Honey in the Life of the Aboriginals of the Kimberleys

Akerman, Kim

doi:10.1002/j.1834-4461.1979.tb01387.x

Cited by 19 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the northern regions of Australia, stingless bees have been highly regarded by indigenous Australians for many centuries and hive products have played an important part in their culture (Akerman, 1979, Souza et al, 2006. Today, bee keepers manage bees in artificial hives and sustainably harvest products such as honey, known as 'sugarbag', and cerumen, a plant resin and beeswax mixture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Australian stingless bee industry: a follow-up survey, one decade on

Halcroft

Spooner-Hart

Haigh

et al. 2013

Journal of Apicultural Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In 2010, an online survey was conducted to assess the current status of the Australian stingless bee industry and its recent development. This was a follow-up survey conducted approximately one decade after the first study, by Heard and Dollin in 1998/99. It showed that the Australian industry had grown over the past ten or so years but is still underdeveloped. There was a 2.5-fold increase in the number of bee keepers and a 3.5 fold increase in the number of domesticated colonies. Seventy-eight percent of bee keepers were hobbyists, 54% of whom owned only one colony. Most colonies were kept in suburban areas. Two species, Tetragonula carbonaria and Austroplebeia australis, dominated the relatively short list of species kept. There was a high demand for Australian stingless bee colonies and their honey, but with less than 250 bee keepers currently propagating colonies, and many of them on a small scale, it is difficult to meet this demand. Pollination services were provided by less than 4% of the major stakeholders within the industry. Further research and development in the area of colony propagation may see this industry grow more quickly. La industria australiana de la abeja sin aguijón: un estudio de seguimiento, una década después ResumenEn 2010, se realizó una encuesta en línea para evaluar el estado actual de la industria australiana de la abeja sin aguijón y su evolución reciente.Este estudio de seguimiento fue llevado a cabo aproximadamente una década después del primer estudio realizado por Heard y Dollin en 1998/99. Se demostró que la industria australiana ha crecido en los últimos diez años, pero sigue estando subdesarrollada. Ha habido un aumento de 2,5 veces en el número de los apicultores y un aumento de 3,5 veces en el número de colonias domesticadas. El setenta y ocho por ciento de los apicultores fueron aficionados, de los cuales el 54% tenían sólo una colonia. La mayoría de las colonias se mantuvieron en áreas suburbanas.Dos especies, Tetragonula carbonaria y Austroplebeia australis, dominaron la relativamente corta lista de especies mantenidas. Hubo una gran demanda de colonias de abejas sin aguijón de Australia y de su miel, pero con menos de 250 apicultores distribuyendo colonias actualmente, y muchos de ellos en una escala pequeña, es difícil satisfacer esta demanda. Los servicios de polinización fueron proporcionados por menos del 4% de los factores principales dentro de la industria. Más investigación y desarrollo en el área de propagación de colonias podrían hacer que esta industria creciera más rápidamente.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Australian stingless bee industry: a follow-up survey, one decade on

Halcroft

Spooner-Hart

Haigh

et al. 2013

Journal of Apicultural Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2006) and Trigona carbonaria from Australia, produce honey. Stingless bee honey is highly valued as a food source by the Aboriginal people of northern Australia and is of cultural significance, playing a role in the social traditions and rituals of the people (Akerman 1979; Isaacs 2000). Stingless bee honey has also been used in traditional medicine in Central and South America, and Africa (Cortopassi‐Laurino et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Like Apis honeybees, most species of eusocial stingless bees, such as Tetragonisca angustula and Melipona quadrifasciata from Brazil (Souza et al 2006) and Trigona carbonaria from Australia, produce honey. Stingless bee honey is highly valued as a food source by the Aboriginal people of northern Australia and is of cultural significance, playing a role in the social traditions and rituals of the people (Akerman 1979;Isaacs 2000). Stingless bee honey has also been used in traditional medicine in Central and South America, and Africa (Cortopassi-Laurino et al 2006), suggesting that stingless bee honey may have therapeutic properties that are similar to currently used medicinal honeys such as manuka honey from New Zealand (Cooper et al 2000;George and Cutting 2007;Adams et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antimicrobial activity of honey from the stingless beeTrigona carbonariadetermined by agar diffusion, agar dilution, broth microdilution and time-kill methodology

Boorn

Khor

Sweetman

et al. 2010

Journal of Applied Microbiology

131

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the spectrum of antimicrobial activity of 11 samples of stingless bee honey compared to medicinal, table and artificial honeys. Methods and Results: Activity was assessed by agar diffusion, agar dilution, broth microdilution and time-kill viability assays. By agar dilution, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges were 4% to >10% (w ⁄ v) for Gram-positive bacteria, 6% to >16% (w ⁄ v) for Gram-negative bacteria and 6% to >10% (w ⁄ v) for Candida spp. By broth microdilution, all organisms with the exception of Candida albicans and Candida glabrata were inhibited at £32% (w ⁄ v). Geometric MIC (w ⁄ v) means for stingless bee honeys ranged from 7AE1% to 16AE0% and were 11AE7% for medicinal honey and 26AE5% for table honey. Treatment of organisms with 20% (w ⁄ v) stingless bee honey for 60 min resulted in decreases of 1-3 log for Staphylococcus aureus, >3 log for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and <1 log for C. albicans. Similar treatment with each control honey resulted in decreases of <1 log for all organisms. Conclusions: Stingless bee honey has broad-spectrum antibacterial activity although activity against Candida was limited. Stingless bee honey samples varied in activity and the basis for this remains to be determined. Significance and Impact of the Study: Stingless bee honey had similar activity to medicinal honey and may therefore have a role as a medicinal agent.

show abstract

“…The material sampled for AMS 14 C dating is a resinous compound originating from native stingless bees rather than pure wax. Australia has around 12 species of native stingless bees, three of which are found in the Kimberley and recognised by Wunambal Gaambera people [ 50 – 51 ]. These three species are divided into two genera: Austroplebeia and Trigona ; the latter comprises two distinct species within the genus: Tetragonula hockingsi and T .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Into the Past: A Step Towards a Robust Kimberley Rock Art Chronology

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The recent establishment of a minimum age estimate of 39.9 ka for the origin of rock art in Sulawesi has challenged claims that Western Europe was the locus for the production of the world’s earliest art assemblages. Tantalising excavated evidence found across northern Australian suggests that Australia too contains a wealth of ancient art. However, the dating of rock art itself remains the greatest obstacle to be addressed if the significance of Australian assemblages are to be recognised on the world stage. A recent archaeological project in the northwest Kimberley trialled three dating techniques in order to establish chronological markers for the proposed, regional, relative stylistic sequence. Applications using optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) provided nine minimum age estimates for fossilised mudwasp nests overlying a range of rock art styles, while Accelerator Mass Spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) results provided an additional four. Results confirm that at least one phase of the northwest Kimberley rock art assemblage is Pleistocene in origin. A complete motif located on the ceiling of a rockshelter returned a minimum age estimate of 16 ± 1 ka. Further, our results demonstrate the inherent problems in relying solely on stylistic classifications to order rock art assemblages into temporal sequences. An earlier than expected minimum age estimate for one style and a maximum age estimate for another together illustrate that the Holocene Kimberley rock art sequence is likely to be far more complex than generally accepted with different styles produced contemporaneously well into the last few millennia. It is evident that reliance on techniques that produce minimum age estimates means that many more dating programs will need to be undertaken before the stylistic sequence can be securely dated.

show abstract

Honey in the Life of the Aboriginals of the Kimberleys

Cited by 19 publications

References 5 publications

The Australian stingless bee industry: a follow-up survey, one decade on

The Australian stingless bee industry: a follow-up survey, one decade on

Antimicrobial activity of honey from the stingless beeTrigona carbonariadetermined by agar diffusion, agar dilution, broth microdilution and time-kill methodology

Into the Past: A Step Towards a Robust Kimberley Rock Art Chronology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About