Nghe An farmers raise queen bees for milk, earning 200 million VND/year

After Tet, Mr. Bui Ngoc An in Quynh Hoa commune, Quynh Luu district is always busy with honey collection work. Photo by Viet Hung.

Since Tet, Mr. Bui Ngoc An has not had a single day of leisure because this is the best time for him to collect honey. Luckily, we met him while collecting honey for a relative in Hamlet 1, Quynh My Commune. Although he is over 70 years old, Mr. An is very passionate about beekeeping; whenever someone asks for help, even though it is dozens of kilometers away, he still goes there to help them collect honey.

Mr. An said: “After Tet until now, I often go up to the mountainous commune of Quynh Thang to collect honey. Because it is the season, bees secrete a lot of honey, if we don’t collect it in time, it will reduce the productivity of the next crop.”

Sharing about his career, Mr. An said that in 2012, he piloted raising 2 bee colonies right at his house. At that time, due to lack of experience, the bees secreted little honey and did not achieve the desired yield. However, after learning from books and newspapers with previous beekeepers, he grasped the care process and how to attract bees into the hive. After 2 years, he expanded his family's bee colony to 15 colonies. During this time, he also went to Hanoi to buy a queen bee from Australia to breed and develop. This queen bee breed can attract worker bees into the hive and secrete royal jelly, which has high economic value.

In addition to raising bees for honey, Mr. An is also successful in raising queen bees for milk. Photo by Viet Hung.

After 6 years of developing the beekeeping profession, his family now has 97 bee colonies, of which 10 are specialized in exploiting royal jelly. After more than 1 month of honey harvesting season, Mr. An has exploited more than 500 kg of honey, at a price of 300,000 VND/liter, his family earned more than 150 million VND.

“To develop beekeeping, beekeepers must understand their characteristics and take good care of them so that they always produce a lot of honey. Honey harvesting time lasts from January to July of the lunar calendar. Each year, the amount of honey collected reaches more than 1 ton,” Mr. An added.

More specifically, Mr. An has also succeeded in exploiting royal jelly from 10 colonies he is raising. After Tet until now, he has harvested about 9 kg of royal jelly, at a price of 500,000 VND/kg; after only 1 month, he earned an additional 45 million VND. If harvested for the whole year, royal jelly will reach about 400 kg. From raising bees for royal jelly, Mr. An earns about more than 200 million VND/year.

Queen bees are raised in plastic trays with air holes, worker bees will secrete milk to feed the queen; on average, queen bees have a lifespan of 6 years. Photo by Viet Hung.

To obtain royal jelly, Mr. An took the first-instar larvae (4-day-old eggs) from the queen bee and put them in the queen's cap and put them in a bucket. After 3 days, the worker bees will secrete milk to feed the larvae, then he will collect the milk; if he does not collect it, 13 days later the larvae will hatch into queen bees. With this process, Mr. An can continuously exploit royal jelly during the season.

Royal jelly is very popular among people because of its effects of beautifying the skin, preventing aging, enhancing physiology, improving health, preventing diseases. According to Mr. An, during the royal jelly harvesting season, customers from all over the provinces and cities call to order in large quantities, many even come to the house to learn about the royal jelly extraction process.

Royal jelly has the effect of beautifying the skin, preventing aging, improving health... currently priced at 500,000 VND/kg. Photo by Viet Hung

With many years of experience in beekeeping, Mr. An has taught many people, especially the elderly in the locality, how to raise and care for bees. Up to now, the beekeeping group led by Mr. Ho Dinh Chien in Quynh My commune has grown to 6 people; on average, each beekeeping household has an income of 50 - 70 million VND per year; thereby creating jobs and increasing income for the people./.