Kelulut honey is a type of bee product that is perhaps quite rarely heard of. This honey, which has other names as stingless bee honey or meliponin honey, comes from Trigona itama and Trigona thoracica bees. Honey has been used as a flavor enhancing agent, besides that honey functions as an antioxidant, antimicrobial, blood sugar regulator, and improves the immune system (Purwadi et al. 2017).
The Social Forestry Business Group (KUPS) is a Village Forest Management Institution (LPHD) business group that carries out community-based businesses in and around the forest. KUPS was formed by people who care about forests. KPSHK in support of the Kalawa, Mantaren I, and Buntoi Honey KUPS facilitated training on Honey Cultivation Training, Identification of Bee Feed Types and Honey Product Processing Training from 16 – 19 January 2024 at the LPHD Secretariat. The training was accompanied by Syaifuddin (30) as an expert and Director of CV. Syaif Forest Borneo and owner of Madu Zahra.
“The Kelulut honey training is expected to improve KUPS’s ability to choose the location of the stup site, skills in separating beehives in colony care, skills in honey harvesting and storage techniques, as well as improving KUPS’ skills in making processing products from honey,” explained Onasis (KUPS Manager) full of hope.
Syaifuddin said that the placement of honey stock must be under shade. If the results are to be satisfactory then there must be plenty of food sources around the stup, one of which is bee food, namely flowers. When harvesting honey, don’t waste the honey or take it completely so that the rest will be used as food for the honey chicks and queen.
“If honey harvesting is carried out, the first thing to look at is the kelulut funnel. If the kelulut funnel is dry, the stup will first be attacked by ants,” said Syaifuddin.
According to Syaifuddin, if there are 2 funnels then there are a lot of keluluts and they are super keluluts. You have to be careful when moving clones so as not to damage them, if you move clones you have to move them a distance of 1 km. The distance between stups should be 4-5 m with the funnels not facing each other.
“Every honey has a different taste and color,” said Syaifuddin
Syaifudin said that if you want to get a sweet and sour taste then harvest in the second and third months. The taste of kelulut honey depends on the flowers the bees produce. Kelulut honey contains gas, so before packing or shipping out of the area, the water content needs to be reduced to 22-23%. The 2013 Indonesian National Standard (SNI 01-3545-2013) states that good quality honey has a maximum water content value of 22% and a maximum honey acidity value of 50 ml NaOH/kg.[1]
“The packaging of honey products must be as good as possible with an attractive model,” said Syaifuddin
Syaifuddin said that when the honey is ready, making a honey product must include the name and label. The health department will provide free product name design. For example, the honey label “Zahra” means flower in Arabic. Then SNI and halal labels must be taken care of so that consumers believe that the products being made are safe for consumption.
Processing honey products and sustainable cultivation by providing training and assistance in the cultivation and processing of Kelulut honey will improve the welfare of beekeepers, the community and preserve the environment.
Kelulut honey can be processed into various derivative products, such as bee pollen capsules, which have benefits as a source of antioxidants. Apart from direct consumption, honey is also used as a raw material in other products, such as traditional medicines, cosmetics and food ingredients. Several honey derivative products have also been developed to increase the added value of honey and its benefits, both for health and the economy.
When compared to regular honey, kelulut honey has several advantages. One of these advantages is that it has a higher water content than ordinary honey, has high antioxidant levels, and lower total carbohydrates.
Source:
Honey Cultivation Training Activities
Purwadi LE, Radiati H, Evanuarini RD, Andriana. 2017. Handling of Animal Products. Malang (ID): UB Press
[1] Indonesian National Standard 2013 (SNI 01-3545-2013)Author: Alma Tiara
Editor: Aftrinal L Lubis
Add a Comment