As the weather clears up after the monsoon, people in many localities in Nghe An province flock to the forest to hunt for honey bees to raise or sell for extra income.
The trend of beekeeping for honey has developed widely in all districts of the province, so when the honey bee hunting season comes, the number of bee hunters increases, including both the old and the young. Photo: Huy Thu Many 75-80 year old men still enthusiastically go into the forest alone on a motorbike to hunt for bees. Some old men who cannot ride a motorbike ask their children to take them to the bee hunting spot. Mr. Nguyen Khac Dinh (73 years old) - a veteran in the honey bee hunting profession in Thanh Khe commune (Thanh Chuong) said: His family has been raising bees for honey for decades. During the bee hunting season, both father and son go into the forest to hunt for bees. Photo: Huy Thu At this time, bee hunting locations in the border communes with Laos in Thanh Chuong district such as Da Dung, Khe Mu, Cay Da, and Cay Sung beach are bustling with bee hunters from Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, Do Luong (Nghe An), Huong Son (Ha Tinh) districts... Photo: Huy Thu In the process of hunting for breeding bees, catching the bee and putting it in the bait tube to test the tube is very important. Some people even put bamboo sticks against electric poles to catch bees from above. However, in recent years, there have been a number of accidents involving people catching bees on roofs and electric poles. Photo: Huy ThuPeople who hunt bees all day often have a quick lunch of some bread, dry food or instant noodles to gain strength to wait for the bees to visit the tube. Photo: Huy ThuMany bee enthusiasts gather in the forest to hunt for honey bees during the breeding season. Bee hunting gathers dozens, even hundreds of people, is fun but the probability of finding bees is low, only those with good bait tubes have hope of getting bees. Photo: Huy Thu The process of bees visiting the tube lasts from a few dozen minutes to a few hours. After choosing a satisfactory bait tube, the bees will return. From the sky, bees "land" on the chosen bait tube, in the excitement of many people. Among dozens of hundreds of bait tubes, each time a bee visits, only 1 bait tube is visited by a bee, the rest are "failed". That is the fun and attraction of hunting honey bees. Photo: Huy Thu Experience shows that on stormy days when it is about to rain, or on sunny days after a long period of cold and rainy weather, people often hunt a lot of bees. Mr. Hoang Van Khai (55 years old), residing in Thanh Thuy commune (Thanh Chuong), shared: I have only been hunting bees for 2 years now, but with the “red” bait tube, I often hunt bees. Last year, I had 17 swarms. This year’s bee season, I will probably have more. Photo: Huy Thu Mr. Nguyen Nhat Lap - A young man who loves hunting bees in Thanh Thuy commune (Thanh Chuong) said: In addition to the bait tube, hunting bees is also a matter of luck. Every bee season, some people get dozens of swarms, but some people don't get any swarms. Photo: Huy Thu People who hunt bees mainly do so to raise them. When they get bees in their tubes, they carefully cap the bait tubes, carry the tubes down the mountain, ... then tie the tubes on their motorbikes and take them home with excitement. Photo: Huy ThuMany beekeepers choose to increase their bee colonies by buying seed bees from bee hunters. Some bee hunters who fail to find bees buy bees "on the spot". After bargaining, about 300,000 - 500,000 VND/hive, depending on the number of bees in the colony, they calculate the time when the bees have landed for 1 - 2 minutes, then put away the selected bee tube and replace it with the buyer's bait tube. People with good bait tubes can sell several bee colonies a day, earning millions. Photo: Huy Thu Hunting for honey bees. Video: Huy Thu
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