Since ancient times, people have experimented and used different ways of getting high from smoking cannabis (marijuana), to the use of psychedelic drugs. While drugs these days are heavily influenced by chemicals and often illegal, this particular substance from Nepal, dubbed as 'Mad Honey' is probably one of the most natural ways to get high. Yeah, you read it right; you can actually get high legally by consuming just two tablespoon of honey not only that it has got a wide range of medical benefits. Almost like a dream come true, isn’t it?
This hallucinating honey is only produced by a special type of honey bee scientifically called as Apis dorsata laboriosa and more commonly as the Himalayan honey bee which is also the largest bee in the world measuring up to 3 cm in length. So far it has only been identified in the mountainous regions of Bhutan, the Chinese province of Yunnan, India, and Nepal. It mostly nests at altitudes between 2,500 and 3,000 m (8,200 and 9,800 ft), building very large nests under overhangs on the southwestern faces of vertical cliffs. Not all the honey produced by this bee is psychedelic in nature, it differs according to season.
What makes the honey psychedelic?
During spring, rhododendron flowers cover the sheer-faced cliffs and the giant bees build their hives to collect the pollen off this flower. What gives the honey its psychotropic effect is the chemical grayanotoxin from the flower's pollen also nectar of the flower is mildly poisonous. The Gurung people in Nepal are renowned for their use of this mad honey, both for its medicinal and hallucinogenic properties.
The mad effect
The wild honey has a range of uses, localities use it to treat hypertension, diabetes and use it as an aphrodisiac to improve poor sexual performance. The honey has the largest market in China, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea where it's a popular medicine for erectile dysfunction. When consumed in small amounts the drug makes one feel relaxed and causes a little bit of dizziness. Too much of it can lead to diarrhea, loss of consciousness and in some cases heart attacks because of its toxic properties. In small doses, the honey can ensure a soothing sense of inebriation much like the experience produced from a substance such as absinthe. Some villagers ingest a teaspoon of the honey each morning, as they believe it strengthens the immune system and can lead to a longer and more fruitful life.In larger quantities, it can induce cardiac arrest, full-scale hallucinations or a period of time when the body seems to undergo a purge and rebirth. Who knows, maybe it actually does so.
The precarious hunt
The people living in the area are called Gurungs. There are over 3.5 Million Gurungs living in Nepal, and from them an isolated tribe with good knowledge of rock climbing, brave people called HONEY HUNTERS, are trained from generation to generation to collect the honey from the wild bees’ nests. Apart from the mad honey's market value and psychedelic properties, one of the main reasons the members of Gurung ethnic tribe of Nepal continue to climb down steep cliffs, is to keep their age old traditional alive.
Their hunt takes place twice a year, in spring and autumn, and it begins at the break of morning. The villagers fill their knapsacks with essential supplies, and trek off to the foot of the nearest cliff. With the help of only homemade hemp ropes and bamboo ladders, they begin their climb. The cliffs are often as tall as 300 m. Before they climb down, the men set up a camp fire to drive off the bees. Armed with nothing but a netted face mask, or sometimes just a gunny sack for protection, they use the flimsy ladder to get to the hive. With the massive bees relentlessly stinging them on their exposed hands, the men collect as much as they can. The hunt from a single beehive can last for about 2-3 hours.
The mad honey then makes its way to the market, some for the locals and the rest of the wax is fed to the animals. There have been times when hunters have taken the plunge of death, thus the end of every 'Mad Honey Hunt' marks celebration in the entire Gurung village. In the past days, the hunters used to organize a religious ceremony before collecting honey to protect themselves from the attack of honeybees and any misshapen. Today, the locals celebrate the hunting process as a festival by offering flowers, grains and sheep to the God. It’s a sort of worship meant to show the respect of humans for the hard work of honeybees and their contribution to the survival of human beings.
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References:
https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/wdbz55/hunting-for-hallucinogenic-honey-in-nepal-v23n6
http://healthywithhoney.com/himalayan-red-honey-aka-mad-toxic-hallucinogenic-honey-from-nepal/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/honey-hunters-bees-climbing-nepal/