Abuzz with passion: Let's bee friends

The bees he keeps at home are of the Apis florea type, says bee rescuer Raja Mohd Soffian Raja Ismail. Photo: The Star/Chan Tak Kong

Bees are busy little creatures, flying around from plant to plant, buzzing busily. One or two aren’t usually noticeable but when the colony is on the move, they sound like a squadron of fighter planes out on manoeuvres.

Many people are frightened of bees. However, a growing number are adopting bees and advocating for them.

We talk to three Malaysians about their love for our apian friends.

From dream to honey farm

Cathy Kong Chai Yuen manages over 30 hives and has a side business selling honey. It all started because she had a dream. “When I retire, I want to run a home farm and live independently in a natural way,” she shares.

Back in 2018, she lived in Kuala Lumpur and had only a tiny garden. So, she decided to start small and work from there.

“Farming is about managing an ecosystem,” she points out. “And bees are fundamental. I bought a hive of bees to pollinate the plants in my garden. My veggies grew better immediately.”

Cathy Kong checking on her bees in her home in Taman Connaught, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Photo: The Star/Samuel Ong

Kong kicked off with a single hive of stingless bees.

“When I started my research, most of the information was about honey bees from the West – with stings,” Kong shares. “I found a local group and they taught me about local bees.”

She started with Bee Savior, learning how to identity, manage and transport bees.

“I learned to save bee colonies but I was staying in the city,” she notes. “I kept one colony in the kitchen in my old place. They were small local honeybees, with stings, but they’re friendly. But with having only a little space, I had to go far into the forest to release other rescue hives.”

Kong moved to Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, at the start of the MCO, which finally gave her a bigger garden. She moved in hives of dwarf honey bee, Apis florea, and Asian honey bee, Apis cerana bees for the plants, and promptly added a fish pond.

These aren’t pretty fish; they’re part of an aquaponics project.

Cathy Kong keeps some fish in her garden as part of an aquaponics project.

“The fish live in the water and the veggies grow on the surface,” she explains. “The fish poop helps feed the plants, and the plants filter and clean the water where the fish live.”

With the bees working the pollination, and the fish feeding the plants, Kong has the perfect mini ecological system.

“The bees do more than work in the garden,” she points out. “I have a cold now and I’m using their honey in my tea. The propolis that they use to build their hives is also medicinal, as is the royal jelly they make. I’ve stopped buying cold medication.”

It’s going so well that Kong has set up a farm of 30 hives of stingless bees outside of the city.

“They’re unique insects,” Kong enthuses. “People are so afraid of them, thinking they’re wild and will hurt them. But to me they are just cute.”

“Bees are like us humans. If you slap a person, they slap back. Bees are the same! If you just leave them alone, they do their own thing.”

“Bees are hardworking, independent, and not messy. Actually, they’re the ideal pet.”

So, the love affair continues. Aside from her bee farm, Kong continues to rescue bees. “I pass rescue hives to fellow farm owners for pollination and to adopters,” she says. “Also, as some of my bees are permanent but other species move around, some hives stay with me.”

As for the self-sustaining home farm dream, that continues too. Kong is eyeing up some chickens.

“I will have extra compost, and eggs,” she smiles. “And the shells are good for the garden, you know.”

From job to life’s work

When Dr Mohd Norowi Hamid from Salak Tinggi, Sepang, was director of the Strategic Resource Research Centre at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), his job was to research biological diversity. In the course of his work, he came across a burgeoning issue.

When Dr Norowi was working at Mardi, his job was to research biological diversity. Today, he is the president of MY Bee Savior Association.

“We found pollinators declining in frightening numbers,” Dr Norowi shares. “Globally, they’re disappearing 100 to 1,000 times faster than normal. So, I have made it my mission to study and promote local bees.”

Today, Dr Norowi is president of MY Bee Savior Association, an NGO dedicated to rescuing and relocating bees, and also raising public awareness of apian matters and their importance to humankind.

“When people think of bees, they usually think of honey,” Norowi points out. “But conservationists and scientists value bees for their pollination work.”

Bees are vital for the ecosystem because they help plants to reproduce. Seedbearing plants and flowers create small grains called pollen that help fertilise plant cells.

Sometimes, the wind will blow pollen about. Should it land on target, it will help plants to produce fruit. However, bees are much more efficient.

As these insects buzz about, they transfer pollen from plant to plant. It’s efficient and very effective.

The problem is that pollinators like bees are being killed off in huge numbers by people, pollution and climate change.

There are over 265 species of bee in Malaysia, from the Asian Honeybee that is super resistant to many diseases, to the tropical carpenter bee, the “metal” bee with an all-black body and metallic purple wings.

“I love that there are so many different species,” Norowi shares. “But to be practical, it’s best to think of them in two groups: Social and solitary. More than 90% of all bee species are solitary. They don’t produce honey. The remaining lot are social and they do make honey.

“In the past, the focus was on honey. Today, as numbers are declining and we have a biodiversity crisis, research limelight is on solitary bees. They work hard at keeping pollination going and are vital for conservation.”

Dr Norowi with his pet bees – all stingless ones from two species, Trigona Thoracica or Trigona Itama – at his house in Salak Tinggi, Sepang. Photo: The Star/Shaari Chemat

Norowi’s personal favourite are stingless bees. In his career, he has researched 32 species, including the five species that produce honey, and discovered the best way for beekeepers to domesticate two local species.

“They’re small, so they can go everywhere, even little flowers,” he enthuses. “They’re great little workers. Plus, they’re very friendly. I have a hive by my backdoor and nine more in the front. They’re easy-going, and never a problem to anyone.”

Converted by a visiting swarm

In 2021, when a swarm of bees arrived at his house in his hometown – Kg Kundang Patah, in Raub, Pahang – Raja Mohd Soffian Raja Ismail went straight to YouTube.

“I’d heard that bees are important and that you can relocate them,” he says, “I went online to see how that might work.”

YouTube and Facebook yielded some information, but relocating a hive is a bit too complex for everyday folk. Soffian called Bee Savior in for the job but his passion for all things apian had been ignited.

“I watched Mr Lail from Bee Savior move my first bees,” he enthuses. “After that, I decided to take lessons.”

Raja Mohd Soffian ascertains the position of the honeycomb before installing it on the frame. Photo: The Star/Chan Tak Kong

Before long, Soffian – who now lives in Sungai Merab, Kajang, Selangor – became a bee rescuer himself. In addition, more bees came to visit. “I live near the forest so they come and live with me,” he says enthusiastically. “There are seven hives near me now. I watch them every morning, going in and out (of the hives), working away. I love them.”

“We’re told in school that bees are dangerous but they’re not. We should live side by side as neighbours.”

Soffian has a day job as a technician but he also continues his volunteer work as bee rescuer. “Tomorrow, I’m relocating two hives. I will bring one to my place and the other to the forest. I will take my wife and my five-year-old son along for this trip. They love bees, too,” he said, during this recent interview.

Some hives near Soffian’s home in Sungai Merab, Kajang, Selangor.

The bee lover notes that some people call regularly, as they have one hive after another moving in. It’s grist to the mill for Soffian.

“My favourite species is the red dwarf honeybee or Apis florea because they can build hives anywhere. Sometimes they build in a corridor, sometimes under a table – they are very creative! They are small bees but they can fly quite high too. I’ve had to move them from apartments.

“When you’re moving bees, you’re essentially interfering with their home. So, just like us, the bees can be upset. The Asian honeybee, or Apis cerana, can sting and they sometimes want to fight me. I stun them with smoke, and wear protection – two T-shirts instead of one. I get that they’re worried, and it’s OK if they sting me. Luckily, I’m not allergic.”

Soffian is also an active advocate for bee protection in Malaysia. He posts on Facebook and Tik Tok, educating friends and spreading the good news.

“Don’t burn them. Save them,” he urges. “If you see bees, just call Bee Savior and we’ll come and get the bees for you. Free!”

Soffian inserting the frames into the hive.

Dr Norowi warns: “You can’t just dump a log of bees in the garden and hope it works. The environment needs to be sustainable.”

“You need to know your basics, like how bee colonies work – from the queen who lays the eggs to the worker bees. Also, you need to be aware of weather and monsoon patterns so you know when to collect honey.”

Reading a book, taking a short course, or working with an existing beekeeper should be enough to get you started.

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Want to adopt bees?

One new set of wooden beehive. Photo: 123rf.com

Some honey bees go wandering, which means you have to go chasing them through the forest or persuade them to stick around. However, stingless bees like to live in one spot. This makes them simple to keep and friendly, so they're good for beginners.

You can buy starter kits where the bees come in their own colony. Basic kits run from RM400 for a log-based small hive to RM1,200 for an established colony.