Developing honey beekeeping

Honey beekeeping model at Quang Da Agricultural Service Cooperative, Xuan Binh Commune (Nhu Xuan).

Xuan Binh commune is a locality with a rich ecosystem, favorable climate, forest land area, and fruit tree area accounting for a fairly high proportion, which are the available potentials and advantages for households in the commune to take advantage of to develop honey beekeeping. With nearly 30 years of beekeeping and owning nearly 200 bee colonies, Mr. Vo Minh Tam, village 12, has "memorized" the journey of honey beekeeping. Mr. Tam said: "The mountains of Xuan Binh commune have geographical and climatic conditions suitable for honey beekeeping. This animal organizes its colonies tightly and is extremely sensitive to environmental changes such as weather, light and temperature. Therefore, beekeepers need to master the characteristics of bees and apply appropriate measures to prevent cold and heat. At the same time, maintain the hygiene of the beehouse dry and clean. Only then will the bee colony be healthy and produce quality drops of honey."

It is known that since 2022, Mr. Tam and a number of beekeeping households in the commune established the Quang Da Agricultural Service Cooperative with 24 members. Since its establishment, the Cooperative has focused on building the Quang Da honey product brand to improve its competitiveness in the market. In 2023, Quang Da honey was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product. In order to build and maintain the brand and improve the quality of local honey, Mr. Tam and his members regularly update their knowledge and apply advanced science and technology to the beekeeping and honey exploitation process. Focusing on the stages of selecting breeds, caring for bee colonies, harvesting and preserving honey, ensuring that the products are always of the best quality. In addition, the Cooperative also actively participates in fairs, trade promotion conferences... to introduce and promote honey. Currently, the Cooperative's revenue reaches from 3 to 3.5 billion VND/year; the average income of workers is from 5 to 7 million VND/month; average household income from 10 to 12 million VND/month...

Binh Luong Commune is also one of the localities with a fresh climate, with a large forest cover area, diverse flowers and grasses suitable for effective development of beekeeping for honey. The whole commune has more than 50 households raising about 1,400 bee colonies, harvesting an average of 2,000 to 2,500 liters of honey each year. To ensure product output, Binh Luong Commune has established Hop Thanh Cooperative to link with companies and businesses to purchase products for beekeeping members.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quy, from Gio village, currently raises more than 100 bee colonies with a total honey output of 500 to 600 liters of honey per year. Currently, his family's honey output is guaranteed by the cooperative, and contracts are signed with businesses, so all products are sold as soon as they are produced. Mr. Quy said: "Beekeeping for honey does not require a large investment capital, however, in the care process, the beekeeper must be patient, meticulous and understand the characteristics of the bees to have a suitable care regimen for each stage and each season. Good honey must be light yellow, shimmering, have a sweet taste, not as sweet as sugar, and have the aroma of natural pollen. Therefore, the beekeeper must understand the flowering process of the plant varieties, choose flowers with high nutritional value, and create good honey for the bees to suck nectar to create honey.

Since 2021, Nhu Xuan district has had a policy of encouraging the establishment of agricultural cooperatives. Through cooperatives, beekeeping households are trained, exchanged, and supported in beekeeping and honey harvesting techniques, and the development of products with natural honey characteristics, contributing to the formation of a production chain that ensures food safety and hygiene standards.

Up to now, Nhu Xuan district has more than 5,000 honey bee colonies, concentrated in the communes of Binh Luong, Xuan Binh, Hoa Quy... Nhu Xuan honey is gradually asserting its position in the market, becoming a brand loved and trusted by consumers. Beekeeping for honey has become an effective and sustainable economic development model for hundreds of households in the district. Besides the value of honey, beekeeping also brings about ecological effects such as helping pollinate crops, increasing productivity, product quality, protecting the biodiversity of the natural environment...

Article and photos: Luong Khanh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/phat-trien-nghe-nbsp-nuoi-ong-mat-252591.htm