Madu Kela Kela -- Bali Stingless Bee Honey
The Story
The label reads Madu Kela Kela. In Balinese, kele is the local word for stingless bee – not a species name but the generic term for any bee that does not sting. The farm at Jl. Galot Kaca No. 5 in Kumbanyabahan village takes its name from the same word: Peternakan Lebah Kele Kele. Made Yustika has run the compound under that name for fifteen years.
The honey in the bottle is produced by cerumen-pot colonies of Heterotrigona itama, the Sumatran-origin workhorse species of western Indonesian meliponiculture. Itama is what makes the economics of a 35-hive operation work: reliable production, syringe extraction, two-month recovery between harvests. The compound also keeps the indigenous Balinese stingless bee – the Lipecep – in managed hives on the property, with colonies sourced from wild bamboo-nesting populations in the surrounding forest, and bottles that honey distinctly. That is a different product and a different story, told on its own page.
Yustika’s operation anchors a 14-household cooperative running 800 combined hives across Kumbanyabahan. It has a registered business number. It has educated students from Australia and Germany. It started, without drama, as a hobby.
Characteristics
Madu Kela Kela is thin at tropical temperatures and pours freely. Color is dark amber to reddish-amber. The honey is raw and unprocessed.
No moisture measurement specific to Sari Madu Sedana has been documented. The applicable standard is SNI 8664:2018, which permits stingless bee honey up to 27.5% water content. The thin viscosity is consistent with water content in the upper range of the standard, normal for Heterotrigona itama honey produced in humid tropical conditions.
Acidity is perceptibly higher than Apis honey and higher than most consumers unfamiliar with stingless bee honey will expect. This is not a quality defect; it is the biological character of the product.
Click to Display — The Details: the bees, sensory profile, and regional identity
Bee Species:
Meliponini at Sari Madu Sedana is anchored by a single commercial species: Heterotrigona itama (Cockerell, 1918).
Itama originates from Sumatra, where it is the dominant farmed stingless bee across western Indonesia. Workers are approximately 4 to 5 mm body length; the abdomen is solid black, with fine white hairs covering the head near the clypeus. Colonies nest in enclosed cavities – at Sari Madu Sedana they occupy purpose-built wooden boxes mounted on frames in the open compound. A productive colony yields 500 ml to one liter of honey every four to five months. Extraction uses a small dynamo syringe inserted directly into the honey pots without disturbing the brood chamber below. Recovery time is approximately two months.
The farm also keeps the Lipecep, the indigenous Balinese stingless bee, in managed hives on the property. Colonies are sourced by locating wild Lipecep nesting in bamboo stems in the surrounding forest and transferring them to purpose-built hives on site. That species produces a separate honey, bottled distinctly, and is documented on its own page.
Color:
Dark amber to deep reddish-amber
Flavor Profile:
Sharp tropical acidity; prominent sourness from the first taste, with minimal sweetness on the front palate. A resinous back note follows, derived from the cerumen pots in which the honey is stored. Thin viscosity, characteristic of all stingless bee honey.
The sourness is structural, not incidental. Stingless bees store honey in cerumen pots built from beeswax and plant resin; the resin loads the honey with phenolic acids and flavonoids that produce the acidity distinguishing all Meliponini honey from the milder Apis product.
Aroma:
Resinous and faintly tropical; propolis-forward on opening
Forage & Resin:
Primary documented nectar source: Antigonon leptopus (Air Mata Pengantin; bunga AMP), a tropical climbing vine grown within the compound specifically as forage. Year-round flowering provides consistent nectar supply independent of seasonal patterns or dry-period constraints.
Additional nectar and resin sources drawn from surrounding residential gardens and the Kumbanyabahan village planting landscape. With 800 hives distributed across 14 households in the cooperative, the effective foraging range covers a broad area of south Bali’s dense tropical garden environment. Other contributing species have not been individually documented for this operation.
Resin sources are not documented. Stingless bee honey character is significantly influenced by the plant resins used in propolis and cerumen construction. This remains a research gap for this operation.
Cultural Context
In Balinese, the stingless bee is called kele or kele kele. The reduplication form is natural in both Indonesian and Balinese, used for emphasis or to indicate a continuous quality. The farm name Peternakan Lebah Kele Kele and the product label Madu Kela Kela both draw on this term. The label renders it in Balinese script alongside the Latin spelling – the characters visible on the bottle read kela kela. The subheading reads SEHAT | MURNI | ALAMI – Healthy, Pure, Natural.
The compound entrance carries a carved stone altar of the type standard in Balinese Hindu households. At a working apiary the altar is not decorative: Balinese Hinduism integrates daily practice and agricultural production into a ritual frame.
Harvest & Extraction
Heterotrigona itama production is year-round and continuous. A single colony yields 500 ml to one liter every four to five months under good conditions. Extraction uses a small dynamo syringe inserted directly into the honey pots, leaving the brood structure intact. Colony recovery is approximately two months. The year-round availability of Antigonon leptopus means the operation has no defined paceklik (seasonal dearth period).
Honey is bottled at the farm under the Yustika brand. The Madu Kela Kela label (250 ml) is the Itama product. Per SNI 8664:2018, the Indonesian national standard for stingless bee honey, maximum permitted water content is 27.5%.
Beekeeping Context
Sari Madu Sedana operates as a meliponiculture smallholding within a residential compound at Jl. Galot Kaca No. 5, Balangan-Kuwum, Kumbanyabahan village, south Bali. The compound is open and unfenced. Hives occupy a mix of wooden box frames for the Itama colonies and purpose-built hives for the Lipecep, whose colonies Yustika sources by locating wild nests in bamboo stems in the surrounding forest and transferring them to the property. Made Yustika began keeping stingless bees fifteen years ago as a private interest.
The operation expanded into a 14-household village cooperative sharing a combined 800 hives across Kumbanyabahan. The business is formally registered: NIB (Nomor Induk Berusaha) 9120014231404, trading under the Yustika name through Sari Madu Sedana.
The compound has operated as a teaching and demonstration site for eight years. Yustika has received visiting students from Australia and Germany alongside Indonesian participants. A secondary licensed product is available at source: honey arak, fermented from honey combined with swiftlet nest over approximately three months. Price at time of visit: approximately 100,000 IDR per bottle.
Named Producers
- Made Yustika – Sari Madu Sedana, Jl. Galot Kaca No. 5, Balangan-Kuwum, Kumbanyabahan, south Bali. NIB 9120014231404. Meliponiculture smallholding; 35 hives; anchor of a 14-household village cooperative (800 combined hives). Education and demonstration program; visiting students from Australia and Germany. Products: Madu Kela Kela (Heterotrigona itama, 250ml), Lipecep honey (separate bottling), honey arak (licensed, at source). (WhatsApp – verify before use: https://wa.me/6282339566156)
Source Regions
- Heterotrigona itama – Indonesia – South Bali: Introduced from Sumatra. Operated in wooden hive boxes in residential apiary compound. Year-round production; primary forage from Antigonon leptopus and mixed south Bali village garden flora.
Regional Variants
- Madu Lipecep – Tetragonula spp. (Lipecep) – Indonesia – Bali: The indigenous Balinese stingless bee, present since before the Java-Bali land separation approximately 10,000 years ago. Found wild in bamboo stems in the forest; Yustika sources colonies by transfer into managed hives on the property. Two-year production cycle. Bottled separately from Madu Kela Kela. See the Madu Lipecep page for the full story.