KOTA KINABALU: Bee farming is a traditional endeavor of the Rungus community in Kudat, an area some two hours’ drive from here.
“When
we did not have rice to eat, we go for tapioca. But it’s not nice to
eat tapioca by itself so it was common for a family to have a bee house
or two for their supply of honey. We’d dip the tapioca into the honey
and eat it. It is heavenly,” said George Clinton, a local entrepreneur
who has made a living from harvesting honey from his family’s 500 bee
houses.
Prior to turning his family’s bee farming into a lucrative
endeavor, George said bee farming was merely to meet the consumption of
the family.
“No one knew how to improve the productivity. Our
knowledge was confined to traditional knowledge. But then KPD went into
the picture and taught us how to do it and the rest is history,” he
said.
He now produces 100 kilograms of honey per month from his 500 bee houses.
“I
supply throughout Sabah and West Malaysia. There is not enough supply
to meet the demand. Sometimes, I also supply to China and Brunei,” he
said.
Pengusaha madu lebah di negara ini perlu bekerjasama dengan pegeluar utama industri itu seperti di Thailand dan Indonesia bagi memastikan pengeluarannya meningkat sehingga 50% sekaligus bukan hanya mampu memenuhi permintaan dalam negara malah menjadi pengeksport ke luar negara.
ReplyDeleteNegara hanya menghasilkan 10% sahaja keperluan madu dalam pasaran negara dan 90% produk itu masih diimport dari Australia, China, New Zealand dan Eropah.
ReplyDelete