Jenu Kuruba Tribal Honey Gathering in Shivamogga Forests

The Jenu Kuruba (honey Kuruba) tribal community of Shivamogga's forest tracts are hereditary forest honey gatherers, with Jenu meaning honey in Kannada. They harvest wild honey from rock cliffs, hollow trees, and sub-terranean colonies of Apis cerana and Apis dorsata in the Bhadra and Kudremukh forest ranges. Honey hunters work in family groups, using smoke from burning dried coconut husk and knowledge of bee behaviour patterns to safely harvest combs. The honey is collected in bamboo tubes and sold to forest cooperatives and Ayurvedic medicine manufacturers. The Karnataka Forest Department has established a community forest rights framework that recognises the Jenu Kuruba's traditional honey-gathering rights in designated forest zones.