Facing the giant bees | SLICE I Full documentary

foreign oh oh so aah foreign the big sting me but i'll take their honey northwest nepal in the foothills of the dalagiri range whose peak is over 8 000 meters high these men risk their lives every spring to gather honey from the big black bees of the himalayas [Music] to reach cuine their village you first take a plane from kathmandu to pokhara then drive for four hours to beni where the road ends then there's a full day's walk off and along perilous tracks moti is 14 years old he hasn't been to school for several years because they often leave before it's time why don't you go to school anymore because of the lack of money we have serious problems so we have to work in the fields of poverty has stopped [Music] [Applause] [Music] um [Music] these three are my brothers and this is my father he's one of the last honey hunters in the valley i'm glad to be going to the cliffs we'll have to make offerings to the gods otherwise the bees will attack me modi's enthusiasm about one day taking over from his father is a sign of hope for the future for this endangered occupation [Music] is the leader of a group of honey hunters they set off for around 10 days to cliffs that are perched at around 3 000 meters altitude [Music] [Music] so [Music] this large flat rock sheltered from the rains but open to the icy winds will be their home throughout the honey harvest as the sun of the highest mountain in the world moti easily puts up with the difficult conditions so the next day modi sets off with his father to cut bamboos to make a new ladder this honey harvest will be for the whole village i'm proud to be taking part he will eat whatever food it is that we have to eat and that is something i really appreciate don't your friends want to go on the cliffs my destiny's here i tell them you go ahead let them go the harvested bamboos are split lengthways and then woven together into a big rope i learned by going with them the old full one because of the height of the clips fall right down all the cliffs bear a name [Music] oh yes it is difficult but it can be done me i'm not afraid you're not scared of the bees no the smoke chases them away they might sting once or twice and then they'll disappear it's only natural or breaking up uh uh foreign [Music] huh foreign okay ah foreign this cliff is perfect for his son's first attempt the latter is a good distance from the nest at 30 meters high it is considered a novices cliff yet munak is dangerous its face is very unstable there are frequent rock falls but that doesn't worry the honey gatherers it's the gods who decide what should happen moti is at ease on the ladder but he manages to mess up i'm not proud of it you cut the comb in the wrong place that's not good all the honey fell out you didn't do what you were told not everything was lost by moti's clumsiness his father recovered the part of the comb that contains the honeybee larva the juice he obtains is very rich in proteins that are excellent for the health okay yeah rooma this cliff is 70 meters high above a raging river to reach the nests the men must start from the top of the cliff face rooma is ill-tempered so they must be sure the gods are smiling on them before venturing up it okay foreign okay the small size of the bush to which they tie one end of the ladder shows how much trust they place in their prayers as leader of the group baal bahadur is the first to tackle the drop and the bees there hey it's no less dangerous for those who handle the honey baskets on the side of the cliff they hold on with just one hand and have no safety rope oh oh um oh so hey man um emotions i didn't know uh have you got it well they'll smoke three combs and but i'm not sure that he'll manage but he wants to go so i'm letting him go i'll guide him by staying at his side foreign hmm oh oh [Music] oh um so um what's in it how many times four times and are you feeling all right i'm very tired and i can't feel my hands so are you one of the big boys now yes i sure am like your i think that now he can harvest honey like me and that makes me happy [Music] uh [Music] [Music] in the village it's time for the wheat harvest but for the honey hunters families it's also a time for worrying [Music] i think he's a little too young for that we're so happy when the honey comes from the cliffs it's so good but we also worry about our husbands and children getting injured or killed yes that's true oh my friend will anything happen to them i get so worried sometimes i can't sleep i love them can't eat i'm so anxious [Music] yes how many days has your brother been at the cliffs seven or eight days i'm scared of falling if the ladder breaks you go climbing in the trees yes but you don't die in trees would you go under the cliffs no you're not why not i'm scared i'm scared the bamboo will come undone what happens if it comes undone you fall [Music] [Music] but and my children are asking for good food the owner of this house is my sister's husband he asked us to look after the house and fields but soon he'll want his house back that's what worries me if we had enough money i'd like to buy this house i dream of happier times when my children could leave and go abroad but they haven't had the right education so it's hard to send them out there now foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] buoyed by his earlier success modi ventures onto a very difficult part of the cliff the large overhang forces him nearer to the cliff face this is a delicate and dangerous phase too sure of himself modi almost fell and his lesson is far from over oh [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] hmm [Music] foreign [Music] diameter done huh [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign oh bye um and the fire and look out for others you must never pull the rope tugging two centimeters at the bottom moves it 20 centimeters up top you just call for the rope you don't grab it if you pull on the rope whoever's holding it on top will fall you must never get angry i hope you'll do better next time whatever the it's hard to learn at all [Music] does it hurt yes really badly my back hurts too they stung me all over i'm beginning to get a fever [Music] [Music] yes the harvest is over in the village the honey is roughly filtered through old rice bags to get rid of the dead bees and the wax that makes 27. the cliffs belong collectively to the villagers and every family has the right to a share those who risk their lives on the cliffs only receive one share more than the others [Music] oh foreign foreign i'm happy [Music] goes with his father to the town of bini where they will sell their honey they walk for a whole day on a path that is sometimes very treacherous [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] what [Music] um [Music] there's no need to measure it it's already bottled okay i'll leave it like it is i have six liters what price is it it's 700 rupees a liter back in the village i'd like a bit more for transporting it okay then is it good and pure absolutely has it been heated no are you sure yes i am it's not heated how much for everything four thousand five hundred rupees is that your last word or will you give dedi a discount the discount is already in the price i know what going to the cliffs progress and happiness to your brother but now we know it's a very good medicine are you satisfied with what you got for your honey it's not bad neither profit nor loss but considering the risks we take it's not great you are the latter king in your village and people here are kings of money yes each is important in his own field while others don't have that if they want honey they must come and ask me so i think that makes me someone his son go home with a few rupees in their pocket but despite his great poverty it wasn't for the money that modi wanted to become a honey gatherer like his father my first harvest what a great experience but i was surprised by the thousands of bees it was intense i was completely surrounded you can say one thing for sure they didn't let me off lightly you

Channel: SLICE

Views: 776,217

Rating: 4.7829266 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, shortdoc, shortdocs, slice, slicedocs, bees, hunters, Nepal, honey, Himalaya, mountains, giant, Apis Laboriosa, climbers, expedition, wild, risky, danger, cliffs, climbing

Id: kTy5q67gwIU

Length: 51min 41sec (3101 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 31 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Wig_Snatcher_69]

Wow this is cool.

No wait, really really really cool.