POLLINATORS POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION

THE ASSESSMENT REPORT ON POLLINATORS, POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION
314
5. BIOCULTURAL DIVERSITY, POLLINATORS AND
THEIR SOCIO-CULTURAL VALUES
(Ibrahim et al., 2013), Sakai tribe (Suparlan, 1995),
Petalangan people (Titinbk, 2013) and Kelay Punan tribe
(Widagdo, 2011). Crane (1999) recorded that native people
in other Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam (Annam
people), Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand (Lao people),
Myanmar (Burmese people) also used bee products
as food. In Thailand, people believe that consuming
honey and brood will have a good impact on their health
(Chantawannakul et al., 2011). Flying foxes are recognised
as a vital pollinator and also a delicate and very popular dish
in Vanuatu and Fiji (Palmeirim et al., 2007).
For indigenous communities from South America (Andoque,
Guaycurúes, U’wa, Yuquí, Toba-pilagá, Tukano), stingless
bees are part of their cosmogony and mythology and
important as nourishment and to obtain products used in
the elaboration of alcoholic beverages, instruments and
handicrafts (Ruddle, 1973; Jara, 1996; Cabrera and Nates-
Parra, 1999; Falchetti and Nates-Parra, 2002; Arenas, 2003;
Falchetti, 2003; Stearman et al., 2008; Medrano and Rosso,
2010; Zamudio et al., 2010; Zamudio and Hilgert, 2011;
Estrada, 2012; Zamudio and Hilgert, 2012; Nates-Parra and
Rosso-Londoño, 2013; Rosso-Londoño, 2013). Stingless
bees’ honey is greatly valued for its medicinal properties,
e.g., antibiotic and antibacterial properties, especially with
Tetragonisca angustula honey (called angelitas, rubitas,
señoritas) in Andean countries (Posey, 1983b, a; Estrada,
2012; Fuenmayor et al., 2013; Rosso-Londoño, 2013; Vit
et al., 2013; Zamora et al., 2013) and Melipona beecheii,
Trigona nigra, Cephalotrigona zexmeniae, Frieseomelitta
nigra, Scaptotrigona hellwegeri, Melipona fasciata and
Geotrigona acapulconis in Mexico and Central America
(Quezada-Euán, 2005; Ocampo-Rosales, 2013; Reyes-
González et al., 2014). In the Misiones province (Argentina)
CASE EXAMPLE 5-14
HONEY BEER AND HONEY WINE
Location: Zambia and Ethiopia
research has focuses on the usage of stingless bee products
and plants of the region in traditional medicine, giving also
relevance to different names given to bees by the local
communities (Zamudio and Hilgert, 2011; Zamudio and
Hilgert, 2012).
Honey has been used for medicinal purpose by many
societies, such as the Mayan, for millennia (Ocampo-
Rosales, 2013). In Polish traditional medicine, for example,
honey has been a popular remedy to treat respiratory
diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, dermatological
problems, heart disorders and for contagious diseases
(chickenpox, measles). Different mixtures suit different
purposes—to treat cold and flu, honey, butter and garlic are
added to hot milk or vodka; to treat contagious diseases,
like measles, lacto-fermented cabbage juice is mixed with
whey, honey and fat. Local communities in Argentina of
Polish and multiethnic populations now distinguish honey
from seven different Hymenopteran ethnospecies to treat
respiratory, dermic, osteo-artomuscular, nervous, digestive
and circulatory disorders (Zamudio et al., 2010). Honey
has been found to be more important as a medicine than a
food for local peoples in Brazil and Mexico (Ramos-Elorduy
et al., 2009). In Ethiopia, wild honey is usually consumed
without filtration, still including wax, pollen, and royal jelly,
constituents that strengthen its nutritional properties (Avril,
2008). The Pankararé from Brazil uses honey, pollen and
wax as medicine, and use specific honey from different
species of stingless bees to treat specific diseases;
11 species provide 13 raw materials used to prepare
remedies to treat or prevent 16 illnesses (Costa-Neto, 1998).
Honey is very widely used in traditional medicine in Africa.
It can be used alone or in combination with medicinal
Honey beer is important for multiple reasons in Zambia. It is
taken during the initiation ceremonies when boys and girls
reach mature age, during traditional chiefs’ ceremonies and as
payment for cultivating or harvesting fields. After a day’s hard
work, some people go to bed early and start drinking honey
beer at 3am and by 6am are ready for hard manual work.
Local communities warn the smell of the honey beer on people
irritates the bees to attack, so you cannot work with bees.
Honey beer cannot be stored for more than 48 hours.
In Ethiopia, honey is made into Tej, honey wine. Tej is a very
important drink in Ethiopian cultural life, served at traditional
gatherings and special religious ceremonies. Tej is often it is
drunk before the brew has started to ferment, when it still has a
strong yeasty flavor. This drink is called birz and is popular with
children and, being non-alcoholic, is acceptable to Muslims. Tej
is made in huge wooden barrels, which are cleaned and then
scoured with special leaves. The barrel is then filled, one part
of honey with five parts of water and covered with a clean cloth
and left for a few days to ferment. Gesho, leaves of Rhamnus
prinoides, which have been chopped up and then boiled are
added, stimulating sugars to convert to alcohol and the Tej
increasingly acquires its distinctive dry and bitter flavor. Finally,
just before serving, a further half bucket of honey is tipped in to
give sweetness to the final brew.
Tej is served in special glasses called birrille, held in a special
and rather dainty way between the first two fingers and thumb.
In Africa it is usually women who brew beer, make Tej, and sell
these products.