Beekeeping Course In Sabah

By EMIN MADI

KOTA KINABALU: Siran Lasong remained cool and did not panic when he was suddenly surrounded by wild honeybees, known as pomosuon to the locals, that swarmed out from the man-made gelodog beehive.

Instead, he gently brushed off those still clinging to the honeycombs with his bare hands hoping to find the queen bee.

A few minutes later, Siran managed to find what he was looking for. He immediately trapped the queen bee before placing the insect inside a new beehive.

This method is known as translocating the bee colony from a gelodog into a new and permanent bee house, after which thousands of worker bees would be tempted to follow their queen.

Having done that, Siran not only completed his final day of practical training on beekeeping but also made himself a qualified beekeeper.

Some of his friends in other groups were unlucky because they apparently must have overdosed the bees with smoke, resulting in the queen bee abandoning its hideout before they could trap the insect.

Siran was among 33 participants at a two-day beekeeping course organised by the Sabah Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry’s Rural Cooperative Development (KPD) at a bee farm in Simpang Mengayau, Kudat, recently.

Siran, a Sarawakian who resides in Lawas, traveled more than 400km to attend the first beekeeping course opened to the public.

The rest of the participants were from Keningau, Tambunan, Ranau, Sipitang, Papar, Kota Belud and Penampang.

“It’s very interesting and I am really glad to have attended the course. Maybe after this, I will start my own beekeeping business, but most important of all is that I am now able to recognise the natural honey, and in this case, the tropical type,” he said.

Participants were also taught how to identify the male and worker bees as well as on the insects’ life span and behaviour.

Earlier, the participants spent a day at KPD’s honey beekeeping centre at Sikuati, Kudat, where they were given extensive briefings on the basics of honey beekeeping, including how to find wild bee nests and trapping them with the gelodog or wooden box.

The two-day practical beekeeping course, conducted by two of KPD’s experienced beekeepers, Benjamin Subinon and Madillius Maradan, also provided an insight into various bee species found in Sabah and the types of bees suitable for commercial honey beekeeping.

The common bee species reared by KPD and its participating farmers is the apis cerana which produces a high amount of honey.

Other species found in Sabah are the apis dorsata or the Asian giant honeybee, apis korsevnikovi, a multicomb cavity nesting bee, apis andreniformis, a very small bee species and apis nuluensis.

KPD’s encouraging success in the honey beekeeping business has helped raise the living standards of hundreds of rural farmers in the state, particularly in northern Sabah.

Several farmers in Kudat, who keep hundreds of bee hives, are now earning around RM1,000 a month.

Beekeeping has been one of KPD’s many socio economic activities since its inception in 1976, especially in supporting the Government’s efforts to alleviate poverty in the state, particularly among the rural poor.

At present, the agency’s beekeeping business is concentrated in Sikuati, where KPD has its own bee farm with more than 700 hives and 200 gelodogs.

But vast land clearing in the district has depleted the forest of flowering trees, especially the fast-growing acacia mangium tree whose flower nectar is the bees’ favourite source of food, and is now threatening the beekeeping business in that area.

KPD has decided that it is time to move to other areas.

KPD general manager Datuk Basrun Datuk Mansor said the agency was looking for business partners in honey beekeeping among rural people in the Pantai Barat and Pedalaman districts.

They could become KPD’s contract farmers once they acquire the technical know-how in beekeeping, he said. – Bernama.