The Last Death-Defying Honey Hunter of Nepal - 1

After a hunt, team members relax with their spoils: eight hives of honey. They’ll process most of it into wax to be sold in Kathmandu. The harvest is a team effort—to a point. Only Mauli can cut the hives off the cliffs. Because he’s the last honey hunter who’s had “the dream,” this ancient tradition may not survive.

In a remote camp a day away from the village, Jangi Kulung (here), Mauli, and Asdhan process the harvest. They strain the honey to get the dead bees out; then they wash the hives, boil them down, and squeeze the resulting liquid wax through a bamboo lattice into a pot set in a hole in the ground. Once the wax cools, impurities are removed.

Asdhan tests the temperature of the cooling wax from the hives; bees still buzz around the campsite. The cooled wax is pounded on rocks to form cubes that are sold in Kathmandu to be used in molds for casting bronze statues.

Teens from the village bring their smartphones when they come to help the honey hunters carry loads of processed wax and honey. Here, Asdhan poses with a block of wax.