I’ve always wondered how wild honey tastes like, especially if it’s obtained from within the vicinity of the farm. “Wild” here being the existence of honey which is naturally established by bees without rearing them. It’s truly a delight that I finally have this opportunity to experience it first hand.
There have been numerous occasions when Apis cerana bees (Asian honey bees, not the stingless type) have been setting up their colonies at the farm; whether it’s up in the roof, in covered bath tubs, or in this instance, inside the vermicompost toilet‘s sewerage holding tank enclosure. This long overdue bee relocation task has been undertaken by a member of the MY Bee Savior group, Mr Razif Mamat, a highly skilled and knowledgeable chap with bees and natural resources.
The vermicompost tank enclosure has been specially designed to keep the African night crawler (ANC) worms in a cool and dark place, both conditions of which I believe have been really inviting for the bees. They setup home under the cover once but were “expelled” by exposing the cover to the elements. It was only a matter of time before they took up refuge in the same spot again. They have to be removed as they are too close to the camp site and visitors.
Seeing how Razif does it looks easy. I’ve always been averse to handling and rearing bees with sting. The reason is obvious. They sting, unlike the stingless bees, who while may not “sting”, they do actually “bite” or sink their mandibles into your skin. Worst still, stingless bees like getting into any orifices in your body (nostrils, ear) and hair. They can get very annoying and I believe a hundred of them on your face is no different than a single sting from the Apis cerana. I’ve experienced both.
Once the combs have been cut, they will be placed suspended in one of the many wooden frame panels custom built for the nesting box. Coincidentally, all the 7 combs of the colony just about made it into the nesting box that comes with 7 wooden frame panels. According to Razif, once the combs are relocated into the box, we will have to leave it for a couple of minutes to see how much more the remaining members of the colony are lingering outside the box. The more they are found outside, the higher likelihood the queen bee has not been successfully moved into the box. This then necessitates the manual relocation of the remaining bees outside into the box, followed by another round of waiting.
When there are no more obvious groupings sighted outside or in the vicinity of the box, it may then be considered a success. Sometimes, such groupings could be due to the fact that these bees have not “received the information” of the “relocation”, as such, they would need some manual physical nudging into the box. When completed, the nesting box would be placed near the bees’ old spot, in this case, right on top of the enclosure cover. The colony will have to be progressively moved to its final resting place twice in two months, once indications are clear the colony is stable and settling in its new environment. The true success of relocation can only be ascertained if the colony remains after having settled to its new home, post two months period.
Interesting and insightful knowledge indeed, learning and observing from Razif. According to him, he does not favour using smoke to “calm” the bees down as the subdued nature of the bees may give way to a more aggressive bounce back once the bees regained their attention and orientation. In other words, the use of smoke is simply provocative. While it may offer some relief and assistance in the initial parts of the handling process, the bees’ defensive mechanism may be heightened and thus may result in a more aggressive behaviour.
With these preliminary information in just a short span of exposure to the entire relocation process, I can say I’m ready to undertake the next bee saving exercise, given the right tools and guidance. First things first, I need the full suit and a small knife as part of my working toolkit!
As for the taste of the honey recovered, it was simply exquisite. First and foremost, it wasn’t sour like the kelulut honey. Honey from the Apis cerana bees is mild, fragrant, pleasant and velvety in taste and texture. For the record, it isn’t that sweet as expected. It is also more viscous than kelulut honey which is quite watery.
It was also an interesting experience sucking honey from the comb made of bees wax. One important thing to note was that the feeling of satiety was reached relatively fast. I reckoned this feeling of fullness was due to the high amount of energy and nutrient-dense nature of such natural food.
I’d certainly be looking forward to breeding more Apis cerana bees at the farm and have some diversity with regards to the various types of honey available to consume and sell.
