Beekeeping as Deterrent on Bangladesh Border | 13 Sep 2024

Source: HT

Recently, the Border Security Force (BSF) has started using beekeeping as an innovative strategy to deter cross-border infiltration and smuggling activities from Bangladesh. 

• BSF jawans have been trained to use apiaries—box-like structures with frames where bees build hives. 
• The bees are used to create a natural deterrent along the border, as the threat of bee stings discourages smugglers and infiltrators from approaching the fence.
  • Since the installation of the apiaries, incidents of fence-cutting and illegal entry have almost reached zero.
• The initiative not only serves a security purpose but also provides jawans with the opportunity to learn beekeeping, which they can continue as a source of income after retirement.
• Bangladesh and India share a 4,096-kilometre border, the fifth-longest in the world. 
  • The border touches the Indian states of Assam, West Bengal, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Tripura.

Read More: India-Bangladesh Relations