Sustainable direction from beekeeping

(Baonghean) - Quynh Chau Commune (Quynh Luu) is quite famous for its beekeeping for honey. Currently, the whole commune has more than 70 households raising bees, supplying the market with thousands of liters of honey each year.

The first impression we had when we arrived at the home of Mr. Vu Van Than – one of the famous “bee owners” of Hung Tan (Quynh Chau – Quynh Luu) was dozens of beekeeping boxes neatly placed in the garden. In 2014, his family sold nearly 300 liters of honey from 40 bee colonies.

In the first 3 months of this year alone, his family has collected more than 70 liters of honey, selling it at an average price of 250,000 VND/liter. When asked about his experience in beekeeping to achieve high efficiency, Mr. Than enthusiastically shared: “Beekeeping is not hard and the investment capital is not much, but it requires the beekeeper to have a firm grasp of the techniques and be careful and attentive. Usually when selling beehouses and beehives, I have to go to the buyer's house to instruct on how to raise them. If you raise bees in a "playful" way, they will soon fly away and leave only empty barrels.” Through many years of experience, the number of bee colonies in his family has continuously increased with an income of tens of millions of VND each year. Along with rice, bees have helped his family stabilize their lives, becoming a well-off household in the area.

Mr. Vu Van Than in Quynh Chau commune (Quynh Luu) collects honey from a beehive.

It is known that since 2011, when 40 beekeeping households in Quynh Chau were trained through a beekeeping training course and granted certificates, the beekeeping movement here has developed strongly. In that training class, people often mentioned Mr. Nguyen Van Huu - who has more than 40 years of experience in the profession. Go to Tuan An hamlet to meet Mr. Huu, he is still working hard in the beehives.

He shared: “In 1975, after leaving the army and returning to my hometown, I joined Bai Nghe farm, at that time Quynh Chau was covered with forests. I and some brothers raised more than 20 beehives in the forest to earn extra income. But then I realized that the demand for honey was increasing, so I gradually domesticated the bees to bring the swarms home to raise. The technique of domesticating wild bees to raise at home is not too difficult. Just wait until the bee season in February to March, make boxes with old wood and little smell and put them in tree holes, wind-proof rock holes, the bees will come to live there by themselves. After the bees get used to the new nest, move the nest home at night.”

Mr. Nguyen Van Huu is checking his family's secret bridge.

According to the experience of long-time beekeepers, the process of raising bees requires regular checks on the health of the colony to ensure their development and to decide on the appropriate time to collect honey. Honey is always sold at a good price because of the high demand from buyers. Raising bees does not require much capital, the cost of a beekeeping box is only 400 - 500 thousand VND. Initially, you can raise 2 to 3 colonies, after 1 year, when you have accumulated experience, you can multiply the colonies. Currently, not only in Quynh Luu district but also many people in neighboring areas such as Yen Thanh and Nghia Dan are actively investing in beekeeping and many households have escaped poverty and stabilized their lives.

Thanh Quynh