Honey beekeeping in Tan Ky

(Baonghean) -Beekeeping for honey is a profession that requires the beekeeper to understand the characteristics of bees. In Tan Ky district, there are people who are passionate about beekeeping, specializing in researching this insect to exploit its potential and advantages. To have bottles of sparkling honey, the beekeeper must go through a lot of effort...

In Block 10, Lat Town, Tan Ky District, if you ask for Mr. Nguyen Thai Hien, everyone will know him. He is the one who has contributed to establishing the beekeeping profession for many families in and outside the district.

Contacting Mr. Hien, we learned that in the early years of the 21st century, in Tan Ky, there was no one raising bees, but it was spontaneous, without applying science and technology, and with low efficiency. In 2003, from an employee of Tan Ky Pharmaceutical Company, Mr. Hien retired. Before retiring, he realized that Tan Ky land could develop honey beekeeping, in his spare time he read documents written about honey bees, especially beekeeping books of the former Soviet Union, from which he studied from reality to draw experience. Until the day of his official retirement, he compiled a set of documents and made a CD about domestic honey beekeeping techniques.

Mr. Nguyen Thai Hien and his wife are checking the quality of the honey bee nest.

Talking about the potential and strengths of beekeeping in Tan Ky, Mr. Hien said that few places have such good conditions as this land. The air and noise environment are not polluted. Here, it is possible to raise honeybees all year round, because the pollen source is very rich. In addition to providing nutritious honey products, bees also help collect pollen, pollinate flowers, increase crop yields, and contribute to protecting nature and the environment. Therefore, Mr. Hien said that there is no reason why ethnic people in Tan Ky do not exploit their potential and advantages to raise bees, develop the economy, eliminate hunger, reduce poverty and get rich in their homeland. In recent years, economic life has developed, consumers understand the value of honeybee products, which have medicinal and health-enhancing effects, so many people seek to buy them.

The day we visited Mr. Hien’s beekeeping material supply facility, both of them were busy with the work of packing boxes and making beekeeping bridges. Outside the garden of about 2 acres of land, there were beehives carefully arranged under the shade of fruit trees. Mr. Hien and his wife openly said: "In the 10 years of beekeeping, my family has never had more than 100 beehives in the garden. Because every year people come to buy, we have to sell. Here, I provide both beekeeping techniques and materials, so almost every day there are people coming. Some buy documents, some buy bees, some give advice... Those who buy bees, I give them beekeeping technical documents, otherwise I sell the documents. There are careful people who buy documents to study for a while, then come to buy bees to raise. Up to now, I can't remember how many people in and outside the district have provided beekeeping documents, but from the beginning of 2012 until now, there have been over 100 people coming to him to learn about developing beekeeping experience. And almost every day there are people coming to exchange experiences and buy all kinds of beekeeping materials. There are more than ten beekeeping materials: honey rotating drums, honeycomb cutting knives, bee catching hats, nets, queen cages, legs floors, wooden boxes without legs, wooden boxes with legs, boards... and honeycombs. He always has all of those tools available, and can provide them immediately to anyone who needs them. The price of each type is different, if you buy by the nest, it depends on the floor legs. For those who are starting to raise bees, you should buy a beehive with 3-4 floor legs, priced at 700,000 VND (150,000 VND for a box, 150,000 VND for each floor). You also have to know how to choose the wood to make the box, the best is odorless wood, such as: leather, fig, rice. After making the box, you have to paint the outside to prevent mold and termites. Honeybees like green, so you have to paint it green, not white or red, because bees hate those two colors.

Mr. Hien compared the beehive to his house. The hive must be clean and always have honey, the base of the hive must be free of worms, and absolutely no enemies must enter. The area around the hive must be clean, because bees are very sensitive to the environment. Mr. Hien also learned from experience that to raise honey bees, there must be 4 criteria: enthusiasm for bees; application of science and technology; the family must be happy and united; and finally, no fear of bee stings. Any family that can combine these 4 factors will certainly be able to raise bees for honey. Because beekeeping requires technique, not strength, women, the elderly, children, the disabled, most suitable for middle-aged or idle retirees, can all participate...

A fact that makes many beekeepers worried and anxious is that bees often fly away (bees fly away from the box). Mr. Hien also confided that out of 10 people who buy bees from him to raise, up to half of them have their bees fly away after a period of raising, because the beekeepers do not understand the science and technology. Such cases cause beekeepers to lose money and lead to frustration. The reasons for bees flying away are lack of food, bees with rot disease, invasion by "enemies", being provoked by other swarms of bees flying away... To prevent these cases, beekeepers must know how to keep the bee colony always fed, by not turning the last honey ring or only turning it slightly; supplementing feeding with sugar mixed with water during the period when there are no flowering plants (July, August, September, January, February). If you discover that bees start to fly away (when the queen bee has not yet emerged), you must quickly use a cone to catch the flying bees in front of the hive entrance. If you cannot get the cone in time, quickly use wet soil to cover the holes and gaps in the hive to prevent bees from flying out. If the bees are flying out in the sky, use soil, sand, water... to throw them up, or use a pole with a rag wrapped around the end to wave it in places where there are many bees. The bees will lower in height and land. Then use a bee-catching hat to bring them home and hang them in a cool, dark place.

Among the causes of bees flying away, the highest risk is being attacked by "enemies" or affected by the environment. Ms. Nguyen Thi Tinh, Van Son hamlet, Nghia Dung commune, is the earliest beekeeper in the locality. She said: "My husband and I have been raising honey bees for 4 years now. This area is very favorable because of the abundance of flowers in natural forests, planted forests, and fruit trees. I raise honey bees with 2 sources of income: honey and beehives. In my garden, I always maintain 35-50 original bee colonies, each bee colony can separate 2 new colonies a year. So every year, I have dozens of new bee colonies to sell to others to raise together. The price of each colony is 700,000 VND. As for honey, a bee colony can produce 10-15 liters per year, the current selling price is 300,000 VND/liter. Every year, her family earns nearly 100 million VND from beekeeping.

Up to now, after 4 years of beekeeping, Mrs. Tinh and her husband fear the most the intrusion of "enemies": wasps and hornets, ants, lizards, cockroaches and worms. The most frightening are wasps and hornets. From July to September is the development time of these two types of bees. Wasps make nests underground, wasps make nests on tree branches. Mrs. Tinh has to assign people to watch out for wasps and hornets every day. There is no other way but to buy some brooms made of coconut leaves to smash them. The wasps are as big as a little finger, black and swooping down on the beehives, trying to get into the nest, attacking worker bees and queen bees. Because the hole for the bees to enter is too small, the wasps cling to the beehives, looking for rotten wood to bite through and get in. They come in so many at once that the bees cannot resist and are forced to fly away. Mr. Tri (Mrs. Tinh's husband) brought out 3 plastic bottles (1.5 liters) filled with bees and hornets that he had killed in the past 3 months, and were soaking them in alcohol. It is said that bees and hornets soaked in alcohol like this can cure arthritis, so many people are looking to buy them. Seeing that Mr. and Mrs. Tinh's family was miserable because of the bees, the young men in the neighborhood tried to find a way to help them. An initiative that sounded "funny" but effective was to track the flight direction of each bee to determine their nest. Within just 1 month, the young men caught 4 bee nests and many wasp nests in the natural forest area, near Mrs. Tinh's house. Since then, the number of bees and hornets attacking honey bees has decreased significantly. Each type of enemy has its own way of attacking, lizards and bees capture soldiers and queens. Cockroaches and ants suck honey and dirty the beehive. Therefore, beekeepers need to regularly check the hive, not allowing any enemy to invade.

Mr. Tran Tu Ba - Vice Chairman of Tan Ky District Gardening Association, said: The beekeeping association (managed by the Gardening Association) was established 2 years ago, each commune and town has a beekeeping branch. Up to now, the association has more than 800 members raising bees for honey, with a total of more than 4 thousand bee colonies. The honey output each year is quite large, according to beekeepers, 1 beehive can produce 10 bottles of honey each year, so each year Tan Ky produces about 40 thousand bottles of honey. Last year's selling price was 150 thousand VND/0.65 liter bottle (this year 200 thousand VND/bottle), so each year Tan Ky beekeepers earn about 6 billion VND. In addition, beekeepers also collect tons of pollen. This is truly a valuable number, bringing a significant source of income to Tan Ky farmers.

The potential for developing honey beekeeping in Tan Ky is still very large. Currently, people have only exploited a small part of the natural flower resources. In particular, in the program of converting production and developing commodity plants and animals, in which Tan Ky is expanding the area of ​​rubber trees, raw material forests... will supplement a large source of flowers for the beekeeping industry to thrive. Honey beekeeping not only contributes to economic development, but also improves the sustainable living environment.

Xuan Hoang