Products of Phong Lai Bee Cooperative, Thuan Chau district, are displayed at typical agricultural booths in major events of the district.

After many years of working in the beekeeping profession, realizing the potential of this profession, in 2018, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Kien Xuong village, Phong Lai commune, mobilized beekeeping households in the commune to join together to establish the Phong Lai Bee Cooperative. The cooperative currently has 13 members with 2,000 bee colonies, mainly Italian and domestic bees; the average productivity is 30 kg of honey/colon/year. With the form of natural farming, harvesting and preserving according to the correct process, the output and quality of honey are increasingly improved.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Phong Lai Bee Cooperative, informed: In 2019, the cooperative's honey and bee pollen products were granted a food safety certificate by the Son La Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Product Quality Management and the Center for Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Product Quality Management Region 1 (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) granted a product certificate meeting VietGAP standards.

Focusing on product quality, the cooperative has created conditions and supported members to participate in training courses organized by the province and district on methods of caring for and preventing diseases for bee colonies; techniques of harvesting, processing and preserving honey products; visiting and learning about beekeeping experiences in Mai Son, Song Ma and Moc Chau districts. A special feature is that the cooperative members apply the method of beekeeping in adjacent boxes, which has many outstanding advantages compared to traditional single-box beekeeping. Because beekeeping in adjacent boxes grows quickly; the queen bee is healthy, has high swarming ability, is not infected with larvae and parasitic mites, so the honey yield is high; the water content is below 20%, and there are no dead larvae. When harvesting honey, the farmer only needs to take out the nests in the adjacent floor, without affecting the egg-laying activities of the queen bee and the larvae rearing of the worker bees on the ground floor.

With more than 10 years of beekeeping, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, a member of Phong Lai Bee Cooperative, shared: "Joining the cooperative, being able to exchange experiences and receive guidance on raising and caring techniques, my family's bee colonies have grown strongly, have few diseases, and produce a lot of honey. Currently, my family has 80 bee colonies; each year we collect about 1.2 tons of honey, after deducting expenses, we earn nearly 150 million VND in profit."

Bees of Phong Lai Bee Cooperative members

According to members, beekeeping requires not only taking advantage of natural conditions but also understanding the weather in each region. To produce good honey, bees need to move their colonies according to the seasons of flowers in different regions. Accordingly, March is longan nectar; April to May is chestnut nectar; June to October is wild flowers; November is tobacco flowers. When the honey turns to amber, beekeepers use a honey quality testing machine to measure the ratio of sugar, water, and honey according to standards before proceeding to collect honey. During the raising process, the cooperative provides instructions on beekeeping techniques; checks the quality of bees and purchases products from households according to the honey cycle.

With the support of specialized agencies, Phong Lai Bee Cooperative has developed a plan to design product packaging, labels, and traceability stamps, and completed procedures to be recognized as meeting food hygiene and safety requirements. The cooperative's honey products are currently bottled for sale on the market. In 2022, the cooperative's honey products will be recognized as 4-star OCOP products at the provincial level.

Phong Lai honey products are certified with 4-star OCOP at the provincial level.

On average, the cooperative harvests 60 tons of honey per year, and the cooperative's honey products are mainly purchased by traders; after deducting expenses, the cooperative's total income reaches more than 1.5 billion VND/year. The products are widely consumed at retail stores in Hanoi, Hai Phong and many other localities.

After more than 5 years of operation, Phong Lai Bee Cooperative has become a typical cooperative in developing honey beekeeping in Thuan Chau district; successfully building a typical local agricultural product and becoming a typical provincial agricultural product, helping people increase their income.