Economy

Honey prices continue to fall, migrant beekeepers in Nghe An struggle to overcome difficulties

Huy Thu • DNUM_AFZAIZCACF 06:15

For nearly 3 years now, the price of honey has dropped dramatically, each kilogram of honey is only worth 1/2 kilogram of sugar cane, beekeepers have migrated, and the scale of farms in Nghe An is in trouble.

bna_1..jpg — With natural conditions suitable for beekeeping, Nghe An has thousands of migratory bee farms exploiting acacia honey, mainly concentrated in mountainous communes. On average, each farm has about 300 - 700 bee colonies. Photo: Huy Thu

According to beekeepers, the bee breed currently being raised on farms is the Italian bee breed, which has the advantage of being easily adaptable to environmental changes, growing strongly, being resistant to diseases, producing 2-3 times more honey than domestic bees, and ensuring honey quality. Photo: Huy Thu

During the main season, on average every 7-10 days, farms harvest honey once. Each time they harvest honey, farm owners have to hire 5-10 workers to remove the bridge, carry the bridge, cut the wax, harvest the honey, stack the boxes, transport the honey... Photo: Huy Thu

According to beekeepers, good beehives with many beehives and a large number of bees can yield about 100 kg of honey per crop. Dinh Van Thao, a native of Phu Tho province who is raising bees in Kim Bang commune (Thanh Thuy commune, old Thanh Chuong district), shared: This year, there is a lot of rain, which is not favorable for beekeepers to migrate. The rain affects the quality, yield of honey, and the time to harvest honey. Photo: Huy Thu

Honey season usually lasts from March to September, the first months of the season produce better quality honey, which can be sold for a higher price. Mr. Pham Van Be (42 years old), who is raising bees in Thanh Binh Tho commune (Thanh Son commune, old Anh Son district), shared. Honey at the end of the season is usually dark in color, the darker the color, the cheaper the price. This year's honey season, there were times when he had to sell honey for 6,500 VND/kg. With 350 bee colonies, his bee farm currently has hundreds of cans of unsold honey. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_6...jpg — The honey spinning season creates jobs for many local workers, from young men, women to the elderly. They often form teams to provide services for bee farms in the province. The salary for honey spinning is about 250,000 - 280,000 VND/session/person. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Dinh Van Liem (35 years old), from Phu Tho province, is raising bees in Kim Bang commune. He shared: To reduce production costs, in difficult conditions, in addition to hiring workers, farm owners often support each other in work such as caring for and cleaning beehives, raising bees, and extracting honey... Photo: Huy Thu

For nearly 3 years now, the purchase price of Italian honey in Nghe An has fluctuated from 7,000 - 9,000 VND/kg. It turns out that selling 1 kg of honey can only buy 1 loaf of bread. The rock bottom price of honey has caused many bee farms to struggle, hold on or quit their jobs... To overcome the difficulties, in addition to combining colonies and reducing the scale of farming, bee farms have to find ways to consume honey themselves. Previously, most farms only sold wholesale to purchasing companies, but now some farms have switched to penetrating the retail market, storing honey, and extending the consumption period. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Le Van Luan, from Hoa Quan commune, is purchasing honey to import for a honey company in Dak Lak. He said: I went to Nghe An to buy honey for the company, but since the beginning of the season, the company has only allowed to import 2 trucks of about 50 tons. Depending on the quality of honey, the purchase price ranges from 6,000 - 8,000 VND/kg. Now that honey is cheap, I cannot buy more because I do not know where to import it. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_10..jpg — It is known that the consumption of foreign honey depends largely on the export market. In recent years, honey has been difficult to export, and purchasing has been stagnant, so the price of honey is both low and difficult to sell. Mr. Tran Van Tien (30 years old), from Hoa Quan commune, who is raising bees in Kim Bang commune, said: He is currently raising 700 bee colonies. During the recent honey extraction, his bee farm extracted 100 cans, about 4.5 tons of honey. Previously, he sold the honey to the company immediately after extraction, but now he has to bring it home to store, both for retail and to raise bees. Photo: Huy Thu

According to Mr. Tien, currently 1 kg of honey costs less than half of 1 kg of sugar cane, so all bee farms use honey to feed the bees. To maintain a bee farm with hundreds of honey colonies, the bee farm owner has to spend a lot of money, taking care of the bees, transporting and migrating, hiring workers to extract honey... The price of honey is cheap, raising bees makes up for the loss, even the more you raise them, the more you lose, forcing many people to sell their bees. During the recent flood, some bee farm owners in the province were left penniless because their bees died due to flooding, and their beehives were washed away and could not be moved in time. Photo: Huy Thu

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The prolonged fall in honey prices has caused many foreign bee farms in Nghe An to suffer. Honey is sold cheaply, while costs are high, causing beekeepers to lose more and more money. In difficult conditions, farms must find ways to survive by changing their farming scale to suit the domestic market. Beekeepers need to try other sales channels (such as through social networks, livestream sales...) to maintain and spread honey products.
Ms. Dinh Thi Hai - President of Nghe An Beekeeping Association

Honey harvesting in Kim Bang commune. Video: Huy Thu

Huy Thu