Beekeeping with stingless bees in Vietnam

Nguyen Huu Truc and Nguyen Quang Tan, Jichi Stingless Bee Farm (Trai Ong Du Jichi), City of Phan Rang - Thap Cham, Phan Rang Province, Vietnam. www.OngDuJichi.com

Stingless bees are less well known than honey bees in Vietnam, yet they have an important role in pollination and honey production, and in recent years people have been more interested in these bees.

In nature, stingless bees build their nests in cavities such as tree hollows, rocks, or house walls. At our Jichi Stingless Bee Farm, we produce stingless beehives made of wood, decorated and painted in different colours. The hives are usually multiple boxes and the volume of each box is one litre because in our experience, this kind of hive is convenient for taking care of bees, collecting honey and multiplying the colonies.

At our farm we produce queen bees and multiply the stingless bee colonies. We sell hives, honey, and stingless bee colonies, and in addition, we provide pollination services and care of colonies after they have been sold.

We place several hives on farmland or in gardens for pollination and/or honey production. In a café, shop, or the backyard of a house we place one or two colonies for decoration, hobby or interest.

A colony from which honey is about to be harvested.

Stingless bees have received more interest and attention from the public in our area because they have advantages:

The bees are stingless therefore people are not afraid of them!

No feeding of stingless bee colonies is necessary.

The colonies rarely abscond. Swarm colonies usually do not go far from the mother colony.

Honey from stingless bees is considered superior and the price of stingless bee honey is higher than honey bee honey.

Stingless bees are tiny and lovely.

Stingless bees are not attracted by the light from bulbs at night.

Above and below: all boxes are made by us from wood and painted in different colours.

Above and below: we place several hives on farmland or in gardens for pollination and/or honey production. In a café, shop, or the backyard of a house we place one or two colonies for decoration, hobby or interest.

The demand for honey and colonies of stingless bees in Vietnam is now growing. Currently, the price of honey is VND2,000,000 (US$80; €77) per litre and that of a double box bee colony is VND3,000,000 (US$120; €116). On average, a colony can provide one litre of honey per year and a colony can be multiplied into two colonies in one or two years.

With this article and pictures, we are happy to share the information of our stingless beekeeping and would like to hear about the knowledge and experience of colleagues in other parts of the world.

All images © Nguyen Quang Tan; except images 11–13 © Nguyen Huu Truc.

6-9: the hives are kept inside a bee house with the entrance on the outside. The entrances are painted in different colours and have a plastic tube attached to them.

10: two boxes being separated.

11: stingless bee brood.

12: honey and pollen.

13: not afraid of getting stung because the bees are stingless.

14: Nguyen Quang Tan and Nguyen Huu Truc.