On high trees and the faces of mountains, farmers and beekeepers are in pursuit of good produce. As harvest time dawns, they climb to daunting heights in search of tasty chestnuts and honey in western and eastern Türkiye.
In Aydın, a western province responsible for about 42% of the country's entire chestnut production, “sırıkçıs” provide a lifeline to chestnut growers counting on a good harvest. These seasonal laborers named after the long sticks used to shake the nuts off trees are almost like tightrope walkers. Climbing up trees reaching heights of 20 meters (65 feet) without taking any safety measures, the laborers strive to pick the delicious nuts that are eaten grilled or served as an ingredient in desserts in Türkiye. The climbers are mostly men while women watch patiently below, waiting to pick the falling chestnuts.
It is a lucrative business in Aydın where an average of 27,000 tons of chestnuts are grown. Sırıkçıs are paid up to $53.7 (TL 1,000) daily for their risky task, a fee higher than that paid to other seasonal laborers. The harvest usually lasts 15 days, during which growers accompany the laborers on highlands in Aydın’s Efeler, Köşk, Sultanhisar and Nazilli districts dotted with chestnut trees. Along with the trees' height, their location on the slopes of steep hills also challenges workers. With a simple hat worn to evade the thorns of raw chestnuts and a five-meter-long stick, they climb the trees by dawn’s early light. Below, women don gloves and toil to pick each chestnut that falls. However, their work is not done. The chestnuts are put in sacks and carried to nearby wells, where they are stored for about a month so that their thorns can decay and easily be peeled off.
Alaattin Dinç, a “sırıkçı” for about 20 years, says it is not a job “for everyone” and the profession is “a deadly job.” “You can fall to death or get injured by thorns. I know people who were bedridden after they fell and broke their waist. It is dangerous but it is our way of living,” he told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Sunday. Yahya Bayrak, another worker, says it is a challenge to stand straight on the branches but they are paid well. Davut Bayrak, a grower, also works as a “sırıkçı.” He says the harvest is good so far and they expect “plenty” of produce this year compared to last year. “I expect double yields and we have good quality chestnuts.”
Ayşe Güre, one of the female workers picking up chestnuts, says her job is just as difficult. “You have to bend over all the time and suffer from aches in your waist. Most chestnuts fall on steep ground so you can roll down from the slopes if you are not careful. It is tough but we have to earn a living,” she says. Güre also complains that as women, they also have to carry out the daily chores at home once the work is done, unlike men.
On the other side of Türkiye, in the eastern province of Van, beekeepers are also taking risks to make a living. In Bahçesaray, a district famed for its “karakovan” honey and walnuts, beekeepers climb a steep mountain in search of “rock honey” from rock cavities on the mountain face. Unlike chestnut pickers, they have safety measures and assistance from professional mountain climbers. Rock honey is precious and sold for high prices as it is elusive. A product of bees who fled their hives and took shelter in mountains, honey is also valuable for what beekeepers call their health benefits. In the rural Altındere neighborhood, some 15 kilometers from central Bahçesaray, beekeepers scale the mountains for rock honey.
This year, they spotted a concentration of hives in the Tırpına highland and when they could not reach them on their own, beekeepers enlisted the aid of pro climbers. In their company, they managed to pick the honey.
Fikri Çağrıcı, a beekeeper for 50 years, says rock honey is “completely natural and smells beautiful.” “It is hard to get, though. We take risks to pick it. But it sells well. People place orders from across Türkiye and abroad,” he told AA. Vahap Semo, another beekeeper, says they discovered honey in 13 locations this year. “We called in professional climbers and together, we ascended to cavities at a height of 50 meters. It was exciting,” he says. Honey from the rocks is sold for TL 2,500 to TL 3,000 per kilogram. Ömer Demez, a climber, says it was his first time on the job. “You climb up a flat rock at a considerable height. I am doing climbing as a sport but it was a different experience to climb for honey.”
