Tiny Wasps Are Treasures from Head to Toe, Making Their Debut in Huomachong
Wasps are large, long-bodied and highly venomous, feared by all who see them. Yet in Huomachong Town, Chenxi County, there is a coal boss named Xiang Ziwu who invited his mentor Zhang Jianhua to join him in investing heavily in wasp farming.
Recently, this reporter drove to the vicinity of the former Xiaolongmen Township Middle School in Chenxi County, where a sign reading "Yunnan Huang Family Bee Industry Hunan Branch" hangs at the gate of the compound. Inside, basket-sized honeycomb nests hang from wooden posts, and swarms of wasps fly in and out constantly. Zhang Jianhua said that this year's output is around 15,000 kg of wasps and 6 tons of wasp wine. Achieving such results in such a short time is the fruit of Xiang Ziwu's business transformation.
Xiang Ziwu is from Bakao Village, Huomachong Town, Chenxi County, where coal resources are abundant. After graduating from high school, he started as a miner and accumulated both skills and wealth. Zhang Jianhua is from Xupu County and, after graduating from university, became a technician at the Chenxi County Wuyi Coal Mine. Xiang Ziwu often came to seek his technical advice and has called Zhang Jianhua his mentor for many years. Together they successively partnered to open and contract coal mines.
In the second half of 2014, according to relevant regulations, coal mines with an annual output below 60,000 tons were closed by policy, and there was no doubt that the mine contracted by Xiang Ziwu and Zhang Jianhua would be shut down. The mentor and apprentice began planning their transformation. Xiang Ziwu loved eating wasp pupae. One morning, while dismantling equipment at the mine, he was holding a bowl of rice noodles when a wasp actually flew into the bowl to snatch the meat. This awakened him: wasp pupae are delicious, the market is guaranteed, and the price is high. If he raised wasps, it would surely be a good money-making path.
A few days later, one evening, Xiang Ziwu was watching CCTV's "Science and Technology Garden," which happened to feature a report on Huang Guozhong of Yunnan, who through diligent study had mastered artificial wasp farming techniques and grown rich by raising wasps. A light went on in his mind... After the coal mine closure matters were settled, on July 12 last year, Xiang Ziwu, Zhang Jianhua and others drove to Yunnan for an inspection, met with Huang Guozhong, and expressed their intention to raise wasps in Chenxi. Subsequently, they made three trips to Yunnan to inspect and discuss cooperation. On December 22 last year, the two sides signed an agreement to jointly establish the Hunan branch, engaging in wasp farming, technical training, deep processing of wasp pupae, wasp venom extraction, and wasp wine brewing.
At the beginning of this year, the Yunnan company sent people who brought over 1,000 wasp queens. However, before long, some of them died. Xiang Ziwu and the others did not lose heart; they found ways to catch local wasp queens from the wild for breeding and succeeded. They also figured out that the Yunnan wasps' deaths were caused by the climate and, through technical research, solved this problem.
To help more farmer friends get rich by raising wasps, Xiang Ziwu's company launched a website, and more than 10 people inquire about farming techniques and other matters every day. Villagers from Helongping Village, Changtianwan Township, Chenxi County came to learn the techniques and raised 73 nests of wasps; this year their net income could exceed 100,000 yuan.
"The Party and the government encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, giving us a place to use our talents," Xiang Ziwu said with full confidence. "In 3 years, our wasp colonies can reach 8,500 nests. We will build one deep-processing production line each for wasp pupae, wasp wine and wasp venom, generating an annual revenue of 35 million yuan and helping a thousand farming households get rich by raising wasps."