To get 1 liter of fly honey, people have to harvest 5-6 hives, which is why this type of honey is very expensive.
Video of fly honey exploitation. (Source: NVCC)
Duy Thanh is the owner of a large durian barn in Dak Lak, but every year around March he goes to the forest to collect tiny wild honey (fly bees) to sell to regular customers. Because it is wild honey and has a small quantity, each liter of fly honey costs from 700,000 – 1.2 million VND/kg.
Mr. Thanh said that bees are only found in nature and cannot be raised at home. In addition, bees and flies are small, their nests are also very small, on average only a few ounces/nest. It is very rare to have nests weighing over 1kg, but they produce very valuable honey, so wherever they are purchased, customers will order them all. there.
The golden fly honeycomb is full of honey. (NVCC photo)
“Among all types of honey, fly honey is the second best, second only to giant bee. So the price is also very expensive, the market sells for about 1 – 2 million VND/liter.”Mr. Thanh said.
“March is the season when bees go to collect honey”, was also the time when Mr. Thanh started going into the forest to look for honey. The period of exploiting fly honey lasts from March to June. When the heavy rainy season comes, the fly honey season ends.
While going into the forest to find honey himself, Mr. Thanh collected it from lumberjacks all over Dak Lak. Every day, Mr. Thanh can collect 20 – 40kg of fly honey.
Bee hives in nature. (Photo: NVCC)
According to Mr. Thanh, the reason why fly honey is delicious is because the season of this type of honey is also the season when many types of wild flowers bloom. The weather is beautiful and the weather conditions are very favorable for bees to make nectar.
The fly honeycomb is only as big as a fist or more, weighing from a few taels to more than 1kg, and Mr. Thanh sells it for 250,000 – 400,000 VND/kg. If you squeeze out honey, it takes 2-3 nests to get one liter. One liter of this honey retails for 800,000 – 1.2 million VND.
Some customers want to buy honey by the liter to make it compact, but most customers buy by each nest because seeing the nest can prove that it is a natural wild bee. Furthermore, their nests can also be soaked in wine.
“Type 1 wasp and fly nests will be intact, not crushed. For orders shipped to Hanoi, Hai Phong and some Northern provinces, I have to give each group a separate plastic bag and then fold it neatly into a foam box. At least, put it in a jar and wrap it in shockproof packaging before delivering it to customers.”Mr. Thanh said.
The beehives have been exploited and are ready to be sent to customers. (Photo: NVCC)
Since knowing about fly honey, every season, Ms. Tran Trang (Dong Da, Hanoi) orders dozens of kilograms of fly honey to use gradually.
“I bought the whole nest, soaked part in wine, and squeezed out the honey to use all year round. About 2kg of honey can be squeezed out about 1 liter of honey. Fly honey is very viscous and thick, so one liter weighs up to 1.4kg.”she shared.
Cong Hieu – Ky Anh
