In June I had the opportunity to meet with a woman - Nguyen Thi Hang - who is the Vice President, general Secretary of a Vietnamese Beekeepers Association and the President/CEO of the Hanoi Honeybee Joint Stock Company ( Hanoibee JSC. - have a look at the website) and visit a number of beekeepers.
In the general Hanoi area only Asian bees are kept. Further South Italian bees are quite popular.
I found out that no bees are kept within the city environments simply because there are too many lights and as we all know bees can be attracted to bright light.
I walked around the parks in Hanoi and indeed never saw a single bee. Plenty of flowers but no bees. A very odd experience.
One professional beekeeper I visited is well known in beekeeping circles and highly respected.
He has about 300 hives.
His wife was the one who showed me around and opened a good number of hives.
All hives are singles. They are trying to keep the population modest to minimise swarming. Asian Bees have a reputation as heavy swarmers.
This is the off-season for bees in Vietnam but the hives looked strong. Each one we opened had some honey and plenty of brood.
Hives were kept in the shade of trees and were arranged in a circular pattern around the trunk.
I asked the beekeepers about the main issues they had to deal with, problems of concern.
To my surprise they all put Climate Change on the top of the list. They explained to me that the last few years summers have been extremely hot and bees can't find enough food - pollen and nectar to sustain themselves and produce a surplus.
They are also concerned about the low price their honey is fetching in the world market due to competition from within Vietnam and internationally. Vietnamese honey is the lowest priced honey on the world market.
Their seems to be a lack of cooperation between beekeepers which also results in low prices.
The beekeeper told me that he makes more money selling brood frames than honey. He sells a frame with brood for US$ 7. People would generally buy 3 frames ( as in a nuc) and get a free queen.
From his 300 hives he sells 1000 - 2000 frames of brood a year.
He sells his honey to locals for $US 3.50/kg.
Vietnamese don't eat much honey. Honey is seen more as a medicine ( for all ailments from skin to stomach) rather then a food. Some families are replacing sugar with honey and this may well be a trend.
To keep his bees well feed he has to move them 6 to 7 times in a year. He owns his own truck to help with this task.
I did bring a bee veil with me but never used it. The Asian Bees seem to be a lot more gentle then our/my bee. I was right up close and never got a sting. My guide did cop a few on her lips but they did not seem to swell as stings from Italian Bees would in a tender spot like the lips.
Beekeepers tend to make some equipment and buy some. The quality of wood used appeared pretty poor. Hives were not painted.
No plastic frames were in use at the apiaries I saw.
Wax is seen as an important by-product and sells for about US$ 5.50/kg.
There are some pests - the beekeeper referred to them as " brood pests" but I could not find out anything specific.
Varroa is not a problem with Asian Bees and he was not aware of the SHB.
Some wasps can be an issue but he noted the many birds in his orchard as excellent predators.
The main nectar trees are Acacia mangium (
http://keys.trin.org.au/key-server/data/0e0f0504-0103-430d-8004-060d07080d04/media/Html/taxon/Acacia_mangium.htm) from Australia . Apparently it produces honey dew rather then nectar?
It is a low priced honey and it tasted rather bitter to me. Some was fermented and of poor quality.
The best honey and the one bringing in the Dollars is Lychee Honey
http://www.beeproductsthai.com/EN/Our_Product/151) and Mango honey.
I was not able to taste any of it.
Extraction is with a centrifugal extractor witch is hand operated . A very simple un-capping knife is used.
To open the hives and take out the frames no tool was used. I gave them a hive tool and they quickly worked out how to use it.
Thanks to Mrs Nguyen ( Hang) and the beekeepers for making me so welcome.
The villages we visited are located about 11/2 hr from Hanoi. An interesting trip.
The main crop on the hilly farms seemed to be Pomelo but other fruit were also grown.
There maybe not to many comparisons with keeping bees in Queensland but you never stop learning.