Description
This species produce one of Malaysia’s most famous honey called “Madu Tualang”. Collection of wild honey in Malaysia is mainly obtained from the honey bees’ species, Apis Dorsata. Wild honey collection is seasonal as it depended on the flowering season of the host and surrounding trees. In term of sources of nectar provided by the flowers from forest trees and specifically given the importance of a selected number of the forest trees like Tualang – Koompassia excelsa, Gelam – Melaleucasp and others. The nest can sometimes reach 3 feet tall. Jungle honey can taste distinctly different depending on the flower that produced the nectar.
The key to finding quality raw honey is finding someone who has a record of selling a raw honey for a sustained period of years with many satisfied customers.
One of the finest honey in the world, it is mainly made of bees that live in wild. Raw honey is suitable for bodies that are anemia and it can nourish and refresh oneself. It is kind of natural glucose which is suitable for diabetic.
Contrary to popular belief, the host tree for the bee hives is not only confined to Tualang (Koompassia excelsa), but other species like Kempas (Koompassia malaccensis), Acacia mangium, Durian (Durio zibethinus), Cempedak air (Artocarpus kemando), Sepetir (Sindora spp.), Terap (Artocarpus spps), Ara (Ficus spp.) and even Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis). The collection season depended on the flowering season of these host and surrounding trees. For Tualang and Acacia mangium, the collection season is from July – October, Kempas (March – August), Durian (May – October) and Oil Palm (January – April). Of these eight species of forest trees which are found to be host trees for the wild bees; Ara, Durian and Tualang in the Permanent Reserved Forest are listed as protected species and thus cannot be harvested (Anon’, 2006).
