Beekeeping set Li Zhaoxiang on the road to prosperity
Houcheng Group, Xinjie Village, Taiping Town, Jiangkou County, lies at the foot of Mount Fanjing. The natural ecology is excellent, wildflowers bloom all over the mountains and fields in all four seasons, and bees and butterflies gather in swarms. It has always been a good place for beekeeping.
Li Zhaoxiang, 73 this year, is a veteran. Since 2000, the old man has kept bees to make a living.
According to Shu Jiang, a staff member of the town, because the elderly Li Zhaoxiang suffers from heart disease and is unable to work, and his son Li Guoqing is simple and honest and can only farm at home and do odd jobs nearby, and has not yet married. Taiping Town listed his family as a precisely targeted poverty-alleviation household for 2016, included Li Zhaoxiang as a recipient of medical assistance, and actively applied for him for a quick-yield poverty-alleviation breeding project.
Although Li Zhaoxiang receives a veteran's subsidy from the civil affairs department every year, the hardworking Li Zhaoxiang never waits, relies on others, or asks for things. Since 2000 he has been thinking about keeping bees. He collected bees from the mountains, tended and managed them carefully, and gradually grew from one hive to two, from two to three, and by now has grown to 86 hives. Beehives are everywhere in front of and behind his house and on the surrounding hillsides, and the operation has begun to take shape.
“At first I felt that our place has good mountains and good water, with flowers and grass everywhere, suitable for beekeeping, so I kept thinking about how to make honey, how to get through rainy days and winter. That is how I slowly figured out the methods of beekeeping.” Li Zhaoxiang said.
Today, Li Zhaoxiang has become a well-known local beekeeper. He combines traditional skills with modern beekeeping techniques, and asked young people in the village to buy him some advanced beekeeping equipment online, greatly improving his beekeeping techniques. After the surrounding people saw the benefits that beekeeping brought, many villagers came to the old man to learn beekeeping techniques. Driven by Li Zhaoxiang, many poor households in the village have developed into specialized beekeeping households.
This year Li Zhaoxiang harvested more than 300 jin of honey. Calculated at the local market price of 120 yuan per jin, this can bring in 36,000 yuan, and this income alone has lifted him out of poverty.
“I am a veteran, and I must hold myself to being a person of conscience even more. My honey is never adulterated. Others all sell at 160 yuan per jin, but I insist on selling at only 120 yuan per jin.” Li Zhaoxiang said, “In the future, I want to keep bees together with my son, so that he can increase his income, not trouble the government, and live a good life.”