Alternative Approaches to Traditional Beekeeping in Bali

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The traditional Balinese methods for harvesting honey are not larvae and hive growth supportive. While the general practice is to only harvest 40% or less of the hive, because of the fact that wild Balinese bees build their hives such that brood cells and honey cells are in the same area of the hive - generally the bottom two thirds are brood cells with larvae and the top third are the honey cells. This differs greatly from western honeybees that build their brood cells in a separate part of the hive from the honey storage cells. As such, the traditional Balinese methods to harvest honey simply include removing the entire section of honeycomb - both brood cells and honey cells - and processing all of it. The honey is extracted and the brood cells are boiled and the larvae are eaten. If new extraction methods can be achieved, hopefully honey harvesting can be done without destroying the larvae or the existing honeycomb, which will hopefully improve hive health and increase honey production.

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Exotic animals, trees and fauna

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Being in Bali allows you to get acquainted with various exotic animals, trees and fauna. Here, at Jiwa Damai we do have some incredible inhabitants. Today I would like to introduce you to the sacred Temple snake.

According to Balinese beliefs she lives in the temples and blesses them and is sacred. She lives in between the roof and the ceiling in one of our houses and is early seen. The last sign was a snake skin hanging in a tree close to the area, which meant she has grown and was shedding. Usually she goes out to hunt every 10 days or so, to catch a frog or mouse meal. She then returns to her quarters to digest and is not seen for another week or more. She does hunt at night and that is when we can catch a glimpse of her. She is shiny black and has beautiful yellow rings around her slim body. usually she is curious and will look at you for a while before moving on. According to the general information about her kind, she is lightly poisonous and her bite can cause some swelling. We have never heard of anyone being bitten.

Here at Jiwa Damai we respect all beings, and as it is we are taking the living space away from these beings. Therefore a respect and honoring of these creatures is appropriate.

The challenges of making our own coconut oil

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A specialized climber needs to be hired to take down the ripest nuts, which can be used for producing the cold pressed famous health food coconut oil.

Our climber goes up the tree with bare hands an feet and can climb 15 trees in one day. After which the nuts are each opened by hand from the outer shell and then the inner shell and the meat removed by hand as well.

After which the grating procedure and making of the oil can begin. See our coconut movie on the complete production .


The temple snake

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This beautiful snake  with its yellow rings is considered sacred by the Balinese. it lives mainly in the the,plus and is called the temple snake. Having this snake in your house under the roof is considered a blessing. It show itself on the average once a week coming down from the roof to go hunting for food. Its main food are the frogs it finds around the ponds.It nourishes itself from mice as well.

We have a special approach to the snakes here. Since we are the ones taking the living space away from them, we are respecting and honoring them. The Balinese do make offering for the snakes at the house temples. This way a peaceful co-existence is initiated.

The pineapple harvest

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We wish you an interesting, fascinating and at moments peaceful 2019!

How to ride the waves of all these various global and local and personal events will be the challenge. All points to many changes and new approaches and discoveries. On this note, we will remain with the first item in our gardens, the incredible wealth of our pineapple growth and harvest. The sweetness of its taste. What a difference.

This year’s harvest of pineapples stretches for several months. we grow two types, a Javanese and a smaller Balinese one which is of an exquisite sweetness. After being cut from the plant, which is left to grow another fruit, the tops are removed and replanted and will grow into another pineapple. We have several ways of using the delicious fruit. one, to open and eat. One of our kitchen fairies, Jani, made for the first time a pineapple marmalade , trying out with sugar and with stevia as a sweetener. Made and Nyoman dry the pineapple slices and package them to sell and replant the removed tops in the garden..

The new born star

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Here we have the new born star creating a future world. Having spent several months together at Jiwa Damai, two years ago, Romina and Vali married and now have this beautiful son. Congratulations, many blessings and much gratitude. We would like to extend this to the Mama as well, since Romina has been our steady support for the past 2 years with Jiwa Damai website, blog and Facebook.

A Journey into My Life – Emily Ren

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A Journey into My Life – Emily Ren

When King Lear asks the blind Gloucester how he sees the world, Shakespeare has him say,””I see it feelingly”.

Travelling through all these years, I found myself always attached to the nature deeply somewhere inside of me. It is not only about green mountains and the blue ocean. Even though I took a lot of time and energy carrying my heavy photography equipment, hiking miles after miles, waiting in the freezing night, just to take a picture of starry milky way. Whenever I look up at the countless stars in space, I would be always awed by the magnificence of universe and could not stop crying. The vast ocean of stars can always carry infinite imagination. How beautiful this great nature is, and how small we as individuals are.

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Fulfilling stay beyond any expectations

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I came to Jiwa Damai to teach Yoga and learn about Permaculture. I planned roughly to stay for a couple of weeks and ended up staying until the very last day of my 60 day visa. This place is pure magic. I felt a little challenged by the quietness the first week but my persistence paid off and rewarded me with an experience that touched me very deeply. The place itself is beyond beautiful. It is true paradise where you do not hear any man-made noise (besides the temple that you hear 3 times a day like in any other place in Bali). The nature that Margret, the owner, is protecting and allowing to flourish here is incredible and so soothing for the soul. It doesn't matter where you look you only see beauty and lushness. As if that wasn't enough already to make this place truly special, you will also meet the most amazing people.


Margret the owner has become very very dear to me over the course of my stay and I got to support her with very exciting projects. She lead an amazing meditation every evening for us and I am so grateful for having been introduced to her technique. She is also really great at picking people for the volunteer programme and the other volunteers quickly became close friends. The staff is incredible and so sweet and kind and friendly. I feel I have gained a new home and a new family with lots of new brothers and sisters, cousins, aunties and a granddad ;) I had so much fun, I learned a lot of new skills and also a lot about myself and I made meaningful and real connections with people and nature.

My heart is so full after my stay, I was not ready to leave when the visa expired and feel almost homesick now after I left. I can highly recommend staying here. If you come here with an open mind, ready to learn about yourself and ready to challenge yourself and understanding that how you perceive reality is always up to you, you will be rewarded with a very beautiful and profound experience.

This article was written by Kerstin, our volunteer. If you would like to join us, send us an email at contact@jiwadamai.net

The mushrooms are back

/ Jiwa Damai/

Laura, our lovely volunteer from Borneo, revitalized again our mushroom production.

The mushrooms need a dark and humid atmosphere so we set them this time in our tool shed, which we emptied out. Laura ordered the mushrooms already set in bags in nutritious food soil As you can see, they are beginning to sprout.



Care and appreciation of soil

/ Jiwa Damai/

To be able to truly honor and appreciate the earth, a caring and loving attitude  to oneself and others is a prerequisite. At Jiwa Damai we approach  working  with the soil and earth from a  multidimensional perspective.

The inner attitude of honoring and respecting that which gives us our physical life, is complimented with the in-depth knowledge of how to restore and heal the abuse the soil suffers. Here at Jiwa Damai we ground the theoretical design concepts of Permaculture, its principles of earth care, people care and sharing  with hands-on in our extensive gardens. Our  1 and 3 day intro offerings as well as PDC’s are embedded in a morning yoga class and evening heart meditation. Find out more on www.jiwadamai.net