Suki and I took a fascinating trip to Vietnam last October as part of a beekeeping development project funded by the Canadian government. Headed by professor Gard Otis of Guelph University in Ontario, this was the last year of a seven year effort. One goal of the project was to help pull

households out of poverty by teaching them how keep a few hives of bees, mostly the Asian honeybee
Apis cerana. The average per
capita income in Vietnam is around $1,000. Extra income from the bees can make a huge difference in the standard of living of a rural family. Vietnam is a very favorable environment for bees, so the potential for helping the poor is enormous. The native
Apis cerana bees are

wonderfully adapted to this environment. Being the natural host of
Varroa mites, they are naturally resistant to them. The mites only invade drone brood, so little damage is done to the colony, and mite populations are kept in check.
Beekeeping in Vietnam is divided between the small beekeepers keeping a few hives of
Apis cerana, and commercial beekeepers who keep large numbers of imported European honeybees,
Apis mellifera. European bees are more productive than the native
Apis cerana but require much more care and the necessity to move the bees to better forage several times a year, just as in the United States. The commercial beekeepers in Vietnam are highly skilled. Most of these beekeepers know how to raise their own queens.
Our role in this project was to participate in three workshops on bee breeding, held in

various parts of the country. We focused on sharing how to select bees for hygienic behavior, brood viability, and temperament. Gentle temperament was the norm for the European bees in Vietnam, no aggressive bees were ever seen while we were there.
One handy tip we learned was that when the beekeepers needed just a little smoke

to inspect the bees, a stick of incense worked just fine. It lights in seconds and smells so much better than a smoker.
I was in the conference you gave at UoG last year, with the Team Tech Transfer and Paul Kelly, it was great!
ReplyDeleteCongrats
By the way, I will try the tip of the inciense, I like it!
ReplyDeleteiam also vietnamese beekeeper , nice to see you , sir
ReplyDeleteHi there, i would loke to get in contact with you. Is that possible?
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ReplyDeletealso vietnamese beekeeper
ReplyDeleteHallo
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you, Tom and Suki are still involved in beekeeping? I got really inspired by your work and like to get in contact with you
Erwin