Centre plans a tribal push for Cleopatra’s face pack

It’s said to slow down ageing, boost immunity and fertility, and even cure life-threatening diseases. And because royal jelly is so scarce, it sells for Rs 15,000-20,000 per kilo. Now, the government is planning to involve tribal women in harvesting this milky secretion that worker honeybees make to feed the larvae in the honeycomb.“Tribal women make good training candidates as they are associated with beekeeping and honey extraction,” said Dr K Lakshmi Rao, who recently retired from the Pune-based Central Bee Research Training Institute of India (CBRTI). “We have finished one leg of training for some and another week of advanced training will follow. It will include grafting and the extraction procedure.”Medium108413005 Rao will collaborate with government bodies like the horticulture department in Uttarakhand and the National Rural Livelihood Mission in Rajasthan to train tribal women and self-help groups in the advanced techniques of royal jelly extraction. She has been conducting such sessions with batches of beekeepers in Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttrakhand for years.Beekeeping communities will be trained in the advanced techniques of extraction as the Centre believes there will be a huge demand for royal jelly that is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.India Needs 1 Tonne A YearIndia produces over 1.3 lakh metric tonnes of honey every year, and there are close to 13,000 beekeepers registered with the National Bee Board. But only 2-3% of them are adequately trained in extracting royal jelly.“There is a demand for about 1,000kg in India alone, but very little is available. A lot of doctors are prescribing royal jelly for patients with critical illnesses,” said Dr Rao. Recently, she received a request from a Mumbai resident for 1kg of royal jelly to treat his mother’s breast cancer.Another Mumbai resident said they had been advised to consume royal jelly to overcome problems in conceiving. “After looking for it everywhere, I got it in powdered form from Vietnam and paid almost double the price. I have tapped a few apiaries here for the future,” he said. Royal jelly can be stored in the freezer for up to two years and can be mixed with milk or honey and consumed per a doctor’s prescription.Used In Pharma ResearchThe cosmetic and nutraceutical industry also sources small quantities of royal jelly for research in India. “We are producing royal jelly on demand. There is not much awareness in India as yet, but we are getting orders from customers in Turkey and Georgia. We are also training our in-house beekeepers and vendors in royal jelly extraction,” said Yogendra Punia, MD of Sunlite Agro Foods, which has 5,000 beehives and 30,000-50,000 workers extracting honey and other by-products.Grafting and extraction of royal jelly is laborious work. “Extraction is a manual process and fast-paced, and the secretion has to be stored at minus temperatures. About 300g royal jelly can be extracted from one hive in a month,” Punia added. The best months are between July and October.“In the last 3-4 years, we have produced and sold about 100kg of royal jelly to Indian customers. Demand is low, therefore production is limited. Also, royal jelly can be consumed only in small doses. We are already selling honey infused with royal jelly and piloting hair oil and shampoo infused with it,” said Devvrat Sharma, director of Hi-Tech Natural Products and a management committee member on the National Bee Board.Indian Jelly Of High QualityThailand, China and Vietnam have taken the lead in extraction and distribution of royal jelly, but CBRTI research shows the quality of Indian royal jelly is far superior. “We found that it actually exceeds the ISO-prescribed standards imposed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in 2019,” Dr Rao said.If India wants to get into commercial production of royal jelly, experts say an organised extraction model is needed. To get 2-2.5kg of royal jelly a day, 50 bee colonies need to be set up in six apiaries in each state. About 10 people are required to work on the grafting and extraction process.If this model is implemented, India will be able to become a major producer and exporter of royal jelly in the future, say experts.