Dangers lurk from wasp farming

Recently, many households in Thanh Hoa, Thanh Nho, Thanh Thuy communes... (Thanh Chuong) have been raising wasps in their gardens, forming a wasp raising movement. In Yen Hoa hamlet alone, Thanh Hoa commune, there are about 10 households participating in bee keeping, each household raising from several dozen to hundreds of wasp nests. Photo: Huy Thu

According to local people, raising wasps is not difficult, basically it depends on whether you "dare" to raise them or not. Around May and June, wasp keepers will go into the forest to hunt and bring small wasp nests the size of a fist back to their home gardens to raise. To ensure the safety of family members and surrounding people, the beekeeping garden needs to be fenced, with doors that can be opened and closed when needed. If bees are raised in an unfenced garden, people who come near the beehives are susceptible to bee attacks, especially children. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Phan Van Tu (72 years old), residing in Yen Hoa hamlet, Thanh Hoa commune, said: Currently, in the garden of his son Phan Van Luan, he is raising about 80 wasp nests, all of which were caught from the forest. Mr. Luan's family has been raising wasps for 4-5 years now. Photo: Huy Thu

After bringing the wasp nest home, you just need to tie it up and hang it on tree branches in the garden and it will grow bigger and bigger, and the number of bees will increase. Mr. Tu added that raising wasps is almost free, all you have to do is catch the bees, the rest is to "raise the bees skillfully". Photo: Huy Thu

Wasp nests can be hung from trees or long poles in the garden. Therefore, a small area can accommodate many beehives. However, for the bees to grow well and be convenient for exploitation, the beehives must be arranged at a certain distance from each other. Photo: Huy Thu

To limit the impact of rain and sun, some households also use palm leaves and canvas to cover the beehives. About 2-3 months after raising, the beehives can be harvested. From June to August is the season to harvest painted beehives. Photo: Huy Thu

To collect beehives in the garden, beekeepers often wear protective clothing that covers the whole body, thick fabric sold on the market for between 500,000 VND and 1.5 million VND. When harvesting beehives, family members, especially children, must stay away from the bee garden to avoid being stung by bees. Recently, in Thanh Chuong district, many beekeepers or their family members and neighbors have been stung by bees, some cases requiring medical treatment and some even died. Photo: Huy Thu

Experience shows that people who are severely allergic to wasp venom (being stung by a bee will cause swelling all over the body, vomiting, unconsciousness...) should not work in wasp farming and stay away from beehives. Mr. Nguyen Van Su - a long-time wasp farmer in Thanh Thuy commune said: When harvesting a beehive, you can destroy the nest to remove all the layers of pupae or leave the top layer for the bees to build another nest for the second harvest. The next harvest, the beehive will only be 1/2 - 2/3 the size of the first harvest. Photo: Huy Thu

Compared to wild beehives, wasps raised in home gardens have smaller nests. Each nest weighs 1.5 - 3kg when harvested. According to wasp farmers in Thanh Chuong, this year's bee season comes later and lasts longer than previous years, and the price of beehives is lower than last year. Currently, the selling price in the garden is 180,000 VND/kg. Photo: Huy Thu

On average, each kilogram of honeycomb will yield 0.7 kilogram of pupae. Bee pupae are nutritious foods that can be processed into delicious dishes that many people love. After harvesting, honeycombs can be sold to people, to purchasing points, or traders will come to the garden to buy and transport to the northern provinces and cities for consumption. Wasp farming is not expensive, and brings in a good income (tens of millions of VND/year/100 nests), but it also has many potential risks, sometimes even affecting lives. Photo: Huy Thu