‘Even if you view bees as a threat, don’t burn their hives’

IPOH: For most people who spot a beehive near their home, their first instinct is to burn it – especially if the bees have built their hive in a part of the house or close to the property.

One bee rescuer believes this stems from fear of being stung, rather than an understanding of the vital role bees play as pollinators.

“We’ve always been made to believe that if we’re near bees, they’ll attack us. That’s a myth,” said Ipoh-based bee rescuer Syafiq Jazli Hasikin.

According to the 34-year-old, destroying a beehive means eradicating an entire pollinator colony that can take years to recover.

“Studies show that about 80% of flowering plants depend on bees for pollination. The rest are helped by other pollinators, such as ants and bats, as well as by wind and water.

“That’s why it’s important to protect bees: if their population continues to decline, we don’t know what the impact on the food chain will be,” said Syafiq, who has been studying bees since he was eight.

To change public perceptions, he and his team have spent the past three years sharing videos of their bee-rescue operations on social media.

“Even if I can’t save every bee, at least I can raise awareness so people stop burning them,” said Syafiq, whose family business, Madu Pak Long, has been operating since 1998.

Their efforts are paying off, with more people now choosing to relocate bee colonies rather than destroy them.

“If someone from the east coast, Sabah or Sarawak contacts me, I’ll try to guide them remotely, step by step.

“Once they succeed, they become excited and want to do it again. That’s one of the sweetest parts of this work,” Syafiq added.

Although he and his father, Hasikin Mat Soho, have been rescuing bee colonies for over a decade, they refuse to charge those who seek their help.

“We do this part-time. We already have our honey business to manage, so we’re not doing this for profit.

“In fact, if we find honey during a rescue, we’ll give it all to the homeowner. Our own business already has plenty of honey,” said Syafiq.

He then drew on his knowledge to provide a trivia lesson. Did you know only four bee species have been recorded in peninsular Malaysia?

They are the Asian honeybee (Apis cerana), giant honeybee (Apis dorsata), dwarf honeybee (Apis florea) and black dwarf honeybee (Apis andreniformis).

Of these four species, only the Asian honeybee can be transferred into hive boxes for beekeeping. The other three are usually released back into the wild or relocated to more suitable habitats.

“Bees are actually very patient. If they feel threatened, they’ll warn you before they attack,” Syafiq added.

What are the warning signs? “First, they’ll make wave-like movements. Next, they’ll produce a louder buzzing by beating their wings more rapidly.

“Then, a few bees will begin bumping into the intruder’s head or body. If those warnings are ignored, the bees release pheromones to alert the rest of the colony that there is a threat.”

Only after that, he said, do they begin to sting – proving that more often than not, bees would prefer not to hurt humans.

Ultimately, Syafiq doesn’t expect everybody to become bee rescuers. But to him, knowledge is power: “It’s enough if people simply stop burning their hives,” he concluded.