Bochekokik
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I Love PBF!
Joined: 12/02/08 at 12:21:37
Posts: 795
Baguio
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Happy to know that you are doing something to help the honey hunters.
There are a lot of ways for them to be noticed. The initial push must come from them since they are the producers, the consumers (that's us) will follow if the product is good. The 1st hurdle that they have to overcome is the mindset that their wild honey are fakes and mostly dirty. Let's accept it, there are numerous unscrupulous individuals selling wild honey but later on found out to be honeybal (honey sa balde) and worst, the preparation lacks hygiene. This is the biggest hurdle that they need to overcome. Once the consumers are acquainted that their product is pure, clean, people will go after it/the brand. But not unless this hurdle is overcome, I dont know how they can be known to the consumers. 2nd, honey hunting tends to be a destructive form of honey gathering, that is why there are a very few honey hunters left, not much wild honey to gather. Its easy for people to say that they will save the queen and the eggs, but the big questions is HOW? This is the reason why some honey hunters are being taught as to how to raise their own cultured bees, and not to depend solely on wild honey hunting. 3rd, wild honey especially from Dorsata has a high moisture content which can result to spoilage. Not unless they can control the moisture, the wild honey may not last long compared to other cultured honey wherein the moisture content can be controlled.
I have thought of a way for them to help overcome these 2 issues. This is just an example, they can formulate their own strategy. They can form a group/association/cooperative that has their own rules and regulations. When they are a group, they can easily adopt on the latest marketing tolls needed to be noticed. Their group can set strict rules on honey gathering, so they can tell the whole world on how they gather honey without destroying the hive, etc etc. Their group can also impose strict hygienic rules on how the honey is prepared making the product more marketable.
As to the beeswax, a lot of beekeeping groups wants to have beeswax from the wild, but it is very scarce right now, again this is due to the destructive nature of honey gathering in the wild.
just my 2 centavos
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