Visually impaired apiarist from Nagaland scripts success in beekeeping

Dimapur, Jan 30: In an inspiring tale of resilience and determination, a 37-year-old visually impaired apiarist from Leankonger village in Shamator district has scripted a success story in beekeeping.

Tsangmong, who lost his vision at childhood due to an illness, began his beekeeping journey nearly five years ago without formal training. Inspired by information shared by fellow villagers, he taught himself apiculture through persistence and experimentation.

He was spotted during the scientific beekeeping training programmes conducted under the National Bee Board-National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBB-NBHM), and implemented by the School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagaland University, Medziphema campus, in eastern Nagaland districts, including Shamator, from January 19 to 27.

Tsangmong is now fondly referred by the technical team of the training programme as the ‘Miracle Beekeeper’.

Using locally available materials, he constructs semi-traditional handmade bee boxes and independently manages his colonies.

His first colony was formed when a natural swarm settled near his home, which he identified through sound, and carefully transferred into a box. Despite slow initial progress, his determination yielded results.

Today, Tsangmong maintains four active bee colonies and harvests honey multiple times annually. He determines the right harvesting time by lifting the boxes and judging their weight, relying on touch and experience rather than sight. His journey reflects the inclusive potential of apiculture.

Shamator SDO (Civil) Bodi Kapfo, during the training programme, handed over a scientific bee box to Tsangmong, demonstrating that scientific beekeeping can empower individuals across abilities and circumstances, while strengthening rural livelihoods.

The training and demonstration programmes on scientific beekeeping were conducted to strengthen farmer capacities, promote scientific apiculture practices, enhance livelihood opportunities, and improve productivity in oilseed crops through organised beekeeping.

The project was led by Dr Mary N Odyuo, Associate Professor and Principal Investigator, and Dr Avinash Chauhan, scientist, All India Coordinated Research Project on Honey Bee and Pollinators, as co-principal investigator.