More about Malaysian bees and bee trees

Makhazir Mardan, Universiti Putra, Malaysia

The practice of honey hunting

Four types of traditional techniques are widely practised, by those climbing to source honey, from colonies that nest in groups of more than seven colonies, or sometimes up to more than 200 colonies at the aggregate nesting sites on tall trees or high cliff faces in the rainforests. For colonies that nest singly, in pairs, or if there are less than seven, the techniques of climbing and even the honey hunting tools are haphazardly found. The skills involved are rather sketchy and very diverse, without observing any traditional taboos.

If the Apis dorsata colonies are found nesting on the limbs of tall trees in the rainforest, usually one of two types of climbing ladder are constructed, that is either the Aerring-bone ladder or the linear peg ladder. However, if the colonies are nesting on cliff faces, the rope ladder or the bamboo shafts ladder will be built to gain access to the colonies in difficult parts of the cliff face. Many variations in climbing techniques exist which are much influenced by the conditions of the colonies or nesting sites. The choice of materials for the construction of ladders depends greatly upon materials available near the honey ting site. The key factor for consideration when selecting materials is Safety for the climber.

Open nesting bees

Giant honey bees are open-nesting: they build a large, single piece of comb with layers of bees forming a curtain to envelope, protect and maintain the brood and honey from enemies and inclement weather. Tualang trees are tree emergents in the heart of the rainforest: this means any species that stands out above the rainforest canopy and is smooth-barked. Typical species include A/stonia spp, Ficus spp and Koompassia excelsa.

Modern and traditional honey hunting

The modern types of climbing and tools used for harvesting honey differ in that they abandon the practice of observing the taboo of not using any metal object. This taboo is associated with hunting materials used in the legend of Hitam Manis*. There is a great deal of indigenous knowledge associated with selecting the right material for climbing. Interestingly, the emphasis on safety is also greatly etched in the folklore, legends and ancient stories. Such taboos are widely practised in south-east Asia Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand) and southern Asia (India, Nepal and Sri Lanka). Only non-metallic materials such as bamboo, cow hide, liana vines, scapula bones from cattle, or wood are used. This is influenced by the element of safety and availability of the materials used and more so, probably, because it has been practised this way since before the Bronze Age. Cave-paintings of honey hunting in India, carbon-dated to 6,000 years ago, indicate that honey hunting is an ancient art, evolving into a sub-culture that is proven to be a sustainable practice between humans and bees.

* Forbidden love between a prince and serving maid earned the wrath of the King. The maid was banished together with other maids who flew away to become bees.

Honey hunting season

The honey hunting season is as long as the flowering season. The flowering season in Malaysia lasts 2-3 months and it is closely linked to the monsoon seasons of November-April and May-September. Usually the period of blooming starts in January or early February until the end of March or early April in Peninsular Malaysia. There may be smaller peaks during September in El Nifio years.

A honey hunting group usually harvest 5-7 bee trees per season. cannot harvest more because of time limitations. There are still many bee trees that are not easily accessible in the deep forest and with logistical problems.

Honey hunting areas

The popular and notable honey hunting areas in Malaysia are the forests of Pedu Lake, Kuala Pilah-Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan, Jengka, Pahang, Segamat Johor, and in many areas of Sarawak and Sabah. Honey hunting is practised throughout the entire rainforest of south-east Asia and South Asia.

Honey hunter decline

In Pedu Lake, there are 10-15 honey hunting groups in the span of the protected forest which serves as a water catchment area. Each group comprises a minimum of five people. This means there are a total of 70-100 honey hunters, who work also as artisans, fishermen, padi growers and rattan gatherers.

The number of honey hunters is decreasing because there are other job opportunities available that offer more dependable sources of income throughout the year. Honey hunting has always been a part-time or recreational activity in traditional culture. A honey hunter is an esteemed character because he embodies the elements of bravery, skills and knowledge.

In recent years, there has been a significant reduction in the number of giant honey bees Apis dorsata that nest in aggregates on the 70 tall m tualang or bee trees, in the forest by Pedu Lake. This is happening both nationally and regionally. Apis dorsata honey bee colonies are sedentary and migratory in nature.

They come and settle on a particular bee tree for two to three months every year. Nobody knows exactly where they come from or where they go when they leave. DNA studies by Dr Ben Oldroyd of Australia indicate that closely genetically-related colonies are found on the same bee tree: they could be the same colonies that come and go.

Pak Teh

I have joined the honey hunting group led by Pak Teh Lebah to the bee tree, almost every year since 1983. Pak Teh had seven bee trees, but recently he lost one. At the end of the rainy season late November or in early December the bees come to the bee trees nesting in aggregates of 10-20 colonies per tree. After a slow build up in number of colonies in the early part of the season, honey harvesting takes place in the middle of the flowering season when the highest number of colonies are in situ. By mid season, January to early March, there are 70-80 colonies nesting in the tree. By comparison, at the same stage in the season in 1993 there were 128 colonies in the bee tree. Ever since the forest fires began causing a haze across the region, there has been reduction of around 50% in the number of bee colonies. This pattern of falling numbers of colonies nesting in aggregates on the bee trees reflects similar patterns for other bee trees in the Pedu Lake area,

Pak Teh was first introduced to BfD Journal readers in issue 35. Read How one hundred people spent the night under a bee tree at www.beesfordevelopment.org/info/info/index.shtml

Economic decline

All of Pak Teh's bee trees have 30-50% fewer colonies returning. Consequently there is a significant reduction in the honey harvest. Surely, it becomes less attractive for the younger generation to use the same energy and time for less honey and less income? Today Pak Teh and his honey hunting group harvest 10-12 containers, each of 18 litres, per season; ten years ago they harvested 25-30 containers. Pak Teh and his group can make MYR20,000-30,000 (US$5,800-8 800; €4 300-6,400) from the honey harvest per year.

With dwindling income from these harvests, the costs are being weighed against the possible income to gain from other jobs in the village or factories. Only passion, tradition and the excitement of honey hunting keeps them together. Nizam and Shukor, Pak Teh’s grandsons (whom I have known since they were three years old), have chosen, one to become a bus driver and the other a car mechanic - for this provides better income compared with honey hunting. They are obliged to join their grandfather honey hunting: Pak Teh is already 80 years old and is still climbing bee trees, but ne virtually drags his grandchildren to the bee tree every year.

Further information

See Book Shelf page 14 for our review of the new book The Bee Tree by Stephen Buchmann and Diana Cohn