Getting to know MY Bee Saviors - Penyelamat Lebah Malaysia

­PENCINTA ALAM APRIL 2019

GREEN LIVING COLUMN

GETTING TO KNOW MY BEE SAVIORS – PENYELAMAT LEBAH MALAYSIA

By Wong Ee Lynn <wongeelynn@yahoo.com / gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com>

All photo credits: From MY Bee Saviors – Penyelamat Lebah Malaysia’s Facebook page.

We all know that honey bees are the most important pollinator of food crops. It is estimated that one third of the food that we consume each day relies on pollination mostly by bees, but also by other insects, birds and bats. Even for crops that are not directly pollinated by honey bees, the crop still benefits indirectly from being in an environment in which honey bees are found, due to the increased biodiversity in the area which stimulates the crop.

Bees pollinate not only food crops consumed by humans, but also other plants eaten by other animals and birds, so they play a vital role in the entire food chain. They pollinate wild flowers, thus enhancing biodiversity. Bee populations – whether healthy or declining – tell us about the health of the wider environment.

Unfortunately, bee populations worldwide are facing serious threats. Habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticides, climate change, diseases and parasites and invasive plant species have all contributed to the  decline in bee populations.

The global scientific and environmental community has been working hard to protect and restore bee populations by calling on governments to ban pesticides linked to declines in bee populations. In April 2018, European Union member states agreed to ban the outdoor use of neonicotinoid pesticides. France has gone one step further, banning 5 types of pesticides linked to bee deaths both for outdoor and indoor use. The US Donald Trump administration has, unfortunately, lifted an Obama-era ban on the use of bee-killing pesticides.

While Malaysia has made no such declaration on the use of bee-killing pesticides, one volunteer-run organisation has been quietly and heroically saving bees, one hive at a time.

MY Bee Savior / Penyelamat Lebah Malaysia is a group founded in January 2015 by Haji Musa Yaacob, a retired MARDI (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute) researcher and Encik Izatul Lail Bin Mohd Yasar, another MARDI researcher.

As the group started growing and increasing its reach, MARDI decided to adopt the group as a Corporate Social Responsibility project in January 2017. As of March 2019, the group has almost 200 registered volunteers nationwide.

Volunteer registration is available online for members of the public who are interested in saving bees. Interested individuals can contact the group, and the administrators of the group will then ask the prospective volunteers a few questions to determine their suitability and readiness before registering them. Upon registration, volunteers will be given an e-book on how to relocate bees, and some video files on the bee relocation process. New volunteers will be invited to join senior volunteers on bee relocation operations in the areas nearest to them. New volunteers who are experienced beekeepers are permitted to undertake the relocation process themselves without the presence of senior volunteers. Active MY Bee Savior volunteers are given a protective beekeeping suit each, or may purchase their own beekeeping suits. Some tools and equipment may be used depending on the complexity of the operations, location or position of the bee hive, and species of bees. MNS members who have engaged the services of these helpful volunteers, though, report that the volunteers mostly use just a cardboard box and tape!

MY Bee Savior volunteers do not charge homeowners or property managers for their bee relocation services, as their goals are public outreach and education, preventing the killing and poisoning of bees, protecting and increasing bee populations and encouraging sustainable beekeeping and honey harvesting practices. The bee hives and colonies are usually relocated to sustainable bee farms, for example, the one in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). If there is honey collected during the relocation operation, the homeowner may share it with the volunteers. If the homeowner is interested in keeping the bees for honey production purposes, he or she may request that the volunteers bring or construct a hive box for a specified fee. MY Bee Savior accepts donations whether for the transport expenses of individual volunteers, or larger sums to enable the organisation to purchase more beekeeping suits and equipment.

In the event you find a bee colony on or around your premises, please do not smoke the bees out or spray them with insecticides. Instead, contact MY Bee Savior at 019 664 8081 and they will get one of their volunteers to contact you as soon as one is available. MNS members have reported that MY Bee Savior volunteers usually show up within 24 to 48 hours and the relocation is done efficiently without harming the bees.

To find them on Facebook, visit: https://www.facebook.com/penyelamatlebah/?ref=br_rs