203a: maruḷi hu:-v.ina je: nu baṇḍ-a:de
DIST tree.name fl ower-GEN honey good-3Nsg
‘ Honey from that maruli fl ower is good.’
One consequence of this polysemy is that for some uses of je: nu , the English
translation can be quite ambiguous. However, this is hardly ever a source of confu-
sion for the Solega listener, for the simple fact that honey , honeybees and honeybee
colonies/combs tend to co-occur in space and time:
aravilu.kende mara.d-alli je:n-a:de
tree.name tree-LOC honey (bee/comb)-3SG.N
‘There is/are honey (bees)/(bee colonies) on the aravilu kende tree.’
a: ja:ga:.d-alli je: nu sikk-a:d-ille
DIST place-LOC honey (bee/comb) fi nd-GER-NEG
‘You won’t fi nd honey (bees)/(bee colonies) in that place.’
7.3 Honey Harvesting
The honey harvesting technique of the Solega is quite straightforward, and in the
case of hejje:nu , at least, involves the production of smoke. The peak harvesting
season for hejje:nu is May–June, although there can be up to three main harvests
carried out in 1 year. A small pile of twigs ( phuḷḷe ) is set alight, and then covered
with fresh leaves ( soppu ), which results in the production of thick smoke. This
whole bundle can be tied together to make a smoking torch ( su:ṭe ), which is carried
up the tree to target individual hives. Honey from hejje:nu colonies is usually har-
vested at night, as this is said to reduce the number of stings received by the humans
involved in the harvesting operation. This is particularly true when harvesting honey
from the ‘ bee tree s ’, which, as mentioned above, may be home to several dozen
large colonies. Daylight collection of honey is possible for the other three types of
je: nu , as well as for hejje:nu colonies occurring singly. One informant explained
that night-time harvesting results in fewer stings because bees cannot see very well
in the dark.
Collecting honey from a hejje:nu colony involves cutting out the honey-bearing
‘head’ of the colony with a knife or sharp stake ( aṇegaḍḍi ), and leaving the rest of
the comb unmolested. The excised honeycomb is lowered to the ground in a basket
tied to a rope ( ma:linagga or ma:lina naru ) made from the vine ku:guri ambu. The
honey is separated from the comb, and the wax is kneaded into balls. Back home,
the wax balls are dissolved in hot water, sieved through a cloth, and sold in town.
In the case of thuḍuve je: nu , the collector inserts his hand into the tree hollow or
rock crevice occupied by the bees, and feels as many of the parallel wax combs as
possible. An experienced collector can distinguish honey -laden combs by their con-
sistency; these are then preferentially harvested. If the collected honeycomb is
7.3 Honey Harvesting