Himalayan Rock Bees

Here, the Rock Bees can be seen in a tree above Cosy Nook, in Landour, Mussoorie, below Anil Prakash run Devdar or Deodar Hotel.

Himalayan Rock Bees' honey is rich in natural taste. Completely different in aroma and taste than other honey. It is toxic. Possess high medicinal value (sucked nectar from precious herbs like Yarsagumba & Paanchawle). It is a medicine of gastric, Ulcer, allergies, Sinus, arthritis, asthma, blood circulation, burns & wound. Honey hunters' challenging task. They have to climb 250 / 600 mtrs high cliff justs with the help of ropes. Honey hunters have to walk 2 / 3 days long walk with food, tents and necessary equipment's for honey hunting. Honey harvest is performed in all traditional method. Very low amount of honey harvest and supply. One can not get big amount as they wish.

The most expensive piece of real estate in the Himalaya:

A nest cavity in the tree trunk of a Toon tree in Landour. I've been following this nest-hole for six years now, and each breeding season brings with it a new story. First the Himalayan Rock bees had possession of the nest hole. Then came the Himalayan Barbet. Then the Rock Bees claimed it back, but the wasps kept a small army of sentinels hovering at the entrance for a full two years, hoping to re-claim possession of the real estate. Just a few inches away, the wasps would retain vigil throughout the daylight hours. The surprise twist came about when the tree itself starting claiming the nest-hole back, by closing the entrance to the cavity with fresh growth of wood. Now it remains to be seen if the hole closes entirely, thus jetissoning the Rock Bees, and possibly giving the Barbet a chance to drill back into the tree trunk and claim the cavity as their future nest-hole!

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=himalayan+barbet+wilderness+films+india&aq=f

The next season the Rock Bees got it back, but the wasps kept an active presence of guards at the entrance of the nest-hole, 24 hours a day, for three straight years! The wasps had a small contingent that kept buzzing a few inches from the next-hole, in the air, for all these years! And each time the wasps came close, the aggregated bees 'shook' themselves in unison, to give the effect of being larger and more intimidating than they really were, to keep up the pressure on the wasps, and continue to stake out their own claim.

This footage is part of the professionally-shot stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and Digital Betacam. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... rupindang [at] gmail [dot] com and [email protected].