Francis and Crispy Perez have been working like clockwork for years in their small coconut farm in the distant village of Hiwacloy in the town of Goa, Camarines Sur.
As farmers, it’s all hard work and teamwork for the couple to make ends meet, while they take turns in attending to their four young children.
A decade ago, the couple felt the difficulty of raising their growing children while their income from coconut farming was becoming insufficient.
Finally, they got the idea of venturing into beekeeping, or bee farming, to produce honey which can bring them the extra income to fill their “budget gap.”
Effective pollinators
But more than bringing in the extra cash, bees can also help save the world.
Take it from Executive Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) who said the importance of bees cannot be overemphasized.
An international biodiversity expert, Lim said as pollinators, bees help propagate flowers and vegetation naturally, and contribute to the genetic diversity of plants.
“They are also prey to birds and other predators, so we need to keep them in good numbers and in good health to ensure a safe and sustainable food supply for those who depend on them,” Lim said.
She added: “Of course, they produce honeycombs and honey, which can be a source of nourishment for humans, who process these for livelihoods and industries, and for other animals.”
Human inspiration
For humans, the character and behavior of bees and bee colonies inspire innovation and technologies biomimicry, Lim pointed out.
“Bee stings have potential pharmaceutical benefits, as well as [biotechnology],” she said.
Asked about bee farming, Lim said it is “good” if one uses native species and allows them to collect nectar in the natural surroundings.
“[Besides] contributing to the propagation of natural vegetation, including flowering native trees, the ‘farming’ itself, if there is community involvement, discourages the use of pesticides because there is the economic value that is attached to the survival of a healthy population of bees,” she explained.
However, she said the use of exotic bee species that may escape to the surrounding environment may affect the country’s local bee populations and may not necessarily be effective in propagating native plant species.
“Other negative impacts arise if invasive exotic species of plants are introduced as a source of nectar, or if native bees are collected and placed in an enclosed space with the artificial environment, including feeding them with sugar syrup which may cause indigestion, and have limited ecological benefits” she warned.
A unique venture
Two years ago, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) introduced the environment-friendly venture the farmers could pursue for additional income, said Carla Verdejo, Agrarian Reform Program officer said.
Five other farmers in the town also engaged in bee farming, Verdejo told the BusinessMirror via telephone interview on February 5.
She said recognizing the potential of beekeeping to help improve the farmers’ source of livelihood, the DAR started helping the Perez couple in enhancing product packaging and marketing.
“There is really a high demand for wild bee honey. When we first discovered this venture in 2020, we immediately provided help [to the farmers],” she said.
This March, she said the Philippine Coconut Authority will provide the farmers training, kits and, possibly, additional bee colonies.
Good for coconut, fruit-bearing trees
Beekeeping, Verdejo said, is good for coconut farmers, as well as those who venture into farming fruit-bearing trees.
However, she said bees avoid chemicals as they are very sensitive to agrochemical fertilizers and pesticides. This means those into beekeeping should avoid using chemicals near their bee colonies.
“Fortunately, Goa is surrounded by trees and farmers are not using pesticides so it is ideal for beekeeping,” she said in a mix of Filipino and English.
Not easy as it looks
Rearing “exotic wild bees,” also known as “ligwan,” however, is not as easy as it looks, Mang Kikoy, as Francis is popularly known, told DAR employees who learned beekeeping from him.
Mang Kikoy recalled being stung by wild bees when he was just starting in engaging in it a decade ago.
However, he said beekeeping is not new to him. As a teenager, he learned the skill from his elder brother, who is also a farmer.
Only a few people from their town are into wild beekeeping because it was never the main source of their income. But for Mang Kikoy and his wife, they nurtured their bees with enthusiasm.
From 3 to 33
The Perez couple started with just a set of three hives which later grew to 33 colonies.
“We realized that we could still grow all of our other crops while keeping the bees among them. We could earn more money without needing additional land or capital,” Mang Kikoy explained.
Unfortunately, a succession of typhoons devastated the Bicol region in recent years which destroyed half of the couple’s beehives. Only 17 colonies out of 33 bee colonies were left.
However, they are starting to multiply again.
An early morning activity
“In my experience, the best time to gather honey is early in the morning because the bees are not very aggressive during that time of the day,” he said.
“We have done all the hard work, so when the harvest comes, we expect to earn enough money for our family’s needs,” he said.
The couple would often gather up to 20 bottles of 350 ml of pure honey every third or fourth week of the month, and would sell them at P300 each through private transactions in their community or at farmers’ markets in Goa.
Hunting queen bees
Though he hasn’t attended any training on beekeeping, Mang Kikoy perfectly executed an extraordinarily refined technique of hunting beehives hanging on the high mountains of Barangay Hiwacloy.
Spotting the queen bee could be very hard, he said. Actually, many beekeepers are still struggling to develop this skill even after several years of beekeeping, he noted.
Getting the queen bee is risky. One may be swarmed by bees and get stung repeatedly. He added that even a minor slip may cause a fall to hundreds of feet down the mountain.
“By the time I spot the queen, I place it in a new wooden box, and a big chunk of bees will follow her. They will begin building combs. And those left behind will create a new queen,” he said.
Fascination for bees
“I’ve always been fascinated with bees. It’s a very enjoyable hobby, even though it comes with its fair share of pain,” Mang Kikoy said. “To see them progress in the hive and grow is very rewarding.”
Mang Kikoy tends his bees like they were his family, and he takes care of them like his children.
“To be able to communicate with bees, you need to have the personal strength to approach them, patience to learn how to tame them, which all require not force but wisdom,” Mang Kikoy said.
Image credits: DAR Bicol