Honey consists of sugars (glucose, fructose etc), minerals (magnesium, potassium, calcium, sulphur, iron, iodine, zinc, copper, phosphate, etc), vitamin (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, C)
Benefits of Honey
2. Honey is natural anti-septic. It contain antimicrobial agents which prevent infection by killing the bacteria in and around your wounds. It is effective in the treatment of ulcer, particularly stomach ulcer.
3. Honey antioxidant and antibacterial properties can help improve digestive system and help one stay healthy and fight disease.
4. Honey is good for skin. It can be used as a moisturizing mask for your skin instead of alpha hydroxyl masks. It is good for sensitive skin.
5. Honey reduces muscle fatigue. The glucose gives an immediate energy boost whereas the fructose sustains energy.
6. Honey prevents cancer. It possesses carcinogen-preventing and anti-tumour properties.
7. Honey has low calorie level. Compared with same amount of sugar, honey give 40% less calorie to the body. Although it provides energy to the body, it does not add weight.
8. Honey can easily be digested by the most sensitive stomachs, despite its high acid content.
10. Honey cures burn. Honey not only prevents infection, but also accelerates skin healing. Since the sugars in honey absorb water, it helps to trap some of the moisture so that the bacteria and other microbes cannot grow as easily as in other foods.
Stingless bees or Trigona (Family : Apidae, tribe: meliponini) live in all tropical regions of the world where they are abundant in species.
They thrive in most tropical and subtropical regions such as Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines), Australia, tropical America (Mexico, Argentina), Solomon Islands, New Guinea, India and Sri Lanka. Surprisingly, no members of the genus is found in Africa.
They do not sting. When they are disturbed, they will defend by biting.
Compared with honey bee, stingless bee nests are more complex and elaborate. The nests are built within protective cavities such as hollow trees or in the ground. They have a narrow entrance defended by a few bee guards stationed at the mouth of the entrance tube.
Stingless bee nest - a cross section of a tree trunk
There are two (2) types of cell namely brood cell and storage pots. The main building material of these cells is cerumen which is a mixture of plant resins (sometimes called propolis) and beewax.
The brood chamber is separated from the area of food storage pots. Most species arrange their brood cells in horizontal single layered combs. The storage pots are arranged around a central set of horizontal brood combs. Pots containing honey are intermixed with those containing pollen.
Stingless bee larvae are not fed directly like the honey bee larvae. They have a system called mass-provisioning. Food is deposited in the brood cell. Thereafter, the queen lays egg on top of the food. The cell is sealed. After pupation, the adult bees will emerge from the brood cell.
When the younger bees emerge from the brood cell, they stay in the nest. As they grow up, they become foragers and guards. At any point of time, a nest can accommodate 300-80,000 worker bees.
New nests are not established via swarming. They are formed by worker bees constructing a new nest at a secondary location. A newly mated queen will come to stay in the new nest. Worker bees will take up permanent residence and help the new queen to raise her own workers.
Stingless bees have enlarged area on their back legs for carrying pollen back to the nest. These parts of the stingless bees is called pollen baskets or corbiculae. One may sell the pollen baskets filled up with bright yellow or orange pollen after the stingless bees come back from foraging expedition.
Stingless bees collect nectar, which they store in an extension of their guts called crops. Nectar is the raw form of honey. It can be turned into honey later.
Back in the nest, the stingless bees ripen or dehydrate the nectar by spinning them inside their mouthparts until honey is formed. The stingless bees further dehydrate the honey after putting the honey in a pot by blowing air by swinging their wings. Ripening concentrates and increases the sugar content of honey. This honey is thinner than that of the honey bee (Apis mellifera).
Stingless bees like to collect resin and gum from 16 plant families including Anacardiceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Euphobiaceae, Hypericaceae, Meliaceae and Moraceae. These resin and gum are used for making the propolis. Stingless bee make more propolis than of honey bees.
Man-made stingless bee hiveStingless bee is kept by different ways from the honey bees. Normally the beekeepers would search in the jungle for tree with hollow trunk where the stingless bees make their nest.
The easier way is to look for jungle clearing sites. The tree trunk with stingless bees nest will be cut and brought back to a farm. A wooden tray with a hole at the centre will be placed on top of the said tree trunks. A plastic sheet will be place on top of the wooden box.
The stingless bees would enter the tray box and make brood cells at the centre with storage pots for pollen and honey surrounding the brood cells.
Rearing stingless bee in the tree trunk.
Entrance to stingless bee nest
Rearing stingless bees in tree trunk.There is an easier way to collect the stingless bees honey. It is to place plastic cups arranged in matrix in the wooden tray (see picture).
Man-made stingless bee hive with matrix of induced honey pots.
Man-made stingless bee hive with natural honey pots.
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