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.





   

A Syawal Miracle

I was cleaning out an open shelf in the kitchen this morning when I saw a bee amongst the bottles. She was still alive and crawling but she couldn't fly; she must have been there a day or two at least. She looked dehydrated and a little lifeless, and she didn't buzz.

A picture of an Apis cerana taken in Segamat, Johor 

I often find stranded bees in the house, usually in the kitchen as they mostly come from the back where there are huge trees on which they normally make their hives. Usually they're from the Apis cerana species and so was this little one. And as always, I'd put a little honey in a spoon and place the bee in it for her to replenish her energy. She quickly rushed to it, and out of apparent hunger and thirst she dived right into the pool of honey and got her whole body drenched in the sticky fluid.

I had always wanted to capture the response of stranded bees when they are being offered honey, so I had my phone in my right hand taking a video while holding the spoon with my left. And in doing so, I wasn't quick enough to save the bee from drowning herself when she went for the honey.    

The bee had quickly gone for the honey but in her haste, had plunged

right into the pool. She must have been extremely hungry and thirsty.

I quickly got her out of the sticky honey which by then had enveloped her whole body. I took her out from the spoon and laid her on a piece of tissue so it would absorb all the honey. 

But I was too late...the little bee had stopped moving and was laying lifeless on the tissue. I was dumbstruck. I was supposed to save her not kill her. Oh no! What have I done??

I couldn't believe what had just happened. It happened so fast. I nudged her...and thankfully her legs moved. She's alive! She's still alive!! I had to do something...I HAD to save her. She is one of Allah's chosen creatures, so highly-regarded that one of the chapters in the glorious Quran is named after her. 

Yes...that's it. In the Quran, Allah swt mentioned that He gives them the inspiration to build their hives, natural or man-made. They are given the command to produce honey by processing nectar in their stomachs, the end result being a precious substance that is medicine for humans. And so the bees obey the command of their Creator with utmost loyalty and subservience. With this in mind, I thought, surely this little bee will respond to His name.

So since it was the third day of Syawal, and  I had the late Ustaz Asri's beautiful rendition of the Eid takbir at the top of my playlist, I turned on the video at Youtube.I played it on my handphone and placed it right beside her. Can you guess what happened? 

Yes, she started to move; her legs uncurled and and she turned upwards. By the end of the takbir,  she was standing upright on her legs. The video was six minutes. I played the takbir a second time. Watch the video below which says it all.

The bee started crawling around albeit a lit groggily, but she was definitely alive and well. I had thought I had lost her. But she revived and responded to the sounds of the glorifying of her Creator. I wish  I had captured the moment on video, but couldn't as I was using the phone to play the takbir.

She crawled around looking a little desperate, even refusing the honey being offered to her. So I let her choose her own way and let her be. Next thing I knew, she had jumped to the floor and was crawling very quickly towards the door to the outside. She couldn't even manage to fly, yet she looked like she was in such a hurry, I can only guess that when she heard the name of her Lord, she remembered what the purpose of her existence was. She had a duty commanded by God Himself, and so she continued with her struggle and her journey to serve Him to the best of her ability. That is the sole purpose of her whole being. 

The haunting and heart-wrenching but melodious takbir,

recited by Muslims on Eid-ul-fitr and Eid-ul-adha in which Allah swt is glorified. Praises only to Allah, for the miracle He showed me today.

Posted by Aniza Zain Ahmed for Bilut Valley Bee Farm.

19 July 2015 (3 Syawal 1436)

Treating Eczema With Meliponine Honey

So much has been said about the medicinal benefits of meliponine honey, proven by clinical and laboratory tests conducted by various universities and agencies in Malaysia. We decided to put it to test ourselves in our clinic run by alternative medicine practitioner Dr. Aniza Zain Ahmed.

A female patient, in her fifties had approached us for treatment for eczema on both her legs. She had a previous history eczema and due to recent environmental changes in her work, in addition to stress and hormonal changes, the problem recurred. She had been suffering from this condition for the last three months in which she had tried various natural medicines to no avail.

When we met her on the 11th of June, the eczema was already at chronic stage, her legs were sore, red, swollen and inflamed. The skin was thick and crusted and where it cracked, there was stinging pain. From inside the leg, she felt a throbbing pain. She was feeling miserable, and had been unable to sleep for quite a while now. Her left leg was in worse condition than her right; it was so bad that she did not allow us to show it here.

The affected areas were first carefully cleaned with cider vinegar, a powerful natural antiseptic. We then applied a thin layer of raw, fresh meliponine honey all over the affected areas. Her feet were then bandaged to protect the parts of her skin which were open due to the severity of the eczema.
   

Meliponine honey has powerful
antibacterial and anti-inflammation
properties besides containing loads of
antioxidants.

Only two substances were used to treat the skin,
cider vinegar as an antiseptic (above)
and meliponine honey (right).

The patient was asked to repeat the simple procedure

at home before sleeping. She was  instructed to apply only a light bandage to allow the skin to breath and heal faster.

Imagine her relief and delight when she woke up in the 

morning, the pain was almost gone and her legs felt light. The swelling had subsided considerably. Much to her surprise, the eczema had dried and parts of the skin was already starting to peel off.

12th of June, a day after treatment started. This is the patient's
left leg.

13 June - most parts of the skin had dried and come off,
revealing new, smooth skin.

18 June - a week after treatment commenced, the
skin is 80% healed.

25 June - the eczema had cleared up completely
after just about two weeks of treatment. 

The patient was also advised to drink lots of plain water and cider vinegar with water to detoxify her body. She was also given propolis to take orally to strengthen her immune system. 

Important note**

This article does not intend to serve as a guide for self-treatment of this condition. Chronic eczema should only be treated by a professional medical practitioner.  

Pitstop Bilut Valley Bee Farm - Impromptu Visit by UMT Research Team.

When enthusiasts of meliponines meet, there is no saying what could happen. We were in the last leg of the Le Tour De Kelulut - Jelajah Selatan when the idea of shooting to Bilut Valley cropped up. We had travelled through the states of Negeri Sembilan, Melaka down to Masai, the most southern tip of the peninsula in Johor. Then up north again towards Mersing, Kluang, Segamat and back into Negeri Sembilan via Bahau.

Travelling with us in that tour was a team from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu and they were to break off from the convoy in Bahau as it was the nearest exit back to Marang where the university is situated. They had expressed interest in visiting our farm, especially because we had on our farm a rather rare species known as Heterotrigona erythrogastra. As Bilut Valley Bee Farm totally and wholeheartedly supports scientific research, we didn't hesitate in deciding to divert to Bilut Valley to take the UMT team to our farm.

5th of May, Tuesday was to be the last day of the Southern Route of the tour, We were in Segamat, Johor that morning and had moved to Bahau, Negeri Sembilan where we visited a farm and enjoyed a sumptuous lunch prepared by our gracious host, Puan Ehwani.. We eventually left Bahau after 4pm, It is a 3-hour drive to Bilut Valley and that would mean we would have to drive non-stop to arrive while there is still some daylight left. The UMT Team weren't the least deterred.

Dusk was setting when we arrived Raub and our visitors noticed how beautiful the scenery was at that time of the day. We stopped at our halfway house in the village of Bilut Valley and performed the compulsory evening prayers before the research assistants quickly got into action. Two of them, Muhammad Firdaus and Fatin Farhana stayed back at the house as that was where we kept our Tetrigona or crystal species. They were to take specimens from the five colonies we had there including one of the extremely aggressive T.canifrons species.

The head of the team, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shamsul Bahri Abdul Razak and another two of his assistants Roziah Ghazi and Siti Asma' headed for the farm where the most of the meliponines are cultured. It was already dark by then, but it didn't stop them from going up to the farm which has no electricity. We had the highest respect for them all - their commitment and dedication towards their jobs and achieving their objectives really had us in awe. The situation was the same amongst the participants of the tour which was headed by Tuan Abu Hassan Jalil in the last four days. We felt so honoured to be working with the individuals and teams of this calibre.

Pix above, Prof. Shamsul and team inspecting a hive where a colony of apis (honey bees)
had invaded a stingless bee colony, and then was joined by another smaller but feisty species 
of stingless bees. They now co-habit in different spaces of the same log.

Once at the farm, they headed straight for the H. erythrogastra colony. They seemed to be delighted to have finally obtained specimens and pictures of this species. And we were more than happy to oblige. Prof. Shamsul was also interested to take a look at our colony of T. melanoleuca which is not that rare but researchers are interested to look into possible variants in specimens from different locations in the country.

We found it amazing that all the three of them, Prof . Shamsul, Roziah and Asma, had felt the ambiance at the farm even in the darkness. All they could see was the silhouette of the hills in the distant horizon, when there was just a hint of daylight left that painted the sky in many different lovely hues of orange, red and blue. They knew it was a beautiful place. And they vowed to come again.

The UMT Research Team with the Bilut Valley Bee Farm Team
From left Aiman, Firdaus, Prof. Shamsul. Marzia, Aniza, Asma, Fauziah, Fatin and Roziah.
It was a long day and we were still not quite done. The UMT Team were headed back to
Terengganu that night which is another 4 hours drive. But our smiles say it all, it was
a wonderful occasion for both our teams,and a beginning of many good things to come, insya Allah.  

  

The video above was produced by none other than Prof. Dr. Shamsul Bahri himself.