KOTA KINABALU: Bee farming is a traditional endeavour 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.