Students help B40 families raise income from stingless bees

PONTIAN: The enforcement of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) in June had opened up an opportunity for a group of 15 university students to lend their hands to struggling B40 families in Kampung Melayu Raya, Pekan Nenas here to generate additional income through a social enterprise effort, Bee Friendz.

The initiative was launched by students of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) from the Pasir Gudang campus.

According to Bee Friendz project leader, Muhammad Rasydan Abd Rashid, 19, five families were selected to participate in the programme, which started in July, with each family given two units of bee houses to rear stingless bees (kelulut) from the Itama species to produce honey.

He said the kelulut honey would then be harvested at least once a month depending on weather conditions, for use in producing final products such as laundry soap, hand wash soap, face wash soap and honey-based beverages.

“Bee Friendz produces six types of products, namely the original kelulut honey which we sell at RM40 for 100 millilitres, laundry propolis soap, hand propolis soap, face soap, body soap and kelulut e-book to provide guidance to those interested in kelulut farming," Muhammad Rasydan told Bernama today.

Muhammad Rasydan said currently the products were produced in small quantities and would sell fast because of their quality and high demand.

He said the silver award they received at an international innovation and invention competition last month was proof that the products under the Bee Friendz project were of quality, adding that the products are sold to the UiTM community through Bee Friendz Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Muhammad Rasydan said he hoped that the project will benefit more people in the target group and encourage them to participate in stingless beekeeping in the future, adding that the project seeks to help the participants raise their income by producing innovative products.

Meanwhile, Bee Friendz project supervisor and senior lecturer at the Chemical Unit, Faculty of Applied Sciences of Pasir Gudang Campus, Munirah Onn, said the project was part of its students initiative to reach out to the community or Duta Jauhar as it is known, that aims at developing the socio-economy of the communities in Johor.

She said such projects involving the community are important for the students to make a positive impact outside of their classrooms.

Munirah said they opted to do the project because it was practical and convenient and easy to implement as well as within the budget of RM5,000 channelled by Yayasan Pelajaran Johor in support of the initiative.

She said unlike other farm animals that need constant care and feeding, bees are capable of searching for their own food in the surrounding flora and fauna, making them a suitable source of additional income.

According to her, one kilogramme (kg) of propolis could fetch RM1,800 while bee bread could be sold at RM1,200 per kg.

One of the project participants, Norani Mohd Halel, 56, said she managed to raise her family’s income, which has been dependent on village crops, through the Bee Friendz project.

Aside from the bee houses, she was also given guidance on the best way to produce quality honey, which she said lies in their food comprising of plants and flowers.

"If the weather is good, one bee house can produce about 1kg of honey in a month and can be sold at RM200 to RM300 according to the current market," she added.

-- BERNAMA