Bees and Palms in Peninsular Malaysia

74 PRINCIPES lVoL. 33 Principes,33(2), 1989, pp. 7 4-77 Beesand Palms in PeninsularMalaysia RurH Krsw ANDMoHAMAD MUID Department of Biology and Department of Plant Protection, Uniaersiti Pertanian Malaysia, 434OO Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Bees which in Malaysia have been 0700-1300 hrs (MaiShihah19876). Male observed visiting palms belong to the gen- flowers release their pollen early in the era Apis and Trigona. These include the morning. Both male and female flowers two important honeybees in Malaysia, the secrete nectar early in the morning and Malaysian honeybee, Apis cerana indica, by 1000 hrs it has dried up. The female which can be kept in hives, and the giant flowers have a second but smaller nectar honeybee, Apis dorsata. The sweat bees, secreting peak in the afternoon (Che Tek Trigona spp., are important pollinators in Kamariah 1985). the rain forest but they accumulate very Coconutpollen forms over 85 percent little honey. of all pollen types found in honey from coconut growing areas and is the only pollen type found in all Malaysian honey Apis cerana indica Palms and investigated(MaiShihah I9B7 a). Farmers The past five to ten years have seen a have remarkedthat after keepingbees their surge in beekeeping among smallholders harvestof coconutshas increased,though as a means of supplementing their income. they have no exact figures to substantiate The impetus for this has partly been the this claim. high retail price of local honey (M$25 or Annual honey yield averages about 4 US$g.70 per kilo compared with M$9 for to 5 kg per hive but there is a wide range, imported Australian or Chinese honey) and from 0 to l0 kg, the result of usinggenet- partly because apicultural research on the ically variable wild colonies and varying local honeybee has put beekeeping on a degrees of management, especially of sounder footing. requeening.Muid has found that vigorous Prime beekeeping areas in Peninsular dwarf hybrids of coconutat Tanjung Ka- l\4alaysiaare the coconul growing areas: rang produce seven regular harvests of Bagan Datuk (Perak), Tanjung Karang- honey a year compared with the tall Sabak Bernam (Selangor) and Batu Pahat- Malayan varieties which produce honey Pontian (Johore). This is because coconut only betweenApril and July. The stocking supplies a steady source of nectar and pol- rate is aboutten hivesper hectarein coco- len for the honeybee throughout the year. nut-coffeeareas with a lower stockingrate In mixed farming areas bees also forage in coconut-cacaoareas. Although in abso- preferentially on coconut. MaiShihah lute terms,this may seema smallmonetary (I9B7a) found that they will go beyond return for the time invested, beekeeping their usual range (300-500 m) to collect is an important supplementary cash input coconut pollen and nectar. for lhe small farmer Coconut provides both pollen and nectar Under natural conditions,Apis cerana to the bees. Observations on pollen loads indica nests in hollow coconut trunks. carried in the pollen baskets of bees return- Farmers also make simple hives out of ing to the hive showed thar Apis cerana coconut logs, which sell for M$3. They indica collected coconut pollen from are calledby the Javanesename, gelodog resel KIEW AND MUID: BEESAND PALMS l- A gelodog" a coconut trunk hive, containing a colony of Apis cerana indica. 2. Apis cerana indica hees collecting pollen from L'eitchia merrillii. (Fig. 1). Fragments of coconut husk also and 1,200 flowers, male and female, on a come in handy to burn in the smoker when single inflorescence) only a few bees (l-3 handling the bees. at any one time) visited the female flowers Apis cerana indica kept in hives will irregularly and then later (1000 hrs) than also forage on other cultivated palms the male flowers. However, their behavior depending on their availability. In the Batu indicated they were collecting nectar as Pahat area where sago, MetroxyLon sagu, they systematically circled the stigma. Fruit is widely cultivated, sago pollen accounted set in P. macarthuri in Malaysia is heavy for 7 percent of the pollen in honey from indicating that pollination is successful. that area (MaiShihah 1987 a). Apis cerana indica is probably the major The Manila palm, Veitchia merrillii, pollinator as the only other insect visitors attracts bees in its vicinity, which avidly seen, and then only rarely, were a blowfly collect pollen and also nectar. Each flower and a wasp species (the latter probably a has 60 stamens with laree white anthers predator of the honeybee). lFig. 2). In rhe mixed larming area a[ Mardan and Kiew (1985) recorded the Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, Veitchict betel nut, Areca catechu, as a pollen pollen accounted for 7 percent of the pol- source.Lee (I980) reportedthat the Royal len in honey. Fruit set is heavy. paIm, Roystonea regia, was exceptionally Kiew observed that the honeybee was attractive to all species of bees, and that the most regular visitor on the MacArthur Apis cerona indica was only able to forage p alm, P tycho sp erma mac ar thuri, though for pollen from the fallen male flowers as "always in lesser numbers than for Veitchia. Bees those on the inflorescences were began to visit the male flowers when there under the control of wild bees." Burkill were about twenty or more male flowers (1919) observed that A. cerana indica open on a single inflorescence and peaked collected pollen from the fallen flowers of in number (10 to 20 bees at any one time) the sugar palm, Arenga pinnata, perhaps when there were between 200 and 300 for the same reason. He also reported pol- flowers open. They began to visit the flow- len collection from the Princess oalm, Dic- ers as they were opening (0700 hrs) and tyosperma album. Kiew has alsoobserved were most active before 0900 hrs. Althoueh clouds of Apis cerana indica in the wild lhere were more female flowers oo"n It collecting pollen from the orange-yellow the peak floweringperiod (between400 flowers of Arenga westerhoutii. 76 PRINCIPES [Vor. 33 In the coastalregions o{ Samut Song- visited coconut as well as the ornamental kram in Southern Thailand, nipa, Nypa palms, Chrysalidocar pus lutescens, rhe palms. fruticans, is an importantpollen source as Princess, and Royal it flowersthroughout the year (Wongsiri There are about 30 species of Trigona I987). In Malaysia,Fong (1987) noted in Malaysia. Fong (1987) reporLed two that apid bees(? Apis cerana)visited male species of Trigona visited both the male flowers in the morning to collect pollen. and female inflorescences of nipa in greater He consideredthem to be pollen thieves. numbers than did A. cerana indica. He Apis cerana indica is the major polli- considered that they are pollen robbers. nator of coconut. In both the Manila and Trigona spp. are also reported to visit male MacArthur palms,Apis ceran& indica is flowers of bertam, which produce purple the most abundant visitor and visits both pollen (Dransfield 1970, cited by Hender- the male and female flower (though the son 1986) and lguanura wallichiana(obs. latter less frequently and in lower num- by Kiew). Dransfield (I979) observed tri- bers).It is likely thereforethat Apis cera- gonids and honeybees visiting male flowers na is a pollinator of these two palms. In of Plectocornia sp., a rattan with hyacinth- other specieswhere pollen is collectedfrom scented flowers. Kiew observed male flow- the male flowers but the female flower is ers of Daemonorops didymophylla visited not visited,it is probablyjust a pollenthief. by Trigona melina (identified by Khoo S. Apis cerana indica also avidly visits G.), which collected pollen. In all these male inflorescencesof the olI palm, Elaeis palms the trigona bee was not observed guineensis,for its copiouspollen. (Oil palm visiting the female flowers. so they are in Malaysia is mostly pollinated by the unlikely to be pollinators. introducedwe evl,, Elaeiodobius ltamerun- Palms therefore are an important food icus). This source of pollen is not rec- source for bees. Primarily they collect pol- ommended as it results in dark, bitter len" which as a protein source?is an impor- honey. tant foodstuff for the developing larvae. As Burkill remarked (1919) in most cases "food Pafms and Wild Apis and the bees obtain without giving what TrigonaBees would seem adequate return," i.e', they The giant hon eybee, A pis dor sata, nests are not the pollinators. However, in palm in tall trees in the lowland rain forest where species that they visit, the male flowers it builds its single combs below the branches. are produced in abundance, usually have Between twenty to more than a hundred many large stamens, which produce copi- combs can be found on a single tree. The ous pollen. The fact that these species all bee forages widely over the forest but it is reproduce by seed shows that pollen theft also found in orchard areas. Makhdzir by bees doesnot jeopodize their pollination. Mardan (pers. comm.) in the course of his Palm speciespollinated by Apis cerana research on this bee was told by honey indica in Malaysia include the coconut, hunters thar Apis dorsata forages on a MacArthur, and Manila palms. They ini- wide range of palms. These include coco- tially attract the bee to the inflorescence nut, betel nut, oil palm, niPa, bertam by the mass effect of the simultaneous (Eugeissona tristis), bayas (Oncospermd' opening of many showy orange-yellow or horriduni, nibong (O. tigillarium), ibul white flowers. Scent seemsof minor impor- (Orania syluicola), salak (Eleiodox& con- tance as they are scarcely scented. The ferta) and several rattans. It is not known Manila palm flowers smell faintly of honey, whether the bee collects only pollen or both those of the MacArthur palm have a slight oollen and nectar.

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