Hunting for wild honey
(Baonghean) -In the forests, this season there are many flowers that attract wild bees. This is also the season of "hunting" wild honey, a "father-to-son" profession of ethnic minorities in the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park (Nghe An).
Crossing the great forest to find wild honey
At dawn, when the mist and clouds still lingered on the high mountains, groups of workers, wearing leggings, carrying backpacks and tools, entered the Pu Mat forest to hunt for wild honey. We followed them silently. Among the bee "hunters" here, T was one of the most talented in Trung Chinh village, Yen Khe commune. T only needed to reach the top of the wild forest thanks to the great wind to "smell" the scent of honey, know where there were many beehives, then climb the mountain, eat rice balls, sleep on tree branches until he could carry a backpack full of honey-filled beehives home.
Wandering on the slopes of the great forest, T found traces of a swarm of bees sucking nectar from flowers. T signaled for silence, had to secretly follow to know where their nest was, be very careful not to be attacked, it would be very dangerous. After more than 30 minutes of "tailing", I saw the bees flying around to a tall tree, their nest was suspended there. In a flash, T had finished cutting down a bamboo tree, tied it to the tree trunk, then, as quick as a squirrel, clung to the bamboo tree and climbed up. T brought a torch with him, when he was almost at the nest, he lit the smoke, the swarm of bees flew out in chaos, many of them even rushed into the smoke to fight back. T gritted his teeth to endure the pain, hanging on the tree, waving the torch repeatedly. Finally, the bees had to "give up" and retreat. With just a few movements, T had supported the whole beehive, which smelled of honey, down to the base of the tree. T squeezed each block of wax, the thick, fragrant honey flowed into the plastic bucket. I brought it to my mouth to taste, the rich sweetness on the tip of my tongue. T said, sometimes he brought the whole hive home to sell, squeezing honey directly from the wax for customers to believe it was real. After finishing lunch in a hurry, T discovered another wild beehive, and got about 3 bottles of honey.
Honey is bottled and sold at agents in Con Cuong town.
We continued to make our way to Na village, Bu village, Chau Khe commune. At this time, the village was deserted, all adults and children went into the forest to "hunt" for bees. Mr. La Van Q, a Dan Lai man in Bu village, Chau Khe commune, said: "This season, we work hard every day, sometimes we can earn more than 500,000 VND/day." According to Mr. Q, good honey is often "hung" on cool, 30-40m high tree trunks. The nests are often covered and humid, so they can easily turn sour. But climbing tall trees to "hunt" for bees is also very dangerous, many people have fallen and become disabled for life. It is common for bee stings to swell up their faces and limbs. For example, Mr. La Van K, who went bee hunting, got malaria for more than 10 days and thought he would die. We know that "hunting" for wild honey always has hidden dangers, but for the sake of food and clothing, more and more households are following this profession.
In the afternoon, Bu village suddenly became bustling, after a tiring day of "hunting" bees, the forest workers came back from the great forest. Everyone was "carrying" wild honey, their faces beaming. They brought all the wild honey to an agent for 70,000 VND/bottle (they don't buy by the liter here). Mr. La Van M said: Compared to that price, it's cheap, because in Con Cuong town they sell it for 170,000 VND/bottle. So why don't you sell it there for a better price? M said: All day collecting honey, sometimes you only get 1-2 bottles, bringing it to town doesn't make up for the gas money. Ms. Q, who specializes in buying honey here, said: "I also take the work as profit, one bottle brought to Con Cuong town gets a "commission" of about 10,000 VND". Sometimes the forest workers do not sell honey but bring it to Ms. Q to exchange for rice, MSG, salt, fish sauce, etc. Ms. Q confided: Due to hunger, many times they even come to my shop to borrow rice to go into the forest to "hunt" for honey, then when they come back they exchange honey very fairly. Bu - Vi Thanh Ban, the village chief, confided: Hunting for wild honey helps the Dan Lai people get through the August 3rd. Personally, I rely on wild honey to contribute more money to repair my house, buy a TV, and improve my family's life.
The next afternoon, I was treated to a meal of young bees (in beeswax) dipped in honey by the forest workers. The host displayed a whole cluster of young bees on a copper tray and several bowls of shimmering golden honey. I cut each layer of young bees and dipped them in wild honey. The sweetness of the honey and the richness of the young bees brought an indescribable feeling. Mr. Ban excitedly said: “Dan Lai people, from young to old, during the honey season, everyone gets to eat young bees and drink pure honey, so they can “resist” many types of diseases. Such as treating acne, tooth decay, stomach ulcers, fighting persistent malaria, increasing vitality… All the village men in Bu village are strong, many of the village elders are old but their eyes are still sharp, their voices resound like the wind of the jungle. At the beginning of the honey season, many forest workers in Na and Bu villages have “hit” large nests that can sometimes yield 15-20 bottles of honey. They carry the whole hive home, squeeze the honey and then share the young bees so that everyone in the village can "enjoy the benefits".
Fake honey production industry!
The day I entered Yen Khe village C, posing as a honey buyer, Mr. Nguyen Van Quy warned me: "Be careful not to buy fake honey!" In recent years, a group of people has appeared in village C, "disguised" as if they had just come out of the forest. They come from the forest entrance with cumbersome tools, hard-working, carrying fresh bamboo tubes, filled with wild honey. Or whole beehives oozing honey, with ten wild bees with broken wings lying scattered on the beeswax. Tourists from all over the world come to bathe in the waterfall and admire the forest and see this, competing to buy whole bamboo tubes of honey. Some people buy whole honeycombs and ask people to squeeze them into bottles. They are delighted to buy 100% "genuine honey" right at the entrance of the primeval forest. They do not know that the honey contained in the bamboo tubes is mixed, the beehives have all had their real honey sucked out beforehand, then molasses is pumped in. Many people bought the honey and the next day it foamed and swelled up, and when they drank it, it had a strange taste. Some people had stomach aches and then realized they had been cheated. According to many people, in Con Cuong there are several "bagua" furnaces that "process" wild honey day and night. They mix molasses and sugar, and spread a layer of beeswax on top, which at first glance looks exactly like "genuine" honey.
Camp of bamboo cutters and wild honey hunters.
Mr. La Van Nam, a forest worker with more than 10 years of experience in the profession of "hunting" wild honey, taught me how to distinguish between real and fake wild honey. Pu Mat wild honey is always bright yellow, no matter how long it is stored, it does not change color, retains its characteristic flavor, and especially never has sugar. The honey is thick, highly sticky, and does not need a funnel to be poured into a bottle, so when testing, just pour a little on a cloth, the round drop of honey that does not dissolve quickly is real honey. Nowadays, wild honey is increasingly rare and valuable, so many people take advantage of it to scam buyers.
"Hunting" for honey - potential risk of forest fires!
“Hunting” for wild honey contributes to improving the lives of people in the mountains. However, it is also “harmful”, in the dry season, the Lao wind blows through the primeval forests. People who go to collect honey often have to bring fire into the forest to create smoke to drive away the bees. If those embers accidentally catch on the dry vegetation, the consequences will be unpredictable. At this time, people in the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park go into the forest to hunt for bees a lot, from Cao Veu (Anh Son), to Mon Son, Yen Khe, Chau Khe… (Con Cuong), up to the highlands of Tam Dinh and Tam Quang communes (Tuong Duong).
The risk of forest fires is always present. Authorities need to take measures to control the burning of wild beehives for honey and prevent forest fires.
Van Truong
