Lesson 3: Beekeeping

(Baonghean) -Passing through Thanh Chuong district, next to the green tea hills are endless acacia forests. In the sunshine of May, we occasionally see tents set up under the acacia trees, next to them are hundreds of honey bee hives, neatly lined up. Those are the people who work as itinerant beekeepers. This season, acacia leaves sprout and bloom, beekeepers move here to collect honey...

>> Lesson 2: When potential is awakened

In the late afternoon, we stopped by a bee farm under a dense acacia forest in Thanh Mai commune, Thanh Chuong district. The bee farm owner is Mr. Hoang Cong Thin and his son. Mr. Thin is a strong and average-sized man, and talking to him became more and more interesting because his words were very sincere and open. Starting the story about the itinerant beekeeping profession, Mr. Thin immediately confided: My father and I's previous trip was "successful" because at that time in Bac Giang, it rained heavily, causing all the honey on the flowers to be washed away, and the bees couldn't collect it in time. After the lychee flower season in Bac Giang, my father and I moved to Ninh Binh to collect honey from longan flowers, and then moved to this land 5 days ago. This is the first time I've brought bees to this land.

Mr. Thin is over 50 years old this year, originally from Thanh Hoa province, came to the South to do business, now his family lives in Vung Tau City. Through many jobs, from ward police, forest ranger, but due to his upright and straightforward nature, he accepted to leave the state agency, returning to do business with the market mechanism. After many jobs to make a living in the locality, not very well off, one time a friend "told" him that beekeeping is an easy way to get rich, and from then on he persevered in reading newspapers, watching TV, and consulting books on beekeeping techniques. And the mobile beekeeping profession came to him in 2008. The initial capital was 250 million VND, to buy nearly 200 honey bee hives and some other tools.

For others, “bees go to find honey for themselves”, but for Mr. Thin and his son, it is the opposite: “we go to find honey for the bees”. The mobile beekeeping profession accepts this. 12 months a year, the localities he chooses to move the bees to are from Dong Thap to Lam Dong, to Bac Giang, down to Ninh Binh and then to Nghe An. Each locality has different strengths in crops, so the bees should be moved accordingly. Otherwise, the amount of honey collected during the year will be very little.

Local people learn mobile beekeeping from Mr. Hoang Cong Thin

Research shows that there are plants whose honey is extracted from flowers, and there are plants whose honey is extracted from leaf axils. To be a beekeeper, you must first understand this in order to get a lot of honey. Longan, lychee, coffee... have honey extracted from flowers, while rubber and acacia are extracted from young leaf axils. For Nghe An, this is the beginning of summer, very suitable for the living conditions of bees. Moreover, this is the time when acacia leaves grow strongly, so a lot of honey is extracted.

Why did he choose the acacia forest in this area to place his bees? Mr. Thin confided: “I have traveled to many places and seen that the acacia here grows strongly, proving that the land here is very suitable for growing acacia, and the better the acacia grows, the more honey is extracted. In those vast acacia forests, there is a huge amount of honey hidden. If people do not know how to exploit it, they will lose a valuable source of income from nature. Moreover, this season in Nghe An, there is little rain, so the amount of honey in the leaf axils is more, the bees do not have to fly far to find honey. Understanding the characteristics of each type of plant, beekeepers calculate the flowering time of each type of plant to move the bees there. The profession of mobile beekeeping requires moving here and there, living all year round in a foreign land...”

To ensure the health of bees, beekeepers must be aware of their disease symptoms. The Italian bee breed he raises often suffers from lice (lice swarming on the wing stalks), larval rot, stomachaches, etc. Therefore, during the beekeeping process, people must constantly monitor the bees. If they see unusual signs, they can predict their disease and treat it promptly. Therefore, in the luggage they carry, they always have medicine to treat common diseases that bees encounter. In addition, they must also know how to prevent bees from flying away. For the Italian bee breed, the cause of bees flying away is often due to lack of pollen and lack of honey. Mr. Thin's experience shows that if there is a lack of pollen, the beekeeper must promptly feed the bees soybean powder; if the bees lack honey, they must feed them sugar. Therefore, since he started to switch to mobile beekeeping 6 years ago, Mr. Thin's bees have not had any hive fly away.

Looking at the rows of beehives arranged in a long line under the canopy of the acacia forest, Mr. Thin added: Although the beehives are old and many places have broken boards, no matter how heavy the rain is, there is no fear of rainwater flowing in and washing away the honey. Because when bees enter the hive, they always cling to the layer, their wings cover the honey layer. If a drop of rain gets in, it will fall on the wings, roll down to the foot of the bridge, keeping the honey absolutely safe.

Mr. Thin and his son's bee colony currently has 195 hives, each hives has 10 bridges. Because they are moved to places with a lot of natural honey, combined with the diligence of millions of bees, the bridges are filled with honey very quickly. Mr. Thin said that normally honey is harvested every 15 days. Each time, 1 ton of honey is collected. The honey is collected, without any chemicals, and transported to sell to Dong Nai Honey Bee Company at 40,000 VND/kg, earning 40 million VND. That much money earned within 15 days, roughly calculated each year is nearly a billion VND. But according to Mr. Thin, that is true, each year the father and son only earn 300 million VND in profit, equal to one job exported to Korea. Mr. Thin sighed softly: The cost of keeping bees on the road is very expensive. Every time we move locations, we have to rent a car to transport it, which costs tens of millions of VND. Then there is the “diplomatic” money with the local government and the people. And there are also “lost” trips like the recent trip to Bac Giang! We have to accept those realities, because only then can we live in a foreign land without worries.

On both sides of the Ho Chi Minh road, more than 40 km long, through the communes of Thanh Chuong district: Thanh My, Thanh Huong, Thanh Tinh, Thanh An... to the last commune Thanh Xuan, we counted 7 mobile beekeeping farms. Through observation, the life of the mobile beekeepers is very simple and makeshift. In the tents is a bed, along with a wooden box to hold clothes, a few dented aluminum pots, plastic cans to hold water, dishes... But the assets they bring with them are very large, which are hundreds of honeycombs, each worth 10 million VND. With such a large asset, living in a foreign land, without a home, without relatives, how can they keep their assets and people safe?

To ensure that there is no loss or exploitation by bad people is not an easy thing. "Land has a local god, river has a river god", before going to any land, you must have a close relationship with at least one person in that locality. With the government, you must ask for temporary residence permission and commit not to disrupt security and order, not to let forest fires happen... With the people, you must be harmonious, open and understand their customs. You are even willing to help the people with anything you can. For example, once when going to Dong Nai, someone wanted to follow him to learn beekeeping, Mr. Thin was willing. After only 1 year, that person became the owner of the bee farm. Those were the first things to do before placing bees on that land. Bees do not harm crops, but on the contrary, they help the flowers of the crops to pollinate easily. Recognizing the benefits of bees, the local government and the people also help, creating very favorable conditions. Mobile beekeepers are likened to "serving a hundred families".

Even the choice of location for the beehive does not affect the crops. The tent is tied tightly to the tree trunk to serve as a place for people to live, during daily cooking, I always ensure safety when using fire, not to let forest fires happen. Up to now, Mr. Thin has a close network of relationships from North to South, and understands the growth rules of crops during the year to move the bees there, never being hindered by the local people. Even the means of transporting the bees, he also has close relationships, when needed, he just calls, people come to pick them up immediately.

The job of keeping bees on the move is like that, although it is hard, but because of passion, it is always fun. Since the Ho Chi Minh road was built, mobile beekeepers have had great convenience in transportation. Among the owners of bee farms on the Ho Chi Minh road, each person is from a different hometown, but they all share the same situation, so they always create a healthy and integrated living environment, because bees are insects that always bring practical benefits to humans and crops.

Article and photos: Xuan Hoang