Honey Hunters of the Sundarbans

Honey Hunters of the Sundarbans is a visual journey into one of South Asia’s last great wildernesses, where generations of honey hunters, known locally as Mouals, enter the mangrove forest each spring in search of wild honey.

Through the photographs of Mustafiz Mamun, the book follows their journey from riverside villages and forest rituals to the hidden hives deep within the Sundarbans. It documents the smoke, boats, bees, flowers, faith, skill, and uncertainty that shape this centuries-old tradition, as well as the constant presence of the Royal Bengal tiger.

More than a record of honey collection, the book is a portrait of people whose lives remain closely connected to the rhythms of the forest. With a foreword by Helmut Denzau and Gertrud Neumann-Denzau, it brings together photography, natural history, and human experience to preserve the story of a fragile landscape and the communities that depend upon it.

The forest is entered with smoke.

Before the first hive is found, the Mouals prepare bundles of leaves and branches that will smoulder slowly beneath the mangrove canopy. The smoke calms the bees, but it also announces the hunters’ presence in a landscape where visibility is limited and danger may remain hidden beyond the next creek.

Every movement is deliberate. One man watches the hive, another tends the fire, while others prepare to collect the heavy comb. Around them, thousands of bees fill the air. The forest hums, the smoke thickens, and wild honey begins to fall.

For the honey hunters, this is more than seasonal work. It is an inherited knowledge of tides, flowers, rivers, weather, and risk—a way of living shaped by a forest that provides generously, but never without uncertainty.

Price

৳ 4,000.00

Publisher

Ilish Books

Publication Date

August 12, 2026

Pages

164

ISBN

999 8888 7777

Weight

650 g

Dimensions

6 × 1.5 × 9 in