How To Take wild Honey Traditionally or Modernly
For those of you who regularly consume honey as a health drink, it's good to know how to harvest the sialang honey from the tree. If you know how difficult it is for honey farmers to collect and process one bottle of honey, maybe you won't have the heart to bargain for the price. With a high risk of safety, honey farmers collect honey through a long and long process. After that, we get the highest quality honey.
In the local tradition of harvesting the term menumbai honey known . But apparently today many people no longer use this traditional method as energy efficiency and concerning the safety of honey harvesters. Nowadays modern methods are used which are faster and still maintain the quality of honey produced. In general, the method of harvesting sialang honey is divided into two, namely in a modern and traditional way.
Modern sialang Honey Harvest
The fundamental difference in how to harvest honey in a modern and traditional way is that in this modern way no longer use mystical ritual ceremonies as practiced by those who use traditional methods. Here are some things you need to know about how to harvest wild honey in a modern way :
- Without using the tribal chief's traditional ritual to summon and expel the mambang in the sialang tree. The ritual used is simplified.
- Harvesting is done by honey farmers who are members of one farmer group.
- Harvest uses protective equipment in the form of thick clothing, special hats (sebo) that are safe from bee stings.
- Bees do not have to be burned first, in the condition of the body covered with clothes and protective caps, the honey harvesters can immediately climb and take a beehive.
- Honey harvesting can be done by anyone, not necessarily those who have special mystical powers. As long as they have the courage and expertise to climb, dare to deal directly with bees with clothing that has been used.
How to harvest honey in a modern way is quite easy. Usually some honey farmers will leave for the sialang tree in the afternoon. Equipment that is carried in the form of special thick clothing is equipped with a special hat, knife, bucket, gloves and rope. Farmers in strong physical condition are fully clothed, then tie a bucket using a rope to the waist. The farmers climbed the sialang tree. In one tree there can be tens to hundreds of beehives that will be taken.
Furthermore, the farmers immediately cut the beehives to be harvested. The nest is put in a bucket, then using a rope, the bucket containing the beehive is lowered. Farmers at the bottom are tasked with cleaning the nest, putting it in plastic and storing it in a large bucket. After the entire hive is cut, the farmer goes down without killing the bees so that the animal can make the hive and produce more honey.
Farmers who harvest honey from beehives with modern honey harvesting techniques also apply the principle of sustainable harvest. In this case, Sustainable Harvesting is a method or technique of harvesting honey by partially cutting bee hives by leaving a portion of the hive attached to the tree without depleting the entire beehive. This is very useful so that the nesting bees can continue making the hive so that some time later it can be harvested again by honey farmers.
Fresh honey that still contains 24% water is then drained from the nest. Honey is left out alone from the nest without being squeezed. How to get honey is better than by squeezing. Honey is thinly sliced, then placed in a colander or a hollow container so that honey can drip / slice in the bottom container that holds the honey from the drain. This method will produce honey that is cleaner and free of beehive wax.
This processing is carried out in a modern way by the honey farmer groups who start producing honey in a modern way. The drained honey is put into a special tool / container to store and reduce the water content up to 18-19%. With this low water content, honey is expected to last longer when stored. This honey is then left again for one night until the waxy substance in it is gone. Only then will it be carefully packaged so air bubbles do not form inside it. Riau sialang Harvesting Sialang Honey Traditional Way.
How to harvest sialang honey which is quite famous is done traditionally through the tradition of tasting sialang honey . This tradition is carried out at night by traditional communities in the Pelalawan area. Unlike the modern way, before the honey extraction process is carried out, usually the tribal leader or the leader of the honey harvest group named Juragan Tuo will first perform a ritual to chase away the mambang (jinns or spirits) or intruding animals in the tree.
Traditional people believe that the presence of the mambang in the tree can hamper the honey harvest process. Then a ceremony was held to ask permission from the mambang who inhabit the sialang tree. forest honey from Kampar is the best honey in Sumatra and the third best in Indonesia. This honey has even penetrated foreign markets, namely Sweden through a famous brand.
Harvesting Sialang Honey Traditional Way
How to harvest sialang honey which is quite famous is done traditionally through the tradition of tasting sialang honey . This tradition is carried out at night by traditional communities in the Pelalawan area. Unlike the modern way, before the honey extraction process is carried out, usually the tribal leader or the leader of the honey harvest group named Juragan Tuo will first perform a ritual to chase away the mambang (jinns or spirits) or intruding animals in the tree. Traditional people believe that the presence of the mambang in the tree can hamper the honey harvest process. Then a ceremony was held to ask permission from the mambang who inhabit the sialang tree.
The process of extracting honey is carried out almost the same, only in this traditional way do not use special protective equipment. Usually the bees are driven out by lighting smoke from the embers of the Tunam, a torch made of bark that is carried up by a climber so that some bees can faint or escape. This traditional method is also more risky because it is done at night, in the forest and without using safety equipment.
The traditional sialang bee honey harvesters when climbing trees use Semangkat, a ladder that has been prepared during the day. This set does not use nails but plastic rope, rattan and tree roots. This set is very useful when the trees are unfortunately perpendicular, or especially during rainy conditions, the tree will become slippery so that the risk of falling will be greater.
Another thing that distinguishes traditional and modern ways of harvesting sialang honey is, if the modern way honey farmers pray before climbing and prepare for a stronger physique, then in this traditional way still using spells repellent mambang or ghost allegedly inhabiting the sialang tree . Mantra is pronounced as a way to ask permission first before taking honey.
Nevertheless, the traditional sialang honey harvest has become an intangible cultural heritage of Riau Province as one of the rich traditions in the Riau region. This tradition is considered unique because it is a ritual performed by tribes in Riau. Although for higher production requirements, modern methods of harvesting faster and higher production are needed, but tattoos carried out by certain tribes in Riau also become a tradition of culture that remains protected.
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