Amongst all the Kabini tribes, the Jenu Kuruba are famous for their centuries-old tradition of collecting honey. The members of the tribe have specialised rituals that they partake in before and during the honey collection process. They sing songs to express sympathy for having driven the bees out of their home, carry purpose-built smoking torches to minimise stinging, and collect the honey in handwoven baskets. Men in their mid-20s usually do the actual climbing, while elders help with preparing the baskets, crafting torches, and harvesting and storing the honey. The honey is equally divided among the community, and the wax is used in various things around the house.
Recently, the traditional practice of honey collecting has been dwindling among members of the Jenu Kuruba tribe, who prefer less risky and strenuous jobs, like working on nearby coffee plantations where they are guaranteed a fixed income. Honey collection has also declined due to deforestation in the area, which means fewer new honeycombs are to be harvested. The locals depend heavily on the forest to collect the honey, but trees are continually being razed in the name of development, which means the Jenu Kuruba have to move on to other methods of earning a living. The arduous work, the risk involved in the procedure and the lack of resources have resulted in members of the tribe slowly moving away from their traditional customs in favour of more modern livelihoods. The community members who remain do it due to a lack of other resources, and surveys indicate that they would give up the practice in favour of better and easier jobs. The songs the elders used to sing are not sung anymore, the younger generation shows little to no interest in honey collecting, and ancient knowledge of the therapeutic and medicinal value of honey is beginning to get lost in time.