The Research Center of Deep Technology in Beekeeping and Bee Products for Sustainable Development Goals (SMART BEE SDGs) at Chiang Mai University has established an exemplary international collaboration network for data gathering across the Mekong subregion. This multi-stakeholder partnership, involving Thailand,Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and China, demonstrates Chiang Mai University’s commitment to SDG17 through coordinated research and knowledge sharing on bee conservation and sustainable apiculture.
Between 2022-2023, the SMART BEE SDGs team conducted extensive field visits to honeybee farms throughout the six Mekong subregion countries, gathering critical data on beekeeping practices and challenges. Through participant observation and focus group discussions (FGDs), researchers documented management policies, resource capacities, and operational practices across diverse ecological and socioeconomic contexts. A particularly significant data collection initiative involved two major FGDs held in Chiang Mai in October 2022 and August 2023, bringing together representatives from government organizations, NGOs, honeybee exporters,
local beekeepers, and academics from all six countries. This triangular cooperation approach enabled comprehensive data gathering on regional beekeeping challenges while building statistical capacity among partner institutions.
The collaboration has yielded valuable datasets documenting fungal microbiomes in bee populations across Southeast Asia. For example, researchers collected samples from 18 wild hive colonies on Chiang Mai University’s campus to analyze the distinct fungal communities in commercial stingless bee species Lepidotrigona terminata and Tetragonula pagdeni. This South-South cooperation extended to the Philippines,where researchers from Central Luzon State University collaborated with the SMART BEE team to analyze honeybee gut microbiome diversity using next-generation sequencing with the Illumina MiSeq platform.
The SMART BEE SDGs center has developed standardized methodologies for monitoring bee health through technology transfer, collection across enabling consistent data the region. This policy coherence has been crucial in identifying shared challenges, including: capacity gaps between countries, lack of common policies and regulations, absence of support for cross-border transport of bee samples, inadequate preservation of native bee species, limited access to regional disease information, standards. and insufficient product quality by documenting these challenges through collaborative data gathering, the project directly contributes to global governance frameworks for sustainable beekeeping.
Development cooperation has been central to the project’s approach, particularly in supporting capacity building for partners with limited resources. The data gathering revealed that while Thailand, China, and Vietnam have advanced equipment for diagnosing honeybee diseases and measuring honey quality, Laos and Cambodia rely heavily on international assistance. Through knowledge sharing initiatives, the SMART BEE project helps bridge this divide, providing technical expertise while simultaneously documenting traditional beekeeping knowledge across the region.
The international collaboration has produced actionable data that informs policy recommendations for sustainable beekeeping, including human capacity development programs, creation of a regional database on bee diseases and conservation, and formulation of common standards to facilitate cross-border research. By systematically collecting and analyzing data on beekeeping practices across the Mekong subregion, Chiang Mai University’s SMART BEE SDGs center exemplifies how global partnership for sustainable development can generate evidence-based solutions to complex environmental challenges while fostering inclusive economic
opportunities for rural communities throughout Southeast Asia.
Source : Smart Bee: Regional Partnership for Sustainable Apiculture and SDGs