19/11/2020
The first professional beekeeper in Pakistan
Qazi Ghulam Sarwar, a civil engineer was my grandfather, who began beekeeping as hobby in 1948 in Haripur Hazara. The luck dawned when he purchased an empty honey bee box and brought it in home. The native honey bee swarm entered the box; their new home. He hence became the first professional beekeeper in Pakistan. The hobby matured into a regular business during his life. With around 1,000 boxes of the native bees, the Qazi family proudly enjoyed its status of owing the biggest farm in India and Pakistan. The sale outlets in Islamabad during 70s and 80s attracted reputed clients from across Pakistan and foreign visitors and delegates. My father Dr. Muhammad Idrees has his photo in the book published by National Agriculture Research Council (NARC), titled Jadeed Mags Bani (Modern Beekeeping) for producing the excellent breed of Queens. My uncle, Muhammad Riaz received a gold medal in Beekeeping. The business saw many ups and downs since the start of the new century. I worked as writer and journalist. However, the inherited passion for beekeeping meant my continuation of keeping a few hives of bees since 2000. Aspire to achieve and maintain excellence in honey quality by continuing to produce natural honey.