Teguh Waluyo, 32, utilizes his spare time by farming. Ornamental plants and fruits that he cares for bring bees, which give blessings in the form of honey.
By
Wilibrordus Megandika Wicaksono
·6 minutes read
Teguh Waluyo, 32, utilizes his spare time by farming. Ornamental plants and fruits that he cares for bring bees, which give blessings in the form of honey. Teguh involves the younger generation to develop agriculture and bee cultivation for a balanced ecosystem.
Teguh, a teacher at SMP Ma\'arif NU 1 junior high school in Ajibarang, Banyumas, Central Java, together with 32 families in several villages have cultivated more than 3,000 colonies of klanceng honey bees. They are scattered in a number of villages, starting from Darmakradenan (Ajibarang district), Cibangkong, Glempang, and Cikembulan (Pekuncen), Purwojati (Purwojati), Pageraji and Gununglurah (Cilongok), and Gumelar (Gumelar). "Bees are a sign that the environment and ecosystem are well maintained," Teguh said when met at Darmakradenan village, Friday (19/2/2021).
The partnership not only provide the bee colonies to be cared for but also provides tree seedlings to be planted around their residence to feed the bees. More than a thousand trees such as calliandra, cloves, nutmeg and fruit trees such as mango, grapes and strawberries, as well as various flowers were distributed by Teguh to his partners.
"We develop the seedlings distributed by ourselves," said Teguh, pointing to a plot of land where various trees were cultivated in polybags.
Behind his house, Teguh has transformed the yard that used to be used by residents to dump waste into an educational park as well as the cultivation of around 300 klanceng bee colonies. On the plot of land owned by the family, measuring 40 meters x 30 meters, there are boxes where the klanceng bee colonies are nesting. Lush trees with blooming red flowers cast a shadow over this beautiful courtyard. Two tarpaulin pools are also prepared for the cultivation of freshwater lobsters.
"There are 15 households that used to dump garbage into this yard. In the past, I was protested, but I visited and approached them one by one. Now, the village has formed a waste bank to solve the waste problem," he said.
The honey bees cultivated by Teguh include klanceng bees (Trigona), local ondoan bees (Apis cerana), and imported ondoan bees (Apis mellifera). In addition, Teguh looks for honey from forest bees or tawon gung (Apis dorsata). The area for cultivation and education for anyone who wants to learn agriculture and bee farming is named Prawita Garden. Prawita is taken from the name of Teguh\'s wife, namely Wilujeng Prawitasari.
"Prawita in Javanese means nguripi or giving life. Life is not only for me and my family, but also for others and the environment,” said Teguh.
There are also honey byproducts in the form of royal jelly, propolis, beeswax which can be used as ingredients for health and beauty products.
From bee cultivation, Teguh and his partners can harvest 25 liters of honey per month. The honey is sold in bottle packaging and some of it is processed into a number of byproducts. There is honey tea that is processed in collaboration with a tea factory in Karanganyar, Solo. There are also honey byproducts in the form of royal jelly, propolis, beeswax which can be used as ingredients for health and beauty products.
Enjoying the results
Teguh initiated these various efforts in 2012. For the first three years, he was happy to find and collect various plants. Then, armed with the experience of joining his late grandfather, Tirtarum, 90, to the forest to look for honey, he was interested in cultivating klanceng honey bees with his father and the elder brother of his father. In addition to self-taught learning from the internet, Teguh has visited a number of bee farmers in several places, starting from Wonogiri, Yogyakarta, Purworejo, Bogor, and Jakarta.
"In 2017 it was a trial and error stage. Learning more. Many bees died because of the lack of knowledge on how to deal with pests, such as ants and beetles,” Teguh said.
Apart from facing the obstacle of many dead bees, Teguh was often ridiculed and doubted by the local community. However, he remained focused on testing and trying. "At that time someone said: It\'s useless, ora bakal dadi (it won\'t be successful), why cultivate bees, and so on," Teguh recalled.
After the honey bee farming is successful, people began to pay respect and attention. Many young people are also interested in learning from him. In 2018, around 20 young people aged 17-30 years, who were members of the Darma Jaya Forest Farmers Group, studied agriculture based on honey bee cultivation. Until now, five people have survived and joined Teguh in managing Prawita park.
"Indeed, not many young people are interested in agriculture. There are those who think it is dirty and others,” he said.
This year, his team is preparing cultivation in Bone, South Sulawesi.
However, with the five young people, Teguh shared his knowledge with farmer groups who were interested in cultivating honey bees. Training has been given to farmers in Cilongok, Pekuncen, Sumbang in Banyumas regency, and even Sidareja, Cilacap regency and Temanggung regency. This year, his team is preparing cultivation in Bone, South Sulawesi.
"Farmers are encouraged to cultivate agriculture organically because if there is too much pesticide, it is difficult for the bees to breed," he said.
Teguh\'s efforts with the Prawita park team received a number of appreciations from various parties. In 2019 and 2020, for example, Teguh was chosen as the third winner in the Banyumas Regency Creativity and Innovation Competition in the Appropriate Technology Category. Then, in July 2019, Teguh won the First Place in the Cooperative Innovation Competition in the Cooperative Jamboree at the National Level.
Teguh and his friends do not only develop the upstream side of bee cultivation-based agriculture, but also prepared marketing in the downstream side through the launching of Kedai Prawitasari. This shop is a showroom for various products of honey cultivation as well as agricultural products from farmer groups, from coffee to palm sugar or crystal sugar.
"We sell local coffee from farmers, such as Gunung Slamet and Gumelar robusta," he said.
The aroma of coffee blends gently with the sweet scent of honey at Kedai Prawitasari. The bitterness, sourness, and sweetness of the beverage are signs of Teguh\'s good efforts with the youth of Darmakradenan village. The hum of bees and the waving of various leaves around them becomes a harmony that calms the mind as well as awakens a glimmer of hope for an increasingly healthy future in agriculture.
Teguh Waluyo
Born:Ajibarang, Banyumas, April 2, 1989
Wife:Wilujeng Prawitasari
Children:2
Education:
- Elementary school, SD Mi Ma’arif NU Darmakradenan (2001)
- Junior high school, SMPN 2 Ajibarang (2004)
- Senior high school, SMAN Ajibarang (2007)
- D-1 program, Computer Analyst, Inti Prima Purwokerto (2008)
- S-1 degree, Department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation, Faculty of Sport Science, Semarang State University (2012)
Awards:
- Third Winner in the Banyumas Regency Creativity and Innovation Competition, Appropriate Technology Category (2019 and 2020)
- First Winner of Cooperative Innovation Competition, National Level Cooperative Jamboree (2019)
- Recipient of One Indonesia Awards Appreciation at the Central Java Province Level (2020)