A REVIEW ON BEEKEEPING IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

This review aims to share the history of Malaysian beekeeping, in order to guide current developments in beekeeping. It is also intended to sustain and promote the local beekeeping industry. Beekeeping in Malaysia has been practised and frst found documented since the Sultanate of Malacca. Today, both traditional and modern approaches to beekeeping are used locally. Beekeeping is crucial to the conservation and sustainability of the ecosystem. It offers natural pollination, future food security, high income generation, medicinal products, and research opportunities. However, bee domestication, problems with queen rearing, low honey production, inconsistency in quality and the high price of honey, dumping of adulterated honey on the local market, the lack of a Malaysian honey standard, and no existing body or centre to monitor beekeeping development have become a major challenge. The issues could address, with the establishment of a Majlis Lebah Negara and a one-stop centre, to guide, monitor and develop Malaysian beekeeping to an exceptional level, for the beneft of all.