Response to Jay's "buzz" post 11/22

You mentioned that the techniques for harvesting Apis dorsata, the Giant honeybee, are antiquated and out of date. It seems that with all the technology we have in the world, we should be able to come up with a way to utilize this amazing resource (I don’t mean technology in the modern, electronic sense of the word).

If they the Giant honeybee hives were able to be harvested efficiently and safely, they wouldn’t have to worry about importing the Italian honeybee or the mountain bee. This would eliminate any disease or damage to the surrounding ecosystem that can result from introducing new species to a place.

Maybe it could be as simple as a project for the global service club at Calpoly. A couple years ago, they took a bicycle water pump (that was designed by some mechanical engineers as their senior project) to Malawi and introduced it to the local people. They got feedback and tested the design. Or on a bigger level, maybe it could be a project for an organization like USAID.

It seems that expanding the honey production could greatly benefit the communities in India, giving people livelihood and an income. Like any expanding industry, there are many factors to consider and many directions that it could go in. Individual families may be able to distribute both internationally and locally, as many of the large companies in India are family run.