Honeymen in Feequin

‘Honeymen’ in Feequin
BW March 15 2010
Mohammed bin Rashid bin Waleed Al Busaidi gingerly plucked a hive swarming with bees from its home (a small brick structure) in his farmland in Feequin and displayed it to us. Bees swarmed him, but, surprisingly none bit him, or us, who were within close proximity.

Full with the belief that bees would attack us, we were more concerned about our safety than getting the story, but the 75-plus Mohammed Al Busaidi put us at ease. “I have never been bitten before and they won’t bite, relax…”
So, we relaxed and as the bees droned and hummed around us because they were slightly disturbed, Mohammed declared solemnly: “It is from these bees that you get the best of honey in Oman!”
This was no mere boast. The small village of Feequin, which is some 22kms east of Nizwa, is considered to be the ‘honey capital of Oman’, and its residents, are all savvy of the honey making business, because it has been part of their tradition here.
Mohammed, one of the oldest member of this honey business and still happily pursuing this trade, says that today, it was an admix of a career cum hobby for him. He used to have a government job before and at that time he took honey making and trading as more of a hobby. But, after retiring from his job, he is now into this trade, fulltime.
“Currently I have over 30 to 40 hives. During the seasons, I can make around 40 to 100 honey bottles and I have a proper market for it.”

Mohammed’s day starts at the crack of dawn. “I am up very early in the morning, and after my morning prayers, I start off with my bee hives,” he tells Black & White.
He explained how he worked on the hives, building partitions, cleaning up, setting their homes etc. “It may look quite hard, but, honestly, by noontime, my work is over,” he gleefully explains. “I don’t know whether to call it a job or a hobby. Whatever, it occupies my full time now.
“It is very much a part of my life now and even though it may not enjoy the glory of a time past, I think the future is promising,” he said, highlighting the exciting moments that he had in the past.
A decade or so ago, Mohammed, who was rummaging in the circuit of Mannah, some 30-odd kilometers away from Feequin, stumbled on one of the biggest hive (in his experience). “I got four bottles of excellent quality honey from it.”
Mohammed sold small bottles for around 25rials while larger bottles were sold at 80rials.

Later, at his home, as we sampled fresh honey along with some paper thin Rukhal (a type of Omani bread), Mohammed gave us his tale of honey and beyond:

Honey village of Al FeequinAll of Mohammed’s ancestors lived in Al Feequin. “I was born here and I can say honey and beekeeping has been part of this village for many years.
“As for me, I began collecting honey when I was a young boy of 10. I am into the honey trade for the last 40 to 45 years now.
“My father was very passionate of this trade and he was considered one of the best ‘honey man’ in this region. Nizwa and Rustaq are the centres for honey and Al Feequin used to be one the most sought after honey centres in Oman. I used to work in the ministry of defence before, but, currently I am fulltime into the honey trade. A few of my sons help me, but, I do it full time by myself.”
Mohammed explained that Oman has two types of honey bees: big and small. According to him, the small-sized ones make the best variety of honey. “Honey trading is a good business. It used to be better in those early days. But no complaints, I can still make a good income out of selling honey.”
Three seasons for honey
In Oman, there are three seasons for honey. Two of them are in the winter months (February and November) and one in summer (May/May end). The honey is harvested during these months.
“During winter I take the bee hives to the mountains or the forests, because it is during this period that the Muscat Municipality sprays disinfectants and it will harm my bees.
“I keep my hives away in the plains some 40 kms away from Feequin.”
Mohammed’s passion for bee keeping and honey making is quite evident. In fact, he is passionately attached to it.
But, he feels he could do a lot better in this trade with a little more support from the local authorities. “It is a good trade. During good seasons we can get 40 to 100 bottles of honey.
“Currently I have over 30 to 40 hives and every hive needs a queen bee. In the earlier days I had around 100 hives and queen bees,” he tells us.

Where the Queen is King The queen bee is indispensable in this business of honey. No queen bee, no honey, it is as simple as that.
Mohammed tells us how, in the earlier days, during the time his father was the king of the honey trade in Feequin, they used to get the queen bees from the jebels. “We follow the same pattern. Once the queen bees breed, we have no problem. But, when there is a dearth for them, we scour the jebels and the forests, catch them in special cages and bring them back.”
Like all animals and insects, the bees come to wet their parched mouths in the water holes. Once they have had their fill, they return to their hives, and bee trackers like Mohammed adeptly trail behind them.
A captive queen bee lives for four to six years, but, she is productive only for three years. “I still search for queen bees whenever I am out in the jebels.
“We keep them in separate partitions. Two queen bees can never be put in the same cage, they fight and kill themselves. But we can keep four to five together.”


Omani honey the bestIn Oman, the Dakhliyah region is known to have the best variety of honey. Batinah region also has good honey too, but, it is lighter in nature. “Shuhoud is a high quality variety and Rahyah is the second best. In the Batinah region, the palm trees are more and people make beehives out of date palm trunk usually three to four feet in length and hollowed out and the honeycomb and the queen are placed inside. Ingenious ways of harvesting the honey and combs are done from the rear of the date log hive to minimise disturbance to the bees. Here in our village we are dependent on sidr trees. Oman can proudly boast of the quality of its honey in the region. I have customers coming from the United Arab Emirates and buying honey for 100rials.”
Mohammed said the honey created by the small varieties of bees are unique in this part of region and are the tastiest. “I only pray there are more rains, so there is more water. It is the water and greenery that brings the honey bees to us. In the earlier times, we had lot of greenery, which is now scant now.
“Our prayers and wishes are for Oman to have more flowers. The quality of honey depends on the trees and flowers from which the nectar is collected by the bees. The Sidr trees are very good and the honey from it has a pleasant smell. It is very thick and has very good taste. It fetches good rates too. There are cheaper ones, which are thinner in nature and we sell them for 25 rials per bottle. You can buy these at the Nizwa souq.”
No dearth for honeyMohammed noted how, earlier, there were only a handful of the villagers and there was plenty of honey. “Of course, there is no dearth of honey and bees today. It is just there are more people getting into this trade. All we need is more water, trees and flowers. I hope more and more youngsters take up this trade and create a market for this trade.”
Speaking to us, Mohammed took a dab of honey in his hand and as the golden drop glinted in the sunlight that streamed into the room, he said: “Honey never gets spoilt. It has a good shelf life. The older the honey, the tastier it gets. It is a good product worthy of your time and investment. It has immense medicinal properties and it will always remain an integral part of our lives.”
Honeymen of Al Feequin
Before we met Mohammed, we had bumped into Mohammed Hilal Al Busaidi near the Feequin fort. He led us Nasser Hamoud Saif Al Busaidi, one of the younger generations of Omanis, who were equally passionate about honey making and all that went about it.
He led us to his home where he brought out a freshly plucked hive and took us on a brief journey into honey making.
Nasser Al Busaidi noted that their ancestors in Feequin village began this ancient tradition of honey making.
“Today, it is a family tradition for me. You can find little boys hunting for honey here. What starts as a childhood hobby, slowly becomes a full time hobby for us. It has happened to me.”

Nasser’s father used to do it on a large scale and he had many bee hives. Honey making and setting up beehives used to be the main hobby for many of the villagers of Feequin. “I grew up seeing our elders hunt for the queen bee, searching for hives and setting up hives for making honey. Omani honey is considered to be one of the best in the AGCC region and good honey can cost up to 80 rials.”
Nasser began his honey hobby when he was just 10. “I think most kids in this village grew up with this hobby. Because of the history of the elders in the village tending to bee keeping, our village was famous for it. All of us have our own hives and we somehow find time to this hobby.”

Nasser took us to a space behind his home where he kept the hives. According to him, the honey during winter was much better tasting and thicker than summer. There are five types of tree from which the bees make their honey: Sidr is the most common as well as the most famous one. Then it is Harmel, Sarhah, Sumr and Assr. “Both, the seasons of Sidr and Harmel are over. The Harmel season just got over recently.”
Nizwa and Rustaq are the honey centres. “You get good honey in Salalah too, but it is thinner. The best varieties are from Nizwa and Rustaq. And the village of Feequin has got the best. The numbers of honey makers in our village have reduced to three or four. But, we still are in demand. It is a trade, in the season we sell up to 30 to 40 bottles. We get order from many. The consumers know it. We even get orders from the UAE.”

Nasser’s father used to bring the queen bees from the mountains. “I still do it. I have a very close childhood friend Ahed who tags along me to the jebels to help me bring back the queen bee. Bees need water and they build their hives next to the water resources. When we see a bee drinking water, we know there is a hive nearby. Then we start looking for it.”

By adarsh madhavan, Priya arunkumar, Najib Al balushi