Mr. Pham Xuan Son's family is one of the first households to raise bees in Phong Lai commune, Thuan Chau district, Son La province. With more than 20 years of experience, Mr. Son said that beekeeping does not require large investment capital, however, to achieve the best yield and quality of honey, beekeepers need to take meticulous care in each stage and each season, especially the honey production process according to VietGap standards.

“Raising bees according to VietGap standards requires a clean environment. When bees collect honey, they must ensure that they are isolated from pesticides sprayed on fruits and pesticides used to treat bee colonies, so that the honey source is guaranteed to be clean and of good quality,” said Mr. Son.

Phong Lai Bee Cooperative is maintaining a breeding scale of about 1,000 bee colonies.

In Phong Lai commune, beekeeping has existed for many years, but it is mainly spontaneous. In recent years, based on the strengths of hills, forests, and fruit trees, beekeeping households have joined together to establish Phong Lai Bee Cooperative, with 13 members. Instead of raising bees on a small scale and spontaneously, member households are organized to raise bees according to a plan, based on signed consumption contracts, the cooperative assigns schedules to households for production. Input materials are also optimized, thanks to which the cooperative is currently maintaining a scale of raising about 1,000 bee colonies with an annual revenue of over 2.5 billion VND.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Phong Lai Bee Cooperative, Thuan Chau District, Son La Province, said that all members of the Cooperative have a lot of experience in beekeeping, which is the advantage and strength of the Cooperative. “After the Cooperative was established and production was established according to VietGap standards. Since then, the Cooperative has built a brand and trademark, and now the products of Phong Lai Bee Cooperative are present in the market and are known by many people,” said Mr. Thanh.

Honey is bottled and jarred, with a team to trace its origin.

With the natural farming method, harvesting and preserving according to the correct process, the output and quality of honey are constantly improved, the honey products of the cooperative are highly appreciated by consumers because of their rich sweetness, aroma, and beautiful color. In order to provide the market with honey products that ensure prestige and quality, the cooperative has disseminated awareness about the production process according to VietGAP standards; trained in disease prevention, harvesting techniques, processing and preserving honey products... The members have complied with the safe beekeeping process, thanks to which the cooperative's products have achieved the title of typical provincial products for many consecutive years.

“After being exploited and launched, the cooperative’s honey products are bottled and jarred with traceability stamps. The honey products were previously certified by Vietgap, and later certified by 4-star OCOP, so people can completely feel secure using the products,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, a member of Phong Lai Bee Cooperative.

Honey products bring the cooperative annual revenue of over 2.5 billion VND.

Beekeeping according to the chain of production, processing and consumption has promoted the honey beekeeping profession in Phong Lai commune in particular and the agricultural production movement in Thuan Chau district, Son La province in general to develop in a sustainable direction, bringing high value, helping people to get rich sustainably.

Thanh Thuy