In addition to actively learning honey care and exploitation techniques, currently, members of the Hillside Honey Cooperative, Quang Son Commune, Tam Diep City also focus on investing in technology and machinery in packaging and preservation to "improve the quality" of the product.

We visited the honey beekeeping model of Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh, Hang Nuoc hamlet, Quang Son commune - a member of the Hillside Honey Cooperative, right when his family was harvesting honey. Although it was not the main flower season, after just over an hour of harvesting, the amount of honey harvested was up to half a quintal, so he was very excited.

Enthusiastically inviting me to try a cup of golden, fragrant honey, Mr. Vinh shared: "Joining the cooperative and learning from the experiences of the members, my beekeeping techniques have improved a lot. In particular, the honey after being harvested is now not only put into a net to be filtered and sold as usual, but also taken to the lower part, bottled, with full labels, barcodes, and codes. Therefore, the reputation, quality, and price of the product have been raised to a new level. We are really excited."

Quang Son Commune, Tam Diep City is a mountainous area with a fresh climate, a diverse ecosystem and vegetation with natural forest canopies, large tea and fruit growing areas. This is a favorable condition for developing honey beekeeping.

In fact, the people here have been beekeeping for a long time. Currently, the whole commune has about 40 beekeeping households with 3,000 bee colonies, producing up to 30 tons of honey each year. Notably, recently, the beekeeping households here have jointly established the Hillside Honey Cooperative to build a closed production chain, further developing the beekeeping profession for honey.

Mr. Le Anh Binh, Director of the Cooperative, shared: Previously, beekeeping and honey harvesting were mainly carried out on a small scale and spontaneously. Each household had a different way of doing things, without following any standards, so the quality of the products was uneven. Faced with this situation, with the support of the local government, our beekeeping households joined together to establish the Cooperative. In addition to sharing and supporting each other in terms of techniques, we also discussed and agreed to establish a standard production process for all members to follow. In addition, we contributed capital to purchase additional tools and equipment for harvesting and preservation. Thanks to that, the quality and output of honey from the members have been significantly improved. Since the beginning of the year, the Cooperative has harvested nearly 15 tons of honey, worth 2.4 billion VND. In particular, the Cooperative's honey products have been analyzed, passed many inspections, and ensured quality standards for both nutritional foods and medicinal herbs.

With 50 years of experience, as a former beekeeping technician of the former Dong Giao Farm, directly taught beekeeping techniques by Chinese experts at that time, Mr. Luong Truong Yen (Tan Nhuan village) is also proud to affirm the quality of his honey: The climate, soil characteristics and abundant flower sources make the honey of Quang Son hill always have a delicious and characteristic flavor and eye-catching color. Each honey and flower has its own unique aroma and color. Notably, the entire bee colony here is domestic bees, the honey yield is not high but the honey quality is superior to foreign bees.

Furthermore, we are very meticulous in choosing the location to place the bees, away from sources of pollen and nectar that are at risk of chemical contamination. The time of honey extraction is also carefully calculated, only harvested when the holes in the comb are screwed shut, full of honey. At this time, the water content in the honey is low, the honey is thick, so it can be preserved for several years and still retain its color and flavor. In many places, honey is only about 1.2-1.3 kg/1 liter, but our honey alone reaches 1.5 kg/1 liter. Therefore, the honey is sold out as soon as it is extracted.

It can be seen that the beekeeping model in Quang Son commune not only brings economic benefits, but also benefits agricultural production and protects the ecological environment. It is known that in order for the model to develop in a modern and sustainable direction, Quang Son commune is currently supporting people to access and apply advanced techniques in the production process, moving towards building hill honey into a typical OCOP product of the locality, thereby sustainably developing the beekeeping profession and increasing income from this profession.

Article, photos, videos: Nguyen Luu