bhupinder-sandha_en

Bhupinder Singh Sandha

(Beekeeping)

Meet Progressive Beekeeper Bhupinder Singh Sandha Who Is As Busy As Bees in Propagating Apiculture

By remembering the first bee sting, generally, most of the people just hate being around the bees, unaware from the fact that these little busy bees can help you make an unbelievable sum of money, not only from honey but from many other by-products of honeybees.

But it was never money for which Bhupinder Singh Sandha started beekeeping; it was the buzz, the art of bees, and the boons of beekeeping which fascinated Bhupinder Singh Sandha more towards it.

It was 1993 when Bhupinder Singh Sandha came to know about the process of apiculture during a visit to honeybee farm in Rajpura organized by Agriculture Department. Watching the bees at work inspired Bhupinder Singh so much that he decided to start beekeeping with mere 5 subsidize honeybee boxes.

To say, Bhupinder Singh Sandha had a diploma degree in pharmacy and he was a pharmacist, but his life was surrounded by the buzzing bees and sweetness of honey.

In 1994, Bhupinder Singh Sandha also opened a Pharma store and also use to sell processed honey at that store and steadily his beekeeping business was also expanding. His purpose of coming in the pharmacy line was to really help the people, but later he realized that he was just selling the prescribed medicines, which was not what he actually thought. He did market research in 1997 and analyzed that beekeeping is the line on which he needs to focus. So, after 5 years of running the pharma store, he finally dropped the medical line and decided to completely focus on the bees.

And it is said that – You feel the real happiness in life when you choose a job you love.

Same was with Bhupinder Singh Sandha, he found beekeeping the real pursuit of happiness. In 1999, he expanded his bee farm to 500 boxes and came up with 6 types of honey varieties like Himalayan, Ajwain, Tulsi, Jamun, Kashmiri, Eucalyptus, Litchi and many more. Other than honey, he also sells bee pollen, bee wax, and roasted flax-seeds powder. The brand name which he chose to represent his honeybee products is Amolak and currently, it has a very good market in Punjab. With the group of 10 workers, he manages his whole bee farm and his wife also supports him in his business.

For Bhupinder Singh Sandha beekeeping is a major part of his life, not only because it is the source of income, but also because he loves to see bees at work and it is one of the great ways to experience this nature’s wonder. Through beekeeping, he wants to rise along with other farmers in the different field. He also guides the farmers who visit his farm regarding practical training for honey harvesting, Queen Bee rearing and packaging the products. Through Radio programmes and print media, he tries his best to contribute to the society and propagate apiculture and its diversification.

Bhupinder Singh Sandha’s farm is situated in his village Tiwana, Patiala, where he has taken 10 acres on lease. He generally keeps 900-1000 honey boxes and sells the rest. His wife is his second business partner and supports him at every step. To make his work more successful, he has attended many training to improvise his skills and has also displayed his work in many national and international platforms across the globe. He is also the recipient of many appreciation letters by various departments of Punjab Agriculture University in the field of beekeeping. He has his own ATMA Kissan Hut by the name Amolak under ATMA scheme where he sells his processed products.


Future Plan:

In future, he is planning to come up with one more by-product of honey bees and that it propolis. Other than beekeeping he wants to introduce chemical free organic jaggery powder under the Amolak brand. He has many other great ideas on which he is still working and will disclose it later with the time.

Message

“For beekeepers marketing honey themselves is the best thing because in this way they can reduce the adulteration and the role of mediators who seize most of the profit.”

 

Bhupinder Singh Sandha has kick started his profession with his own passion for beekeeping and in the future also he will try to explore the potential hidden in apiculture field for the welfare of the society. If the story of Bhupinder Singh Sandha has kindled you to know more about beekeeping then you can contact him to know more.