INDUSTRIES NECESSARY FOR APICULTURE

Hardware/tinware: not evaluated Carpentry: a good manufacturing standard, workshops throughout the country, for usual prices Wax manufacturers : See chapter on wax

Packaging:
Re-cycled metal drums (origin - Australia or New Zealand butter imports) for 300 kg of honey ($20 to $24 ). As for plastic packaging for the retail outlet, there are numerous new small businesses and at least two of them are manufacturing Polyethylene pots. However, the situation is constantly changing, especially in regards to small and medium sized businesses, so the possibilities are rapidly widening. Master molds can be purchased in Taiwan for around $3500 with a 2-month delay.

Vinapi has had a 330 cl. glass jar made, by an enterprise in Haiphong, at a cost of $0.16 ($0.25 with lid and label), a perfect imitation of a Chinese jar, but unfortunately, not airtight. Price of the mold : $800.

Mechanical Workshops:
not evaluated

Laboratories of Veterinary supplies:
not evaluated

INDUSTRIES DEPENDENT ON APICULTURE

Processed products:
Drinks and medicinal preparations (example : calcium coated pollen), see relevant chapter

Cosmetics :see relevant chapter

Processing and Packaging:

Apart from the Apiprodex processing and packaging lines which turn out products on a national scale, there are no large concerns. The only other processing concerns deal manually with a small volume. Practically none of the honey for domestic consumption, i.e. 7 g honey / per person, goes through the same type of processing and packaging chain as that in Western countries. Trade is local and small plastic jerricans are often used.

MARKETS

Bringing in the harvest from Apis dorsata in Minh Hai

Honey:

In the following graph, prices have been rounded to the kilo as the net content of containers varies widely. For honey sold in litres, the density 1 litre = 1.4 kg has been applied. Apiprodex prices paid to beekeepers depend on four criteria (in order of importance):

• water content, i.e. : 20% = $0.70, 21% = $0.68, etc.
• residue : wood, ash, bees (but not residues from medicinal treatments, chemical herbicides nor industrial residues as no laboratories undertake these analyses).
• colour
• taste 

Prices recorded ($US / kg) - 1995
Source : Gilles Ratia

In a luxury supermarket in Ho Chi Minh-City, we observed imported honey (from Australia via packaging in Singapore) at prices from $5 to $10.18 / kg placed on the shelves for jam and sweet produce (in Hong Kong the same products sell on average for $9.5 / kg). The difference in price is principally due to packaging (plastic or glass jars) but all this remains highly marginal in character.As a basis for comparison:

• 1 kg white sugar (table): $0.68 in the south, $0.60 in the north
• 1 kg jam: $3.2 to $7.4

Honey is especially sought after in Vietnam for its beneficial effects on the digestive system (eases stomach pains and diarrhea) and in the E.N.T. sphere. Preparations made with saffron and garlic are used to treat chest problems. Others, incorporating human placenta steeped in forest honey for three months, are renowned for their stimulating action. The production of honey in the comb is so low as to remain anecdotal. And quality control presents a problem once the honey crystallizes in the comb.

Apiprodex sells a minimum of 100 tons per year on the domestic market (mainly to retailers). Its own shops sell approximately 2.3 tons per year. All the rest of the honey collected is exported.

Of the several export companies in Vietnam, the biggest are the following: Apiprodex (650 tons in 1995), Ho Chi Minh-City Honey Bee Company (779 tons in 1995) and Dong Nai Honey Bee Company (200 tons in 1995).

Among French importers we noted : Lustrel, Compagnie Gatinaise des Miel and Besacier. A German organisation with a branch in Paris: Wolf Le Comptoir des Miels used to import. The demand is greater than the supply; in 1995, Vinapi could have sold 3000 tons of honey for export.

Potential importing countries : New Zealand, Italy, Taiwan and Japan.

The M.A.F.I. refuses to grant permits for the importation of honey. Nevertheless, the illegal importation of honey is carried out from Australia, New Zealand, and, in small amounts, Thailand.

Transactions handled by Apiprodex (in $US fixed)
Source : survey Gilles Ratia

Wholesale prices vary depending on the time of year : at harvest time (rock bottom prices) or at the end of the season (top prices)

Average shipping costs, from the port of Haiphong, for a container of 66 drums each with a net weight of 300 kg (i.e. over 20 tons) :

• to a port in Taiwan: $850 to $1000
• to a port in Japan: $1100
• to a port in Europe: $1600

From the port in Ho Chi Minh-City, prices are 20% lower. Additional costs per shipment: $10 for a registration certificate and $30 for a health certificate. The cost of land transport is roughly $0.09 per kg (the truck does not belong to Vinapi).

On the local market, for the whole of Vietnam, the 500 tons of honey consumed only gives an average of 7g / inhabitant / year. Your attention, however, is drawn to the fact that informal production for family consumption has not been included, so given that the rural population exceeds 70% of the country's total population, the real picture is certainly well over the above figure.

Pollen:

Pollen is especially sought after in Vietnam due to its beneficial effects on inflammation of the colon, digestive problems in general, high blood-pressure, circulatory system, diabetes, and insomnia. Apiprodex buys 2 to 3 tons of pollen from beekeepers for prices from $2 to $4 per kg. It is then exported to Taiwan and Indonesia (prices not given). A small percentage is sold on the local market in plastic bags at an average price of $3 to $5 per kg (minimum : $1.8, maximum : $5.45).

Royal jelly:

Royal jelly is especially sought after in Vietnam for its beneficial effect on arterial tension, and post-operative healing. It is also believed to act as an aphrodisiac. Vietnamese royal jelly wholesales between $50 and $70 the kilo and retails at $100 a kg (sometimes up to $200) in 20 g to 100 g pots.

Israel has shown interest in importing royal jelly but the problems inherent in the air-freight system need to be overcome.

Venom:

Venom is especially sought after in Vietnam for its beneficial effects in the treatment against rheumatism. Experiments are underway at he B.R.D.C. to produce an improved machine for harvesting venom inside the hive.

Bees Wax:

For foundation wax (strictly for beekeepers' use), see relevant chapter.

VIETNAMESE PARTNERS

For the preliminary stage, Vinapi appears to be the only satisfactory Vietnamese partner. Nevertheless, within a policy of global management of the honey network, as laid down by the framework of this joint-venture project, it is essential in the middle term to work with the other major sectors of the beekeeping industry in Vietnam, such as :

• Ho Chi Minh-City Honey Bee Company
• Dong Nai Honey Bee Company
• Dac Lac Honey Bee Company

The brief nature of the visit and the protocol involved did not allow time to fully evaluate their structures. However, we do know the strength of their output in sheer volume of honey (see relevant chapter).

Regarding another area for possible partnerships: in the field of research, out of the 61 institutes which exist at the present moment, 10 were judged of interest as future partners (the first 2 were visited) :

• Research Institute of vegetables and fruit (Dia Chi - Gia Lam - Hanoi)
• Forest Science Institute of Vietnam (To Liem - Hanoi)
• Center of Analytical Services and Experimentation (2 Nguyen Van Thu Street - HCM-City)
• Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (Nghia Do - Tu Liem - Hanoi)
• National Institute of Nutrition (48 Tang Bat Ho Street - Hanoi)
• Food Crops Research Institute (Lien Hong - Tu Loc - Hoi Hung)
• Institute of Veterinary Medicine (62 Truong Chinh Street - Phuong Mai - Dong Da - Hanoi)
• Food Industries Research Institute (Km 8, Nguyen Trai Road - Dong Da - Hanoi)
• Institute of Agricultural Science of South Vietnam (121 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street - 1^st District - HCM City)
• Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute (Thanh Tri - Hanoi)

After a brief preliminary estimate, it seems that very few links have been established between the beekeeping world and the above institutes. By insisting on the importance of broader exchanges of information, the future joint venture should help to crystallize the energy from all these projects towards the beekeeping network, and the hospital and apitherapy sectors should not be overlooked as they certainly have a place in the industry.

During my visit, I discussed the possibility with Mr Tuan Tran Thuong, Vice Rector of the University of Can Tho (7000 students, 600 lecturers) and Mr Tran The Tuc, Director of the Institute of Vegetables and Fruit (Dia Chi - Gia Lam - Hanoi) of opening relations with 1.N.R.A. in Montfavet (Vaucluse, France) with a view to setting up a research partnership. I also established a first contact between Mr Doan Bong, Head of the Science Planning Division at the Institute of Forestry Sciences and Mme Nguyen Thi Hang, Program Officer, and Mr Pham Xuan Dung, Vice director of the B.R.D.C. concerning the choice of certain species of trees for reafforestation. Every year 200,000 ha of forest is cut down and reafforestation is only carried out on 100,000 ha / year. In 1945, 58% of the territory was covered by forest compared with 28% at present. The species used for reafforestation are mainly made up of twenty or so types of acacia (including Acacia auriculiformis and Acacia mangium), of melaleucas in the mangrove regions in the south-west, and finally of different varieties of eucalyptus (E. camaldulensis, E. globulus, E. escerta, etc...). Most of these species have a heavy nectar flow.

There are also openings for a partnership in the production of by-products such as cosmetics with, for example, the State controlled Nhu Ngoc Cosmetics Enterprise in the 10th district in Ho Chi Minh-City.

OBJECTIVES AND ORIENTATION OF WORK

Argumentation for a beekeeping project:

• irreversible opening up of the economy (for at least the following decade) favorable for foreign investment
• Vietnam's recent entry into A.S.E.A.N. (28 July 1995) followed by its participation in A.F.T.A. (free exchange zone within A.S.E.A.N.)
• the government's desire to ensure the country is self-sufficient in foodstuffs, the injection of foreign currency from excess production, the stabilization of rural populations (70% of Vietnamese) by complementary activities of both a financially rewarding and environmental nature, and there is no doubt that beekeeping fits perfectly within this framework.
• only one third of the provinces (out of a total of 53) has as yet been influenced by the state's efforts to popularize and increase beekeeping (opening up of roads) which means there is still an enormous potential waiting to be tapped
• a large and ingenious workforce, easy to train and low cost
• numerous spacious buildings contributed by Vinapi. Low-cost renovations
• training personnel and researchers posses an excellent level of training
• element of cohesion and emulation between all professionals. Overall management of the beekeeping profession
• news bulletin to inform members and involved partners (research)
• an exponential augmentation for the coming years, the bees foraging areas cover : rubber trees, coffee, and fruit trees, especially longan and rambutan.
• policy of reafforestation (100,000 ha/year) especially with eucalyptus and acacias - trees of interest to bees
• differentiation of honey from exotic flowers replies to an international demand
• a plan for genetic selection on a large scale with follow up health checks (all computerized)
• possible to show that productivity can be increased with little outlay (selected queens)
• non-aggressive quality of bees makes it easier to find and train new families as beekeepers
• multiplication of colonies is easy, economical and quick (x3 or x4 /year) which offers perceptible advantages (new crops, advantageous prices, etc ...)
• annual out of season arrivals of honey
• few pesticides used in agriculture (natural methods employed) and bio-technological methods used against bee diseases and parasites, hence the possibility to produce honey under an "organic honey" label.
• no Vietnamese honey on the domestic market is as yet packaged to meet international standards. Mainly presented in bottles with little attraction
• low cost of audio-visual media
• for the domestic market - an instinct for imitation, an attraction for novelties, especially if there is the added weight of a foreign presence, and even better French, greatly facilitates the opening of new outlets. A perfect example is Vittel's success with "La Vie" mineral water.
• the attraction of being paid better prices for private beekeepers
• a complete catalogue of beekeeping supplies, non-existent at present, and the possibility of reaching producers
• idem due to the central pools, once given a financial boost, for sales of queens and foundation wax
• increase in profits for family beekeepers
• possible diversification with honey based beers or medicinal liqueurs based on several hive products (example : royal jelly + ginseng). Flexibility of legislation concerning pharmacopoeia
• ports for exportation situated close to the three planned centres for handling and packaging honey
• processing could be provided for other products during slack periods (syrups, jams, creams, etc ...)
• to date, no excess production or stockage
• possibility to stock for longer periods (due to dehumidification techniques) and thus greater bargaining power against foreign importers.
• labeling of exotic honey
• standardization of methods used by analysis laboratories resulting in improved quality control (supervision plan)
• as well as the exportation of finished products, possibility to export lightweight beekeeping equipment made in the country, and know-how to other Asian countries.
• and finally, as a consequence of this, the environmental side of the business (pollination of crops but also uncultivated flora), a nutritional side (beekeeping products with a high energy value - honey, and with a high protein content - pollen) and a health side (apitherapy).

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