In Nepal, this man harvests hallucinogenic honey at his own risk

Nearly 100 meters above the ground, Mauli Dhan swings atop a ladder made of bamboo rope, peering into the granite slab he must reach to reach his goal: a towering, buzzing swarm of Himalayan bees. They build a crescent-shaped hive that extends almost two meters under a rock overhang. By the thousands, the insects protect liters of a red, gooey fluid known as mad honey, which, thanks to its hallucinogenic properties, sells on Asian black markets for between $30 and $40 a kilo, six times the traditional nepalese honey price.

Himalayan bees produce several types of honey depending on the season, the altitude and the flowers that produce the nectar they will feed on. The psychotropic effects of spring honey are caused by toxins in the pollen of towering rhododendrons, whose pink, red and white flowers bloom each year between March and April on north-facing hillsides throughout the Hongu Valley. . Mad honey has been used by the Kulung people for centuries to soothe coughs and as an antiseptic, and beeswax has found its way to markets in Kathmandu where it is sold to cast bronze statues of Hindu gods and goddesses.

For Mauli, harvesting honey is the only way to earn the money needed to buy the few commodities he cannot buy himself, such as salt and cooking oil. But no matter the money, Mauli considers stopping the honey harvest. At 57, he is too old for this extremely risky job. His arms get tired when the ladder swings. The bees vibrate around him, sting him in the face, neck, hands, on his bare feet and through his clothes.

He prefers to drive such thoughts away and focus on his current problem. He throws his leg over the rock wall and steps up a ledge barely wider than a brick. With a gesture, he pushes aside the rope ladder and walks along the wall to make room for Asdhan Kulung, his assistant. The two men now share the narrow ledge. Below, Mauli can see the river, swollen by the monsoon, flowing into a nearby valley.