With hardly much buzz, BIBA

shares 254 ‘kiwot colonies’

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Oct 7 (PIA) –Working without much of a buzz, Bohol Island Bee-managers Association (BIBA), has already put up an aggregate of 254 stingless bee colonies all over Bohol, barely five months from its official inception.

Already an acknowledged organization of stingless-bee (kiwot) keepers intent on bringing out the best in bee culture in their move towards a sustainable organic farming in Bohol, BIBA have been mum about doubling their income potential simply by just keeping bee colonies and tending to their farms at the same time.

Officially organized last June 17, 2017, BIBA believes that even if they count on the increased harvest due to the added natural pollination by the harmless stingless bees, food production would be up by 55% to 85%, cites BIBA President Jomer Balag of Jolits EcoFarm in Cambacay Batuan.

Epifanio Loyola Jr., the President of the country’s network of bee managers foundation incorporated (BEENET), in a separate interview corroborated Balag’s claim, citing his coconut farm’s increased harvest measured up to 85%, nearly double the yield in the previous years before picking up bee-keeping in his farm.

Ideally set for Bohol as these are endemic, stingless bees are among the smallest bees that do not sting, and with their size, they can access areas in a flower that several natural pollinators can not go, adding an extremely large amount of healthy pollination enhancing fruiting.

With this, BIBA members are encouraging people who are into the niche market of organic agriculture to look at stingless bee-keeping, as when the increased harvest is assured in the farm and in the foraging areas of the bees, the insects have also a great potential for honey.

More than that even, stingless bee colonies are also sold at a good price.

A bee colony of about 15,000 to 25,000 stingless bees can fetch from P3,000 to P3,500, based on the current rates, Balag shared.

Farms with stingless bees, as long as these are also balanced with flower gardens in the farm, can keep the bees from going far to forage for pollens, which could also keep the local pollination high, notes University of The Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) professor Dr. Analinda Fajardo, during the most recent BEE Net conference here.

Seen as an effective measure to keep the bees from straying out into farms that use chemicals which is largely fatal o the insects, planting flowers neat the bee colonies in the farm can contain the bees in the farm, and reduce the mortality caused by the chemicals.

In Bohol, intent on keeping the bee-keeping and managing in their farms are 29 farmers with some 134 bee colonies in Bohol’s first District, 5 farmers in Bohol’s Second District and 10 farmers in Bohol’s Third District.

With the development, Gawad Kalinga Philippines is also giving out bee colonies to their communities in Bohol, said coordinator Rey Balatayo, considering the help these insects can give to the environment and the economy of their beneficiaries.

The largest concentration of stingless bee colonies, is in the farms of farms Batuan, where the BIBA intends to establish as the stingless bee capital of Bohol. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

TURN OVER OF COLONIES. BIBA Bohol president Jomer Balag hands out a stingless bee colony in a box to a farmer who joined last June’s BIBA orientation in Cambacay, Batuan. Stingless bees are endemic to Bohol and with few bee-eaters, stingless bees are safer her, until they get to farms that spray chemical insecticides and herbicides which have the potential to decimate bee populations. (RAHC/PIA-7/Bohol)