Beescape - The Must-Have Knowledge For All Meliponiculturists

Beescape is the most crucial aspect of meliponiculture yet it is almost always overlooked by stingless bee enthusiasts, hobbyists and meliponiculturists even. The sustainability of stingless bee colonies depends largely on the beescape yet the subject is often ignored or not taken seriously enough.

Many meliponiculturists focus on honey production and ultimately the income from the sales of honey. The meliponines are usually placed in an area where source of nectar is available, but more often than not, it is far from sufficient in the long term. Many have experienced that in just over a year or two, honey production and even worse, the population of bees start to dwindle, and in the end, the whole colony collapses or absconds.

Stingless bees are considered as generalists; they forage on a wide variety of flowers. From a medicinal and nutritional point of view, the wider the variety of nectar available for foraging, the higher the value of the honey. Besides nectar, meliponines also need resin to produce propolis, of which their pots to retain and store their honey are made of. Then there are other elements to be considered such as pollen, water, minerals and floral oils that are required by each colony to make up their whole system.

As meliponiculturists, we are responsible in ensuring that our meliponines have more than enough resources for all these elements. But knowlege and information on all these is scarce. Meliponiculture and the studies on stingless bees in Malaysia is recent and rather limited. Many meliponiculturists depend on trial and error methods and results may be positive or disastrous. But as the population of stingless bee is fast reducing, we cannot afford to be dependant on mere experience and methods that are not tried and tested.

Bilut Valley Bee Farm had acquired some knowledge on beescaping and the positive effects from the implementation of what had been learnt was evident within a couple of months. The evidence is in the yield and more importantly, the population and the vibrant activity of bees on the farm. We were also delighted to have spotted a species different from the ones we culture, signifying that the farm is conducive enough to attract other colonies to breed there.

Pests and predators is also a topic in beescape which should be taken very seriousl. If meliponiculturists aren't familiar or are oblivious to them, it could be disastrous as an invasion could wipeout a colony in just a matter of 24 hours.