AN ANCIENT tribe scale 250ft up a mountain and risk their lives harvesting honey from the world’s largest bee.
The Rai people, from Nepal, fashion ladders out of braided bamboo to access the prized nests of the Himalayan honey bee.
With no safety equipment, the "honey hunters" come under attack from swarms of the insects as they use a long stick to retrieve the honeycomb.
An adult male bee can get up to 3cm long — just smaller than a Cadbury Creme Egg.
Once the climbers locate the nest, the men spend a pain-staking four hours harvesting the honey by hand.
Photographer Eric Tourneret, 47, who followed a group on a rare trip, said: “It is very dangerous work.
“Many, many people die doing it. The practice is dying out as the bees slowly become extinct.
“It is now just a ceremonial thing as opposed to a day job.
“Even though the honey is probably some of the world’s most expensive, the Rai people refuse to sell it, instead sharing it among the four villages in their area.”
Despite being one of the most sought after in the world, the honey — called toxic rhododendron — is poisonous thanks to a toxin in the pollen and nector of the rhododendron flowers used to make it.
It can cause agonising cramps if ingested unknowingly.
But the Rai people believe it has therapeutic healing powers, and leave their homes in the Bung valley every spring to brave the cliffs in the search of bees’ nests.
They prefer not to sell the honey even though it reaches high prices in nearby South Korea.
Using sharpened bamboo poles to slice their way through the honeycomb, the catchers then drop it to the ground for other members to collect.
To prevent them from falling, their feet are tied to the homemade bamboo ladders.
Eric, from Paris, France, added: “I used one to climb up alongside the Rai people and photograph them close up.
“Despite wobbling a bit, they feel a lot stronger than a normal metal one we use in the west.
“These people are very wise and know how to make nature work in their favour.
“Even though it is a dangerous activity, none of them looked at all fazed by the climb and process, having been taught the skill by their fathers and their grandfathers before them.”
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