Impact

The work behind the honey.

Training programmes, government partnerships, and the community work that makes the honey credible.

125

Beekeepers trained

Districts covered

Village programmes

2022

RAMP partner since

Partnership

Government of Sikkim - RAMP

The Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance programme is a Government of Sikkim initiative, supported by the World Bank, to professionalise rural agribusinesses across the state. ApiCare has been a recognised RAMP partner since 2022.

Our beekeeper onboarding, training curriculum, and quality protocols are reviewed against state-level standards. We work directly with the Sikkim Department of Commerce & Industries on programme design.

For us, RAMP recognition is both a quality stamp and operational scaffolding. Without it, we could not have moved from twelve beekeepers to one hundred and twenty-five in four years.

Government of Sikkim · Department of Commerce & Industries, Gangtok. RAMP partner since 2022.

Training

The training programme

Every beekeeper who joins ApiCare goes through a structured training programme run by our Master Trainers in their own village. The curriculum covers hive management, hygiene protocols, harvest timing, and documentation for traceability.

The work of training is not to replace traditional knowledge. It is to add the small set of practices that make the honey legible to international buyers without losing what is distinctive about how it was produced.

Trainings run quarterly in each village. New beekeepers are paired with a mentor for their first season.

Programme structure

01

Onboarding

In-village introduction, FPIC consent process, baseline assessment
02

Equipment

Frame hives, smokers, protective gear, harvest tools
03

Field training

Two weeks with a Master Trainer, hands-on with their hives
04

First harvest

Documented and reviewed jointly - quality, weight, methodology
05

Quarterly cycle

Refresher trainings, peer learning, technique upgrades