KEMAMAN: Former Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said does not mind getting his hands dirty in the garden, nor does he fret whenever he gets bitten by stingless honeybees.
This is because, said the Kijal state assemblyman, agriculture is the best way to relax and to make more friends.
During his tenure as Terengganu MB, Ahmad’s home in Telok Kalong used to be a spot for public gatherings during festive occasions like Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Aidiladha.
But after leaving the political main stage, Ahmad has slowly turned his house into a mini “jungle”.
A year ago, after his fruit trees and flowering plants matured, Ahmad started buying stingless bee hives, which he placed at his garden.
He said the hives slowly attracted the people’s attention and the bees have a become an interesting topic of conversation with visitors and villagers.
“This is just a past time… (but) an exciting and healthy one. It gets my mind off politics for a while but more importantly, I get to make new friends and show villagers that it does not take much to raise stingless bees,” he told the New Straits Times.
He said the health benefits of consuming honey made by stingless bees were numerous, adding that it was one of the best supplements to keep diabetes and other chronic diseases in check.
“I am living proof... the honey has kept my sugar levels down to the extent that even my doctor is surprised.”
Consuming the honey, he said, has also made him more alert and gave him the energy to attend public events and meet with his constituents in Kemaman.
Ahmad pointed out that the stingless bees were harmless compared to the more aggressive and deadly subspecies of honeybees.
He currently owns 240 bee hives, which mostly consist of the Geniotrigona thoracica, Trigona terminata and Heterotrigona itama subspecies.
“I can produce 20 litres of honey every fortnight and I plan to buy another 100 bee hives in view of the increased demand from friends and villagers.”
Ahmad said he sells the honey for between RM90 and RM300 a bottle, and that he plans to label his products as ‘DSAS Kelutut’ by the end of the year.
“I am doing this not for the money but to show the people that stingless bee are a lucrative venture that can provide steady income. Someone has to take the lead and I am now showing the villagers the way to do it.”
The villagers, he said, could start a bee farm buy using their 1Malaysia People’s Aid money and establishing a cooperative.
“This can become a successful venture through cooperatives.
“We can learn from the stingless bees. They cooperates to produce the honey but we can cooperate to sell the honey.”
Ahmad also expressed belief that Kemaman would one day be the state’s single largest producer of stingless bee honey.
“The recently launched research and development centre in Kemaman on how to package honey will further boost our confidence,” he added.