The Tualang Tree, the Giant Asian Honey Bees and the Hindu Myth of the Princess, Hitam Manis-- Dark Sweetness...

by Stephen L. Buchmann and Gary P. Nabhan

Malaysia's rainforest at two o'clock in the morning was, for most of us, unlike anything we had ever seen before. We were surrounded by a dense stand of thin, straight-trunked, smooth- barked trees known as dipterocarps, . . . .And yet, there was something stranger still about the rainforest on this particular night: an ancient honey-harvesting ritual had begun, one that would be accompanied by an incredible pyrotechnic display. We stood not far from an enormous Tualang tree, waiting to witness an astonishing shower of sparks raining down from smoldering torches held ninety feet above us. Somewhere high in the Tualang canopy, a seventy year-old Malay honey-hunter and his sixteen year old grandson were readying their gear to gather honey from giant Asian bee colonies. On the ground below them, three singers chanted ancient prayers integral to the Tualang honey-hunting ritual . . . . . .