BEEKEEPING AND DEVELOPMENT 35
THE MOON HAS SET, and the forest is in darkness. It is just after 2.30 am, but there is shouting, Turun hitam manis, ikut bintang. “Please come down, follow the falling stars” - it is the call of the honey hunters as they plunder the colonies of the giant honeybee Apis dorsata. The “falling stars” are glowing embers. These shower from the ends of huge burning torches made from bark and roots. As one honey hunter harvests a colony, another hunter thumps the torch against the tree branch, and embers shower down from it. The bees are
enticed to follow these sparks of light as they slowly fall to earth. While the bees leave their precious nest unguarded, the honey hunter takes the opportunity for plunder. But in this case, the honey hunters were not working alone in the night. At the foot of the bee tree were 100 bee enthusiasts who had Tualany, the
bee tree.
The tree species
Koompassia excelsa
1s
come to witness the spectacle. This was the opening event of the Tropical Bees and The Environment Conference, held in March in the forest of northern Peninsular Malaysia. Earlier that night everyone had assembled in a clearing in the forest for discussion about the forest. Is ecotourism a viable way to help sustain it? Environmentalist David Bellamy led the debate, outlining the case for and against, and reminding all that tourism is a fast growth industry which cannot be ignored: tourist numbers will double in the next decade.
One of the honey hunter's torches
During previous days the honey hunters had built their. ‘ladder’ from poles and rattan, and prepared the torches. On the night of honey hunting they waited until the moon had completely set before they started collecting honey - otherwise bees can apparently see to sting them. After preliminary prayers at the base of the tree, the three hunters quickly climbed up,
about 35 m, into the crown of the
tree. Over the next three
hours they did their work, harvesting 20 colonies of
bees. As combs were
harvested they were placed in leather honey baskets for lowering with a pulley system to the forest floor. The whole operation is run by the group leader Pawan lebah, ‘the honey doctor’, who calls instructions to
the team, and also to the bees. The bees are
‘serenaded’, they are addressed with respect, and indirectly: EIGHT
The crown of the bee tree. Colonies of giant honeybees, Apis dorsata, are suspended under the branches
A Bees for Development publication
