Roaming with the bees

After nearly 10 years of living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, in 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, Mr. Tran Van The (residing in Group 1, Thong Nhat Ward) decided to return to his hometown Gia Lai to pursue his passion for beekeeping. From 53 beehives, his bee colony has now increased to more than 100 beehives.

Mr. The said: “ Gia Lai is a land of immense coffee, rubber, acacia trees and a variety of plant species that create a rich source of pollen and nectar to develop beekeeping. In particular, I prioritize honey from coffee flowers, because it has a unique aroma, beautiful color, low crystallization rate and is very popular with customers.”

According to Mr. The, bees can collect honey all year round, as long as there are flowers blooming. However, the time when honey is most abundant is from December to April of the following year. Because at this time, trees bloom a lot, bees work hard to make honey and produce delicious batches of honey.

“March is the time when bees collect the most honey and the honey is of the best quality. During this season, trees bloom a lot, bees work hard to make honey and produce delicious batches of honey,” Mr. The shared.

Beekeeping depends on the weather and the seasons. Bees only leave the hive to collect honey when the weather is dry and there is no rain. Therefore, to achieve high yields, beekeepers must move their bee colonies to suitable areas with many blooming flowers.

“From April to August, I take the bee colonies to Da Nang . At the end of August or September, I transport the bee colonies back to Gia Lai to harvest honey during the coffee flowering season. Each time I move the bee colonies, it costs money to transport, creates health risks for the bees, loses the bee boxes, and increases the workload for the beekeeper.

Moreover, following the bee colony like that is hard for the beekeeper because of the lack of living conditions. If they don't move, there will be no source of flowers for the bees to make honey, the cost of raising bees with flour and sugar is very expensive and the quality of the honey will not be good," Mr. The confided.

"Being friends with bees" since the age of 16, Mr. Tran Duy Trung - Owner of Duy Trung honey facility (Tan An village, Ia Hrung commune) has a lot of experience in beekeeping. Having gone through many ups and downs in beekeeping, even having to "turn around" to find other ways to make a living, but in the end, he still returns to be with the bees like a soul mate.

“Although foreign bees (Apis mellifera) are more difficult to care for than domestic bees, they produce a lot of high-quality honey. I have been pursuing this bee breed for two decades,” said Mr. Trung.

Currently, Mr. Trung owns about 700 beehives. To produce a lot of good quality honey, in addition to raising bees in the garden in Gia Lai, around April and May, he starts moving his beehives to the northern provinces such as Bac Giang, Hai Duong... where lychee and longan flowers are in full bloom.

“Beekeeping requires moving to many places, living a “nomadic” life, adapting to living conditions such as: setting up camps, lack of facilities, makeshift meals… In particular, bees are very sensitive to the living environment, so beekeepers must constantly monitor, care for, and prevent risks that can affect the bee colony,” Trung shared.

In addition to honey harvesting, each year, Mr. Trung also purchases more than 50 tons of honey from other beekeepers in the area. With an average selling price of 60,000 to 120,000 VND/liter, after deducting expenses, Mr. Trung earns about 350-490 million VND/year.

Although beekeeping brings a stable income, beekeepers still face many difficulties such as: high transportation costs, adverse weather conditions, pests affecting bee colonies and low, unstable export honey prices (currently only about 20,000 VND/kg).

However, Mr. Trung still excitedly said: "This year, I will launch a special multi-flower honey product, combining the quintessence of many typical flowers of the Central Highlands such as wild sunflowers, coffee, wild flowers... I hope that this product will be welcomed by everyone and build the Central Highlands honey brand to reach more consumers" - Mr. Trung shared.