Farmers 'hunt' for pieces of dead beehives to sell at high prices

bna_cac ong.jpg — The remains of the honeycomb after the pupae were removed. Photo: PV

This year's wild bee hunting season (the wild bee hunting season is from June to September every year) is strange in that traders buy the remains of yellow bee nests (also called yellow bees in many places) at high prices. Therefore, many female farmers in Yen Thanh, Nghia Dan, Tan Ky districts... "hunt" each piece of dead bee nest every day to sell to traders. However, in many types of bees such as: wasps, ground bees, yellow bees... traders only buy the remains of yellow bee nests.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuan in Phuc Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) said she did not understand why this year traders are buying dead yellow beehives, but never before have they bought this type. Because Chinese traders buy in large quantities, some domestic traders buy them to sell to China. To have goods, Ms. Thuan orders dead yellow beehives every day from many mountainous districts or bee hunters, at a price of 1.2 million VND/kg.

After purchasing, traders dry and package the products to resell to traders in the northern provinces. Photo: PV

"After collecting the beehive, people take all the pupae to process into food, the remaining body is very light, so each day they can only buy a few ounces, because the nest of this type of bee is small, only about 20 cm in diameter. After purchasing, they sell it back to traders on the same day, because they are afraid that if they stop buying, the goods will not be sold and they will lose money," Ms. Thuan shared.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien in Dong Ban hamlet, Lang Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district said: For many months now, people in the mountainous communes of Yen Thanh have been buying up dead wasp nests in a big way; many groups of young people have gone into the forest to hunt for wasp nests to catch.

This type of bee only needs smoke to fly away, so it is quite easy to catch, rarely gets stung by bees and does not cause forest fires (people only need to burn straw to create smoke, not need fire to burn the beehive). After bringing the beehive home, they take out all the bee pupae to sell for 270,000 VND/kg, or process them into food, and the remains of the beehive can also be sold for millions, so the income of bee hunters is also quite high.

"The honeycomb must be intact and all the pupae must be removed. After purchasing, the beehive must be dried before selling to traders," Ms. Hien shared.

Bee pupae are taken out of the beehive. Photo: PV

According to Mr. Doan Ba Canh - Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Lang Thanh commune, since last year's bee season, there have been traders buying the remains of yellow honeycombs, but they have not bloomed as much and the price is as high as this year. This year, traders bought the first stage of the season for 400,000 VND/kg, now it has increased to 1,200,000 VND/kg and will be even higher, because the wild bee season is almost over.

"Currently, in the commune, there are about 4-5 buyers, accordingly, each day they buy about 15-20 kg. Wherever they buy, people sell to traders in the North, then sell to China. No one knows what they will do with the honeycombs. Local authorities also recommend that people should not hoard goods but buy and sell as soon as they can to avoid risks," said Mr. Doan Ba Canh.

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