The Sweet Taste of Thanh Thuy Forest Honey

Amid the forested landscape of Thanh Thuy, households in Village 1 (formerly Area 1 and Area 2), Tu Vu Commune, have taken advantage of abundant natural pollen to develop honeybee colonies. Beekeeping has grown from this natural advantage, producing pure forest honey with a golden color, a delicate sweetness and a distinctive aroma.

Thanh Thuy honey, a three-star OCOP-certified product of Tu Vu Commune, is showcased at the 2026 Hung Kings Temple Festival and the 2026 Land of the Ancestors Culture and Tourism Week.

Honeybee farmers in Tu Vu have accumulated at least 10 years of experience, with the most experienced having worked in the trade for up to 40 years. According to beekeeper Khuat Dinh Quan, successful beekeeping requires bee colonies with a clear origin, as well as hives and frames that meet standard size requirements. Apiaries should be located close to sources of nectar and pollen so that bees can easily find food. Hive locations should also be flat and dry, while careful colony management is essential to ensure sufficient honey and pollen reserves.

Among the most experienced beekeepers in the locality, Le Dinh Thanh is well known for operating as many as 600 hives. Thanh said that honeybee farming is not particularly difficult but requires meticulous attention. The key lies in selecting locations near abundant flower sources, periodically replacing queen bees to maintain colony strength, proactively moving colonies according to flowering seasons, and maintaining strict hygiene during honey harvesting.

“Honeybees are highly organized insects. Understanding this behavior means beekeepers must carefully observe their colonies, monitor diseases, and know how to multiply and divide colonies, breed bees and raise new queens. To keep colonies healthy and produce high-quality honey, beekeepers need to understand their behavior and natural cycles, and know when flowers are in full bloom so that colonies can be moved to areas with abundant nectar. Unpredictable sunny and rainy weather is also an important factor that beekeepers need to take into account,” Le Dinh Thanh said.

With an average yield of eight liters of honey per hive, Thanh harvests nearly 5,000 liters of honey each year. In recent years, market prices have remained stable at around VND150,000–200,000 per liter. After deducting expenses, Thanh earns more than VND400 million in annual profit from beekeeping.

Members of the Thanh Thuy Beekeeping Cooperative in Tu Vu Commune select suitable locations for their hives, enabling bees to collect abundant natural pollen and produce a plentiful supply of high-quality honey.

With the goal of building a honey brand for their homeland while developing beekeeping in a professional and modern direction, local beekeepers in Tu Vu decided to establish a cooperative to reorganize production, jointly seek more stable markets for their products and protect their legitimate interests. In March 2020, the Thanh Thuy Beekeeping Cooperative was established with 10 members, with Le Dinh Thanh serving as Director.

According to statistics, cooperative members operate around 2,500 honeybee hives, producing approximately 20,000 liters of commercial honey annually. In addition to honey production, most member households also invest in crop cultivation and raising specialty animals such as bamboo rats and porcupines, creating additional jobs and increasing household incomes. The beekeeping model alone provides employment for more than 50 workers, with an average income of around VND10–12 million per person per month.

In 2022, to improve honey quality, the cooperative invested nearly VND200 million in a honey dehumidification machine to remove excess water from raw honey. This has helped make the honey purer and extend its shelf life, while preventing discoloration and deterioration. During the same period, through efforts to standardize production processes, apply quality standards, invest in technology and build its brand, the cooperative’s forest honey products were certified by the provincial People’s Committee as three-star OCOP products.

Notably, at the end of 2025, the “Thanh Thuy Forest Honey” product of the Thanh Thuy Beekeeping Cooperative was recertified as a three-star OCOP product. The recertification not only helps maintain the brand’s legal status and affirm the product’s reputation and quality, but also provides additional motivation for beekeepers to continue increasing the product’s value in the market.

“Among the many honey products on sale, I chose Thanh Thuy forest honey because it has a clear origin, professional packaging, attractive presentation and a reasonable price. Most importantly, after tasting it, I could feel its naturally delicate sweetness, which shows that it is a high-quality honey product,” said Le Thanh Huong, a visitor who purchased the product at the 2026 Hung Kings Temple Festival and the 2026 Land of the Ancestors Culture and Tourism Week.

Le Trong Duc, Vice Chairman of the Tu Vu Commune People’s Committee, affirmed that in recent years, local Party committees and authorities have consistently paid attention to supporting and encouraging residents to develop beekeeping through the cooperative model. This is considered an appropriate direction for making use of the area’s forest and hill advantages, creating sustainable livelihoods, increasing incomes and contributing to the development of a distinctive local agricultural brand. Thanh Thuy forest honey is also one of the five key and representative products of the commune under the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) Program.

Bui Minh