KUALA BERANG: He started with just a single kelulut (stingless bee) log or nest in 2017, but today Suhaimi Salleh, a 46-year-old security guard at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kua near here earns an average of RM3,000 a month by just selling honey.

With strong determination to change his life, plus some assistance from government agencies, Suhaimi, from Kampung Machang here, had a strong desire to succeed in the beekeeping trade.

An entrepreneur under the guidance of the State Agriculture Deparment, he was also lucky after being chosen as a participant under the Young Agropreneur programme by the Terengganu Agriculture Department in 2018 which qualifies him to receive aid valued at RM15,000 in the form of tools and equipment.

"I then joined an entrepreneurship course "Empower' by the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) to learn more about kelulut bee farming.

"To date, the Agriculture Department and ECERDC are still monitoring the progress of my business and provide advice from time to time," he said to reporters after a visit by Hulu Terengganu Member of Parliament Datuk Rosol Wahid recently.

Suhaimi, who now has 110 kelulut logs at three different locations in the village, said he was grateful for the various assistance extended by the government as that had helped him improve his family's socioeconomic standards.

This father of four children said he now can collect up to 70 kilogrammes of kelulut honey in a single harvest especially during the fruit and dry seasons.

"I sell my kelulut honey in two sizes, 300 grammes, which is priced at RM70 and RM180 for one kilogramme. Demand is very good including from those outside Terengganu like Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Johor and Penang.

"Every year, I can harvest up to six times but the amount varies according to the weather. For example, during the monsoon season, I will stop harvesting because the bees cannot fly far from the logs," he said.

Asked about his early involvement in kelulut farming, Suhaimi said it started in 2016 when he suffered from prolonged coughs which went on for more than a year.

"I tried all sorts of medicine and I visited clinics but none were effective. Finally, a friend suggested that I try taking kelulut honey as an alternative remedy for my cough.

"Praise be to God, in just one month, I was cured and I began buying kelulut honey as a health supplement. After thinking it over, I decided to try rearing kelulut bees for my own consumption of the honey. In 2017, I started this business with just one log," he said.

Soon, friends and neighbours were buying his honey and this motivated him to continue to add more logs and take his trade seriously.

Suhaimi now plans to add more logs in different places and widen his market through the use of social media and by recruiting more distributors all over the country.

-- BERNAMA