Follow the honey
Chinese farmers who travel the country in search of nectar for their bees produce most of the world's honey. Cai Rupeng reports
Like many people from "Bee Town" in Lanxi, East China's Zhejiang province, Jiang Lizun is a bee farmer, who treks around the country searching for nectar. The 57 year old, who has been an apiarist since he was 17, follows the seasons while transporting more than 100 hives.
He is usually accompanied by his wife and though much of their time is spent among blossoms and flowers this honeyed life has a bitter taste.
They are rarely able to return home for Spring Festival and a gypsy kind of existence has its hardships.
In late November, every year, they pack up their hives, tents and the bare essentials to move south for the bee breeding season, from early spring until September.
Their journey of thousands of kilometers passes through dozens of provinces and cities, and is occasionally fraught with danger.
Last year, for instance, in Minxian county, Gansu province, the couple was caught up in a flood that endangered their lives and swept their tent and 70 hives down a hillside. Three Minxian residents were killed and eight were injured.
China is the world's top honey producer and provides 40 percent of the honey and 90 percent of the royal jelly. The country has more than 200,000 beekeepers, like the Jiangs.
In Lanxi, it has been a tradition for residents to keep bees. Even more have become apiarists since the 1990s, when the industry was commercialized.
By following the seasons, bee farmers have a constant supply of nectar sources, from the rapeseed fields of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, to the northwest cotton fields and orange trees in the south.
Where there are flowers, there are beekeepers.
Jiang's first stop in November is Guangning county, a mountainous area in north Guangdong province, where he stays for two months.
The warm weather here produces a rich pollen from a fist-sized red flower that results in a bee-breeding season that is at least two months earlier than in Lanxi.
Jiang sets up over 100 circle-shaped hives on the hillsides, where his bees double in numbers after feeding on the flowers and over 50 kg bags of white sugar.
In late February, when the cole flowers are blooming in the south, the couple move on to Lixian, Hunan province, to farm honey. If the weather is good, they can gather 150-200 kg every day.
This is time-consuming and difficult work, even though modern-day hives are more efficient than traditional honeycombs. They pick up the honeycomb from the hive, disperse the bees and then hand it over to their hired helper, who uses a honey extractor to harvest the precious commodity.
Although armed with incense, hats and masks they are still stung every day, as the bees are naturally protective of their hive.
Since bees only forage when their comb is empty they are constantly extracting the honey so the worker bees are always busy.
Royal jelly, the most valuable bee product, can only be collected manually from the numerous man-made queen cells.
When the cole flowers have finished blooming, Jiang and his wife travel to Dengzhou, Henan province, so they can keep farming honey.
"It's like honey is produced from our sweat," Jiang says. "The higher the temperature, the more honey flows."
Weather, of course, is a big factor in honey production and every day Jiang pays attention to the forecast. On a wet and windy day, farming is impossible.
There are other problems, man-made, that affect production, such as competing for resources and it is not uncommon for bee farmers to fight over pasture for their bees.
Also, some villages levy fees, called "transit guarantees" or "resource protection", which further erode profits.
"You pay your way to honey," Jiang says, adding he also has to give gifts, such as cigarettes and bee products, to avoid trouble from villagers.
Climate change and pollution are two other factors that have caused a deterioration in the quality and quantity of his honey.
Locust trees in Lixian county, Gansu province, for example, used to provide huge amounts of tasty and mellow acacia honey, which Jiang likes best among all the different kinds of honey. But these are becoming less plentiful.
He used to manage eight rounds of honey gathering there in previous years, but last year managed just three because of the scarcity of flowers.
Although much of their lives are spent on the road and they face many difficulties, Jiang and his wife say they will continue as bee farmers.
Each beehive can produce 500-800 yuan ($73-$117) profit a year and this is better than for most other farmers based in Lanxi.
"It's so much better than having a traditional farm," Jiang says.