After our trip to Tien Ly village, Yen Dinh commune, Son Dong district, Chu Van Luat, a well-known beekeeper in a locality where remaining the most beautiful ironwood forests, calls me sometimes to tell about the bee keeping “career”.

Beekeeping model right in the house garden in Tien Ly village, Yen Dinh.

Luat was taught the career from former generations. From some tens of beehives, he and his 2 sons now have about 600 bee colonies even 1,000 colonies including their “branch” farm in Lang Son province.

His family earns from 300 to 400 million VND (12,900 to 17,200 USD) per year from harvesting honey and selling breeders, which is a large and stable income for people in a highland.

Apart from Luat’s family, tens of households in Yen Dinh commune raise honeybee producing abundant resource of honey for large supply to customers.

The forests in the west of Yen Tu Mountain are ideal places for bee colonies to find flowers for honey making.

Son Dong district has nearly 18,000 bee hives yielding about 170 or 180 tonnes of honey each year sold at an average price of 150,000 VND (6.5 USD) per litre earning revenue about 20 billion VND (863,000 USD).

Son Dong district is endowed with the forests in the west of Yen Tu mountain with different types of wild flowers in full blossom all year round. It is a good condition for bee colonies to create golden honey drops with unique favor and quality gaining resounding reputation.

A “Vietnam golden agricultural brand”

It was not easy for Tay Yen Tu honey on the journey to win the title “Vietnam golden agricultural brand”.

Farmers here only harvest honey in right time to get high quality product.

According to Hoang Thi Ninh, Head of Agriculture and Rural Development Division, Son Dong district who is closed to bee keeping career with the desire to establish the homeland’s trademark, Son Dong has forest coverage rate of more than 75 percent while local people have traditional bee keeping craft, thus it produces a large volume of honey annually.

However, if it is only produced in a spontaneous manner, the product will be impossible to penetrate high-ranking markets with high prices. They even have to take account of supplying supermarket chains and export. Hence, it is significant to establish trademark of Son Dong honey.

To that end, in 2008 Thao Moc Linh Agricultural Service Cooperative invested and joined hands with the households in An Lac commune where is home to Khe Ro primitive forest to raise honeybee with organic farming methods.

Unlike before, more than 20 households together take care of over 1,000 honey colonies under strict procedure allowing to harvest only one crop per year from May to September, hence, their product has higher quality than normal honey.

In order to maintain stable product quality conforming to the national and international standards, the Cooperative invested in a honey press machine and packaging designs. “Tay Yen Tu honey” has been grouped in high-end segment showing its quality and luxury from the appearance.

Tay Yen Tu honey product.

The Cooperative’s honey product was applied for collective trademark registration and accepted by the National Intellectual Property Office (Ministry of Science and Technology).

Recently, the Organizing Committee of the “Vietnam golden agricultural brands” Programme under Viet Nam General Council of Agriculture and Rural Development selected “Tay Yen tu honey” among 80 well-known farm brands with good quality to award the title.

The honouring ceremony is scheduled on 15 August in Ho Chi Minh City. Joys come to beekeepers in Son Dong as an affirmation of their great efforts to create a high-quality product.

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Quoc Phuong