Armed with smoke torches woven from green leaves and clay pots balanced on their shoulders, the hereditary honey hunters known as mowals navigate the labyrinthine muddy creeks of the Sundarbans mangrove forest.

Rising salinity levels in the southwest river network have altered the flowering cycles of the khalisha and goran trees, forcing gathering teams to voyage deeper into the interior tiger corridors during the grueling two-month harvesting season.

Yet their community-enforced conservation taboos remain strictly intact: only two-thirds of any hive may ever be harvested, leaving sufficient comb and queen larvae to guarantee the colony’s seasonal regeneration.