Hundreds of people flock to the forest to hunt for bee seeds in Nghe An
(Baonghean.vn) - In December, people in the mountainous districts of Nghe An are rushing to enter the season of hunting for bees. For a long time, hunting for bees has always been an attractive job for many people, bringing joy and a significant source of income in the last days of the year.
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| The honey bee hunting season in the mountainous districts of Nghe An - Ha Tinh lasts from winter to spring. After each cold rain, alternating with warm sunny days is the right time for bee hunters. These days, bee hunters inside and outside the province often flock to the border communes of Thanh Chuong and Anh Son to hunt for bees. |
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| The indispensable tools of bee hunters are nets and bee tubes. Each hunter usually carries 2-5 bee tubes. In the past, each time they went bee hunting, people had to carry heavy tools in the forest. Nowadays, thanks to motorbikes and telephones, bee hunting is less difficult. |
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| Hunting for bees is an art, from preparing the bee tubes properly to how to hunt bees, going alone or in groups... Some people even use a trailer to carry the bee tubes into the forest to hunt. |
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| Before moving from high mountains to lowlands to avoid the cold, bee colonies often send "scouts" to carefully examine the new nest site. In the photo: Scene of hunting for breeding bees in Sung Lay, Thanh Thuy commune (Thanh Chuong) |
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| Hunting for seed bees is not like taking beehives from cliffs and high branches of ancient trees. Bee hunters only need to stand low and wait for opportunities using tricks and luck. Hunting for seed bees is not only a job, but also a hobby for many people. The force of hunting for seed bees is increasingly large, of all ages from young to old, even women. Many old people over 80 years old, who cannot ride motorbikes or bicycles, also ask their children, grandchildren, and acquaintances to take them to the forest to hunt for bees. |
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| Bee hunters must have sharp eyes and sharp ears to detect and catch the bees. Bees can appear somewhere under old trees, in front of houses, next to electric poles... sometimes they catch them by accident. People must also be very vigilant about safety when looking for bees on electric poles like this. |
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| The process of hunting for breeding bees is essentially "inviting" bees to visit the tube, choosing the tube, and the most important task is to catch a bee and put it in your bee tube. When a bee tube has many bees visiting, bee hunters often call each other to bring tubes to catch the bees. Therefore, at a location where bees appear, there are often dozens or even hundreds of bee tubes brought to hunt. |
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| The process of waiting for bees to visit the tube can last from a few dozen minutes to a few hours, or even a few weeks, depending on many factors. At this point, the bee hunters just sit by the bee tube to wait for the results. For bee hunters, sitting all day watching the bees, forgetting to eat and drink, waiting for the bees to arrive is a common thing. |
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| Bees visit the tube very carefully. If they are satisfied, after the first bee leaves, it will attract a number of other bees (from a few to a few dozen) to review it again. Once they have "agreed" to choose a certain bee tube, all the visiting bees will leave the tube to pick up the swarm. Within a certain period of time (about a few minutes, depending on the distance), the entire swarm of bees will land on the tube they have chosen, even though there are dozens or hundreds of other tubes being visited around. Watching the bees land is the most exciting moment during the bee hunting process. |
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When the bees have landed, there is only one tube with bees, which means that one person gets the bees, the rest have to go home empty-handed or will join in visiting a new tube. During the bee hunting season, some people hunt hundreds of bee colonies, but others only get a few colonies. The bees hunted can be kept or sold (bees are measured in bowls, 100,000 VND/bowl). In recent years, along with the beekeeping movement in the localities, the hunting of seed bees has been promoted. Hunting seed bees not only brings income, but also brings joy to many people. . |
| Watch the bees land |
