Saniya Zehra, Kashmir based 19-year-old girl, has successfully transformed her family’s beekeeping business into a thriving enterprise. She is the first woman in the field of beekeeping who uses modern techniques with traditional methods to boost production. As a result, Saniya earns monthly Rs 2 lakh. Young entrepreneur Saniya is not just a beekeeper but also an advocate for environmental conservation and sustainable development.
The Family Heritage of Beekeeping
Saniya grew up watching her father managing 180 bee colonies. During her childhood, she would travel with her father to Punjab and Rajasthan during the winter months, where they would keep the bees alive by storing them in wooden boxes and transporting them to warmer regions like Rajasthan. Inspired by her father, she began learning more about beekeeping and noticed discrepancies in pricing between bulk buyers and retail sales of honey.
Early Life and Educational Background
After completing schooling, Saniya enrolled for a diploma. Under parental pressure, she took admission in diploma, but her heart was always in beekeeping. In Kashmir, it was challenging for women to pursue unconventional careers, especially beekeeping. But she was determined to follow her passion, and after getting the go-ahead approval from her father, she jumped into a beekeeping venture.
The First Step Towards Entrepreneurship
In 2022, with her innovative ideas and technical uses, she began her entrepreneurial journey. Under the Jammu and Kashmir’s Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP), she applied for a subsidy that helped her expand from 35 to over 650 honeybee colonies.
With an initial investment of Rs 1.5 lakh, Saniya purchased 35 honeybee colonies. Later, she received a Rs 1.2 lakh subsidy, which further helped in expanding the operations.
Bee Queen separates 35 colonies into two to maximize honey production, and currently, she has over 650 honeybee colonies. With these honeybee colonies, she harvests an impressive 5,500 kg of honey for each season.
Migratory Beekeeping: The Unique Approach to Success
The reason behind Saniya’s high-yield beekeeping operation was the migratory method. Beekeepers use this method to move their honeybee colonies from one location to another depending on the season.
In this method, beekeepers rent trucks in November and carry their bee colonies from Kashmir to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan. There, the bee boxes are kept in mustard fields and there they remain till February.
Then, in March, Saniya, with her team, moves the bees to Punjab in the orchards of a farmer who cultivates mangoes over 400 canals and litchis. And by the end of April, they returned to Kashmir. In June, they move from a plum garden near Pulwama to Sangri and then to Sonamarg and Lethapora in search of the best quality organic honey. This migration is important for beekeepers to procure the highest quality honey possible.
The Launch of the Brand: Kashmir Pure Organics by Saniya Zehra
Apart from producing honey, the young entrepreneur also sells a variety of honey directly to customers. Recently, she launched a brand name, Kashmir Pure Organics. Her brand has organic and unadulterated honey and offers a variety of honey such as:
- World-famous Kashmiri acacia honey at Rs 1200 per kg
- Multifloral honey at Rs 1400 per kg
- Monofloral honey at Rs 1000 per kg
- Wild honey at Rs 1200 per kg
- Honeycomb at Rs 1600 per kg
Saniya also makes cosmetics using bee pollen and royal jelly. Moreover, she makes soap from oil. Through different products, Saniya is creating multiple sources of revenue and thus, ensures that nothing goes to waste from her bee colonies.
This approach has further helped the Bee Queen establish a strong market presence and follow sustainable practices simultaneously.
Saniya’s success journey was not easy. She faced numerous challenges, including bad weather, expensive transportation, and being stung by bees. Despite this, she stayed determined and became a Bee Queen. Her journey inspired many other individuals in her town of Balhama. In the future, Saniya is planning to continue expanding her brand products and increase the capacity of her production.
Pic Credits: 30Stades
