Sumbawa Honey is produced from forest wild bees (Apis dorsata) in the Sumbawa island, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
Sumbawa Honey is only collected by small groups of 4 to 5 individuals through techniques that have been passed from generations. These groups determine the best day and time for the honey collection. Then tools are prepared in advance by the collectors and include api poyong (to wipe the nest/colony), rean (container for the bee hives), rangke (a type of ladder for climbing tall trees), lonto (rattan/vine for climbing trees). If collection takes place at night then api pontat, a fire to attract the bees will also be used.
The collection of Sumbawa Honey starts by gently fogging the beehives. Farmers only take a certain part of the beehive called pongong (where the honey is stored). This harvest method allows bees to rebuild a nest in the same beehive around 15 days later. Then the harvested beehives are cleaned before being cut using stainless steel knife, so that the nest cavity is open and the honey can drip through sieves.
The taste and the aroma of the Sumbawa Honey depends on the feed consumed by the wild bees in the forest, that changes slightly every season with the flowers. The colour of the honey is golden yellow with brightness levels that depend on the feeding.
Established in May 2007, Jaringan Madu Hutan Sumbawa (JMHS) is the association that manages a network of over 600 farmers and collectors of the Sumbawa Honey. It is also the official PGI lodger of Sumbawa Honey. The network’s field hub is at the Desa Batudulang village, Kecamatan Batulanteh in the Sumbawa Island.
The participation of Sumbawa Honey to Terra Madre is sponsored by ARISE+ Indonesia, a technical assistance programme funded by the European Union that aims to strengthen the capacity of government institutions and stakeholders on a wide range of areas within international trade, private sector competitiveness and business environment.
To ensure that your queries are duly attended, we suggest that you copy Ms Sitti Fatmawati to your emails: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Contacts
Mr Julmansyah
Facilitor, Jaringan Madu Hutan Sumbawa
Jl. Ki Hadjar Dewantara 18A
Sumbawa Besar
West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
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+62 812 3763 431