In an effort to empower the communities of target villages, FORCLIME recently held a series of training sessions on stingless honeybee farming in conjunction with the West Papua Provincial Forestry Service and the Forest Management Unit of Sorong Selatan for forest farmers groups in two supported villages in West Papua Province, specifically the villages of Wendi and Haha which are located in South Sorong Regency. The training activities were held from 21 – 22 November 2022 in Wendi and from 23 – 24 November 2022 in Haha. The training participants comprised three groups of forest farmers from Wendi (Wendi 1, Wendi 2, Lembah Hijau) and three from Haha (Imian, Sesna and Nagi).

The participants received training from a stingless honeybee expert, Dr. Mahani, SP., M.Sc. from the Faculty of Agricultural Industrial Engineering at the University of Pajajaran. The types of stingless honeybees that were introduced during the training sessions were the Tetragonula biroi and the Heterotrigona itama species.

During the training, the participants learned about several areas relating to the species in question, including:
1. Beekeeping techniques for the superior Trigona.
2. How to identify and select stingless bees for bee farming.
3. How to make beekeeping boxes (‘stup’).

During the training, the participants practiced making the stup beekeeping boxes and also gained knowledge based on expert experience in honeybee cultivation, including the economic prospects relating to this time-honored activity.

In the local language, stingless bees are known as 'hok' while bees that sting are called 'towa'. Local people have used hok honey since ancient times, however, to date they have not yet cultivated it for commercial purposes. Through the recent training sessions though, the villagers learned how to develop beekeeping within an economic context in the hope that they will be able to generate additional income for their villages in the future.

For more information, please contact:
Melanesia Brigite Boseren, Junior Advisor for Rural Livelihood, Forest Management and Conservation
Nita Yohana, Adviser for Sustainable Forest Management and Coordinator for West Papua Province
Mohammad Sidiq, Strategic Area Manager for Sustainable Forest Management and Coordinator for Papua and West Papua Provinces