NA Deputy and 1,000 honeybee colonies under forest canopy

Multi-floral honey

Honey produced by Ban Tho Cooperative in Hoa Quy Commune, Thanh Hoa Province, has a rich amber color, a delicate sweetness, a subtle floral aroma, and a slightly tangy aftertaste. According to Director of the Cooperative Nguyen Le Ngoc Linh, the Cooperative's beehives are placed under the forest canopy in Ben En National Park.

The honeybees under Ban Tho Cooperative’s honey production and consumption linkage model in Ben En National Park are locally known as hollow bees, as they typically build their hives in tree hollows or cavities. Although this bee species does not produce large quantities of honey, its honey quality is extremely high.

In July 2025, a group of 10 households, including poor and near-poor families and elderly residents, received 72 honeybee colonies donated by Ban Tho Cooperative in partnership with World Vision International and LG Group. The group has so far harvested honey three times, producing nearly 300 kg in total. Ban Tho Cooperative has purchased the honey at VND 142,000/kg. For Ms. Nguyen Thi The, a poor woman living alone, the bee colonies have provided an additional source of income.

As of now, 200 bee colonies have been distributed free of charge to disadvantaged households in Hoa Quy Commune, while more than 1,000 colonies are now under the honey production and consumption linkage model between Ban Tho Cooperative and local residents.

Mr. Trinh Dang Hoach, a beekeeping partner of Ban Tho Cooperative, currently manages 35 colonies and harvests around 350 kg of honey a year. He also serves as a technical adviser for participating households, providing guidance on hive inspections, colony care, and honey extraction.

According to him, placing beehives in the forest does not mean simply leaving them unattended. The hives must be inspected every week. Beekeepers open the hives and check the frames; when a colony is thriving, they add additional frames. If a colony is weak, frames containing brood from a stronger colony are transferred to help strengthen it.

During each inspection, beekeepers must also check for natural enemies, including ground bees, hornets, and geckos that may attack worker bees or capture the queen bee. After heavy rain or strong winds, the hives must be inspected to ensure they have not been knocked over. This approach is considered semi-wild beekeeping. Apart from the initial investment in the hive itself, the bees forage naturally for nectar, with no chemicals used in the production process.

Because the vast forest is home to hundreds of flowering plant species, local herbalists have long referred to forest honey as multi-floral honey, meaning honey made from hundreds of flowers. Unlike longan or lychee blossom honey, forest honey has a more subtle aroma, a delicate sweetness, and a mildly tangy aftertaste.

Putting a share of the profits back into the forest

Hop Thanh Cooperative, which has 37 beekeeping members, is a long-standing partner of Ban Tho Cooperative. Le Trong Mai, Director of Hop Thanh Cooperative, said the unit's key advantage is its location in the core zone of Ben En National Park, where the multi-layered forest provides abundant floral resources, fresh air, and water sources so clean that people can scoop water directly from forest streams and drink it.

With 1,200 bee colonies, the cooperative distributes its hives across four areas to ensure the bees have the best access to both flowers and water. The ideal distance between the hives and nearby sources of nectar and water is no more than about one kilometer. If the distance is greater, bees have to fly farther and expend more energy, reducing the efficiency of honey production.

Hop Thanh Cooperative's annual honey output exceeds 10 tons, most of which is purchased by Ban Tho Cooperative and processed into fermented honey, a product marketed as both a food and a health-supporting product, particularly for digestive health. 

"Ban Tho Cooperative only purchases honey from colonies placed inside the forest, and the honey must meet quality requirements, including a color ranging from golden yellow to amber, a sweet taste, and a well-balanced aroma. The diversity of forest flowers gives the honey its characteristic sweetness and mild tanginess. The flavor is influenced not only by the flowers the bees forage on but also by natural conditions such as sunshine, rain, thunderstorms, and storms. In the months leading up to winter, the honey becomes particularly thick and flavorful. However, beekeepers in Ban Tho do not harvest it during this period but leave it as a food reserve for the bee colonies," Linh explained.

Ban Tho no longer keeps its own bees but instead distributes bee colonies free of charge to disadvantaged households or partners with other local households to move colonies deep into the core zone of the national park. Explaining the reason, Linh said, "Because what we are building is not just a product but a genuine livelihood ecosystem for the community. Everyone has a role, a sustainable source of income, and a reason to protect the forest rather than exploit it to the point of exhaustion.

In the past, we worked with households that already kept bees and helped them relocate their colonies deep into the national park's core zone. But last year, we began providing bee colonies free of charge to poor households, people living alone, and female-headed households. Although their beekeeping skills are still limited and we lose many colonies every year, we are willing to share the risks. Only when local people benefit from the forest can forest conservation become sustainable, and these forests have a chance to recover.

This is different from some units that talk extensively about social impact and local livelihood generation but then bring in professional beekeeping teams to place their colonies in the forest and remove them at the end of the season. Over the past few years, we have received many proposals from professional beekeeping teams wanting to bring their colonies into the forest. This model can be highly profitable, but the Cooperative has had to refuse because it does not create livelihoods for local people."

Linh's biggest concern is that the proliferation of beekeeping operations in many areas is gradually saturating the honey market. Therefore, she wishes to build a brand that tells the story of what sets honey produced by bees in the Ben En forests apart and the natural health benefits it offers, while ensuring that a portion of the profit from every bottle purchased by consumers is returned to the forest, helping protect the environment and create sustainable livelihoods for disadvantaged people.

$1 = VND 26,420 - Source: Vietcombank.