This Wild Honey is taking over the Internet!
Dena Kennedy
Wild Wild Honey
Everyone loves honey, and now in our ever-expanding online world, bees, honey, and honey products are now in a renaissance! Alternative honey products like Manuka Honey have gotten global attention among others, turning them from local sellers, to global products.
Mad Honey - Photograph by Andrew Newey
However, Mad Honey has been taking the stage recently. It’s called mad honey for its psychedelic properties, which can make one see visions, and even has medicinal purposes. Its still a highly sought product in Asia, and since there is such a high demand, local tribespeople will make the dangerous climbs needed to gather the honey.
Harvesting the Mad -Honeycombs - Photograph by Andrew Newey
Twice a year, there is a daring run from the members of the Gurung Tribe to gather the Mad Honey with traditional ropes and beekeeping gear they’ve had for centuries. Deep in the Himalayas, they will hike to large caves, towering over fields of Rhododendrons - rare psychedelic flowers that the bees use to pollinate. These harvesters will risk their lives scaling up the cliffs of caves, and cutting the large combs down with tools. Instead of using professional climbing equipment, or more modern ropes, they continue to use their traditionally crafted ropes and gear. However, all this risk is worth quite the reward, since the honey is said to have hallucinogenic and spiritual effects. If you want to learn more about this rare, and interesting honey, Click Here.
Climbing the Ropes - Photograph by Andrew Newey
