Mr. Tran Xuan Phong, Director of Phong Tho beeskeeping Cooperatives

Phong revealed that in 2006, he successfully bred the yellow bee of the North and the Italian bee from the South into a new bee species that produces higher quality honey and is adaptive to the cold in the North.

In order to have stable honey quantity all year round, Phong constantly brings his bee colonies to various regions across the country, such as Dak Lak, Lam Dong, Hung Yen and Ha Giang provinces. Beginning with 50 swarms for both collecting honey and breeding, now Phong has developed his bees to nearly 1,500 hybrid honey colonies (even 1,700-2,000 flocks at their peak). He said that it is quite simple to raise bees for honey but there are a lot of difficulties if running beekeeping on a large scale, as beekeepers must have knowledge of the weather and geography.

In order to facilitate local beekeepers to exchange experiences and help each other consume their products, Phong established his Phong Tho beekeeping cooperative with 22 participating members who are local beekeepers in the commune, of whom over 70% are Youth Union members. The number of bee flocks under his cooperative has been raised to nearly 4,000. In addition to their key honey product from forest flowers, the cooperative’s bees also produce honey from wild mint flowers growing on the rocky mountains of Dong Van stone plateau across Dong Van and Meo Vac districts in Ha Giang province.

Honey harvesting season

In 2013, Phong Tho beekeeping cooperative registered a trademark for Phong Tho honey products at the National Office of Intellectual Property and carried out the process to be qualified for food safety at the Tuyen Quang provincial Sub-Department of Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance. The cooperative have signed honey consumption contracts with Dak Lak Bee Company, other supermarkets and safe food stores nationwide, helping consume almost all of the local honey products right after their production. 

The Tuyen Quang’s Phong Tho honey trademark has been favoured by consumers and Phong has been recognised as the "King of bees" in Tuyen Quang for that reason. With his outstanding achievements in production and business operation, he was honoured with the Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister and the Luong Dinh Cua Awards presented by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee in 2014.