Hive of discovery: Terengganu’s sanctuary for rare stingless bees

At a 0.4ha sanctuary in Bukit Kor, researchers are building what they believe is the largest collection of stingless bee species in the Indo-Malaya region.

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu’s (UMT) Indo-Malaya Stingless Bee Repository in Marang is now home to 20 species of kelulut, including several not previously recorded in peninsular Malaysia.

Far from being simply a collection of beehives, the sanctuary is developing into a biodiversity conservation centre, complete with flowering gardens, rare heritage plants and even an enormous water lily from the Amazon.

Its founder, Shamsul Bahri Abd Razak, told Bernama the repository could play an important role in documenting and preserving the region’s lesser-known pollinators.

“We believe the UMT repository houses the largest collection of stingless bee species in the Indo-Malaya region. This is an important achievement for research, conservation and biodiversity education,” he said.

Among its rarer inhabitants are “Heterotrigona erythrogastra”, “Tetrigona peninsularis” and “Sundatrigona moorei”. Their identities have been verified through scientific inventory and taxonomic identification, making the collection a valuable reference for researchers.

Visitors can also observe differences in the bees’ physical characteristics, nesting structures and behaviour, revealing a diversity that goes well beyond their familiar association with honey production.

The repository’s ambitions extend beyond conserving the bees: a developing flower garden will provide nectar and pollen throughout the year, sustaining the colonies while attracting other pollinating insects.

“We are planting a variety of flowering plants with different blooming periods to ensure a steady food supply throughout the year,” Shamsul highlighted.

The importance of this is reinforced by recent overseas research suggesting that some of the most valuable flowers for pollinators are those gardeners often dismiss as weeds.

A survey conducted through Britain’s Pollinator Monitoring Scheme found that common ivy attracted an average of 22 flying-insect visits during each 10-minute observation, followed by hogweed with 20.

Bramble, thistles and other overlooked plants also proved popular, highlighting how diverse vegetation can support insects that depend on reliable food sources.

Although the findings concern British plants and pollinators, they illustrate a broader ecological principle relevant to UMT’s efforts: sustaining insect diversity depends on maintaining plants that provide food across the seasons.

Once completed, the flower garden is also expected to become an attraction for visitors interested in biodiversity and nature-based tourism.

The sanctuary’s conservation work also includes the reintroduction of four species of Kor palms. These distinctive forest plants once formed part of Bukit Kor’s natural landscape, but disappeared locally after generations of agricultural land clearing.

Although only “Johannesteijsmannia altifrons” was originally distributed in Terengganu, the repository has introduced three additional species to enrich its botanical collection.

The team has further planted 400 trees representing 90 rare species, including traditional fruit trees and food plants associated with village life, while collecting forest orchids to expand the available floral resources.

Perhaps its most visually spectacular attraction is “Victoria amazonica”, the giant Amazonian water lily whose circular leaves can reach 3m across under favourable conditions. Its flowers undergo an equally striking transformation, changing from white to pink over two nights.

Together, these initiatives reflect UMT’s ambition to establish Bukit Kor as a distinctive centre for biodiversity education and ecotourism.

And while the giant water lilies may command the most attention, the sanctuary’s smallest residents remain central to its mission, demonstrating how protecting biodiversity begins with understanding the relationships between plants and the insects that depend on them.

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