Lakshmi G Sardesai
Founded by Suprajit Raikar in the year 2014, Raika farms is an enterprise that promotes beekeeping and organic farming in Benaulim, Goa.
At Raika's, bees are stored inside a box in order to extract honey. This process is called domestication.
The domestication box is divided into two sections. The bottom is known as the 'brood section' and the above one as the 'super section' from which honey is extracted.
In this process, bees build their honeycombs on empty frames which are shaped as a 120-degree hexagon. Sealed combs indicate that the honey is ready to be extracted.
Out of 20,000 species, only 2 species of bees can be domesticated in the Konkan belt, one being the Apis cerana indica, also known as the Indian honey bee.
Another type of bees that are domesticated at Raika are the Trigona or stingless bees which are known to be small in size.
Raika also sells a variety of products in retail stores and on other online platforms like Amazon.
Not just this, bee boxes are also taken to several places such as Coco Farm in Rivona, Vichundrem in Netravali and several others. Raika also ties up with local farmers to ensure more honey harversting.
The honey collected through beekeeping across Goa is brought back and processed at the Raika nursery.