Nanjiang Honey

Nanjiang Honey

　　Nanjiang Honey

　　The history of beekeeping among farmers in Nanjiang dates back to the early Yuan Dynasty. As early as that time, local households used clay, tree branches, bamboo strips, or logs to make containers for raising bees. These containers were hung from trees, placed under eaves, or set on the ground to attract swarming bee colonies, allowing for small-scale, scattered, and natural beekeeping under their own rooftops. Nanjiang County boasts lush vegetation and extensive forest coverage, with a rich diversity of plant species on the mountains. Among them, Guangwu Mountain, known as a “summer resort” in China, produces honey of the highest quality, which is widely renowned. This is how Nanjiang Honey got its name. Although Nanjiang Honey has gained a reputation, beekeeping remained scattered and not scaled up. After the liberation, thanks to the attention and support of successive Nanjiang County Party Committees and county governments, the production of Nanjiang Honey saw rapid development. In the early 1960s, Nanjiang County kept over 4,000 bee colonies, producing more than 220 tons of honey annually, including around 100 tons of honey produced per year in the county. Between 1976 and 1982, the beekeeping industry in Nanjiang County expanded to between 13,800 and 18,800 colonies, yielding 180 to 300 tons of honey per year, with the highest production year—1982—reaching 402 tons. In 1976, Nanjiang County was designated by Sichuan Province as a base county for Nanjiang Honey. However, after the 1980s, due to declining honey prices, beekeeping in Nanjiang decreased. After 1988, the number of bee colonies dropped to 6,523, producing 85 tons of honey. In 1990, there were 300 beekeeping households in Nanjiang County, with 14,591 colonies, producing 341 tons of honey annually; by 1998, this had grown to 555 households, 24,250 colonies, and an annual production of 471 tons. During this period, in order to make full use of resources and accelerate the development of the Nanjiang Honey industry, gradually moving towards industrialized production, the Nanjiang Association for Science and Technology, with strong support and assistance from provincial and municipal science associations and the Provincial Institute of Entomology, began organizing free centralized beekeeping technology training sessions for beekeepers in towns such as Guangwushan Town, Shangliang Town, and Guimin Town in Nanjiang starting from the late 1990s. After the implementation of beekeeping training, in 1999, the number of beekeeping households grew to 713, with 40,123 colonies, producing 872 tons of honey; in 2000, there were 735 households, 40,798 colonies, producing 896 tons of honey; in 2001, 866 households, 41,675 colonies, producing 1,205 tons of honey; and in 2000, 1,052 households, 43,345 colonies, producing 1,421 tons of honey. Compared to 1998, before the training was implemented, the number of beekeeping households increased by 497, the number of colonies by 19,095, and the annual production by 950 tons. By 2005, Nanjiang County had 1,632 beekeeping households, 111,390 colonies, and produced 2,750 tons of honey annually.