeybee colonies (at around Rs 4500 per colony). I then received a subsidy of Rs1.12 lakh (80 percent) that helped me expand operations,” she says.

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A honeybee colony is a group of bees that live together in a hive. Beekeepers like Saniya use wooden bee boxes similar to beehives with different chambers for storing honey, pollen grains and larvae. 

She multiplied the 35 colonies through splitting (separating a colony into two) and queen grafting and currently owns 650 honeybee colonies. This is more than three times the number of colonies owned by her father (180). 

These 650 colonies yield over 5,500 kg of honey every season. “We harvest honey during five seasons in a year,” the woman entrepreneur says. 

While the bees are moved to Rajasthan and Punjab and across Kashmir as per the weather and flowering season, they are currently in the saffron fields in Pampore township of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district. 

More than just honey

Saniya sells honey directly to customers and has recently launched her brand 'Kashmir Pure Organics'. The honey is organic and unadulterated. She sells the world-famous Kashmiri acacia honey made by bees from the nectar of acacia flowers at Rs1200 per kg, multifloral honey at Rs1400 per kg and monofloral at Rs1000 per kg. Wild honey sells at Rs 1200 a kg and honeycomb at Rs1600 per kg.

“I also make cosmetics using bee pollen and royal jelly (milky secretion by honeybees) besides selling oil used to make soaps,” she says. 

“By diversifying our products, we create multiple revenue streams and ensure that nothing from our colonies goes to waste. This approach has helped us establish a strong market presence while maintaining sustainable practices,” she explains.

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Saniya currently clocks a monthly turnover of Rs2 lakh, which is set to go up as she begins branding and marketing her products on a larger scale in 2025.

Migratory beekeeping and challenges

This high yield at Saniya’s beekeeping operations is due to the migratory method where beekeepers move honeybees depending on the season. 

“In November, we rent trucks (at Rs65,000 per truck) to carry the colonies from Kashmir to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan where we leave the honeybee boxes in mustard fields. They remain there till February,” she says.

This migration helps to produce monofloral honey with distinct flavours, increases yield and the farm owner benefits from pollination by bees. “In March, we move the bees to Punjab in the orchards of a farmer who grows mangoes over 400 kanals (50 acres) and litchis over one acre,” Saniya explains.

Honeybees collect pollen and nectar from mango flowers and transfer it to another flower, resulting in healthy and higher yields of mango and producing good quality honey. 

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“By April-end, we are back in Kashmir and here again, we migrate from a plum garden near Pulwama to Sangri in June and then Sonamarg and Lethapora to get the best quality organic honey,” she says.

“The acacia season (which yields the famous acacia honey) ends in June and then we shift to Sangri,” Saniya says. 

“Many times honeybee colonies are wiped out in migration due to external factors like loading and unloading from trucks. My father, brother or I have to be with honeybees all the time to watch out for any attack by mites or parasites in which case a vet has to be called,” she explains.

However, the challenges have not deterred her.

“There are challenges in every field of work. With hard work and willpower, it is possible to make your way in every situation,” the young entrepreneur says.

The officials of the Department of Agriculture of the J&K Government say they have been monitoring Zehra's project with keen interest. “We aim to engage people in various fields of agriculture so they can earn their livelihood well. Success stories like Zehra’s demonstrate the viability of our agricultural development programs,” an official said.

As Zehra’s enterprise continues to grow and inspire others, she remains focused on the bigger picture. “This isn’t just about building a successful business…it’s about creating a sustainable model that others can follow,” she concludes. 

(Sameer Showkin Lone is a development professional & a journalist. He is a former Aspirational District Fellow (Bijapur, Chhattisgarh) at the Government of India. He writes on internal security, Kashmir politics, development & governance, education and health issues)

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