The Program of Developing Honey Bees in Lampung Province
(Unila): Honey apiary in Lampung province is one of the populist economic enterprises in rural areas. This sector has been supporting the bee farmers’ income by 40% of the primary income as a farmer. Seeing this potential, on 4-5 May 2010, Prof. Dr. Ir. Sugeng P. Haryanto, MS as the Rector Unila accompanied by a delegation from the Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia, Institute for Watershed Management Seputih Way-Way Linear, APIDA (Association apiary Lampung Province), as well as faculty staffs in Unila had a working visit in order to develop the apiary honey in Lampung Province.
The visits were made to several areas which have cultivated the honeybee, they are:
1. Buana Sakti Village, Kec. Batanghari, Kab. East Lampung
2. Selingkut Ulu village, Kec. Sumberjaya, Kab. West Lampung
3. Sinar Mulya Village, Kec. Banyumas, Kab. Pringsewu.
In his speech to the honey bee farmer groups, Prof. Dr. Ir. Sugeng P. Haryanto, MS said that the prospects of the honey bee is very good, because the existing honey production is insufficient for the total current demand for honey. Under these conditions, Lampung province should be able to optimize the production of honey, because this effort does not require special skills, i.e. easy to learn, and requires no formal education. Things that need to be considered is the availability of the food for the honey bees in the form of nectar and pollen from flowering plants and trees.
From the discussions with farmers, some problems associated with honey apiary include aspects of natural resources (food) and honey bees, human resources, and aspects of apiary management. Therefore, Prof.. Dr. Ir. Sugeng P. Haryanto, MS conveyed the need for attention and cooperation among local governments, universities, asassociation of apiary, and community groups in developing apiary honey in Lampung Province which poured through the integrated management of community-based apiary honey program. This program is expected to increase the income of the people directly, increase revenue, and is also expected to participate in preserving the natural resources.
In the visit, the Rector of Unila followed by some officials did a harvesting honey in the field. In addition, they also tried the bee sting therapy (bee venom) that can be used as an alternative treatment technique.
