Shillong, Oct 20: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Tuesday said that the state is planning a bee museum and interpretation centre.
He made the remark while inaugurating an “Apiculture Multi Facility Centre cum Processing Unit at Mellim in Rerapara Block, South West Garo Hills” in presence of MLAs Mehtab Chandee Sangma, Sanjay Sangma and Subir Marak.
“The government is contemplating to establish a bee museum and Interpretation centre in the state, where organic and best honey can be sold and digital interpretation of honey production can be shown”, he said.
According to the chief minister, honey from Meghalaya has been termed as the best in the world and there is potential if it is produced and marketed properly.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the programme brings together three important areas of development in Rerapara: rural livelihoods, connectivity and access to government services.
“The Apiculture Centre will strengthen beekeeping by supporting scientific production, technical training, value addition and market access. This can help develop apiculture as a more organised source of income and rural enterprise. The bridge will strengthen connectivity, making it easier for residents and local producers to reach markets, educational institutions, healthcare facilities and essential services. The block infrastructure will strengthen overall development of Rerapara by improving access to essential services,” he said.
The chief minister stressed that operating focus should extend beyond distribution of boxes to colony management, quality control, processing, packaging, branding and organised market access.
He informed that Apiculture Mission 2.0 is being implemented in three phases across all 12 districts, covering 87 clusters and 6,491 beekeepers.
He said as part of the mission 32,455 bee boxes and 6,491 equipment sets have been provided.
“Each beekeeper receives five bee boxes and one equipment set”, he said adding that 39 clusters covered under Phase III produced 157.69 metric tonnes of honey during 2024-25.
He informed that state has also established Integrated Bee Development Centre at Sambrak, North Garo Hills, with training, testing, processing, hive-manufacturing, storage, retail and information facilities.
He informed that the South West Garo Hills multi-facility model addresses post-harvest requirements through raw-honey collection, processing, bottling and testing, marketing and bee-box manufacturing. Project cost is approximately Rs. 1.52 crore.
The chief minister said Meghalaya’s organic honey, if supported with scientific beekeeping, processing and branding, can become a major rural enterprise and take Meghalaya to the world.
The programme was attended by beekeepers, SHGs, officials from Horticulture and District Administration.
