Pelepat: Traditional practice of wild honey harvesting

Bambang Hariyadi (University of Jambi)
Agus Subagyo (Researchers at the Biological Studies Group)
Revis Azra (Researchers at Biological Studies Group)

Journal of Tropical Ethnobiology
Vol. 2 No. 2 (2005): July 2005

This paper describes procession of a traditional wild honeybee harvesting practice evolve in the community of Pelepat, Jambi, Indonesia. For the local people, honey harvesting is not just extracting honey from the honey bee's nests; it has a strong tie with the people's socio-cultural setting. The ancestors of pdepat had developed and handed down the traditional wild honey harvesting practice over generations. People collect honey in such a way that respecting the honeybees in the same time strive to conserve the associated ecosystem and the local culture as well. Wild honey harvesting ritual articulates a harmonic relationship between people and the nature.