The "Native Bee King" Helps Dozens of Disabled Households Get Rich Through Beekeeping

Wu Jiqian and the native bees he keeps

This business startup base has become a platform for dozens of disabled people to connect

Wu Jiqian sharing his beekeeping experience

Wu Jiqian of Hebin Community brings wealth to dozens of disabled people through beekeeping——

In Hebin Community, Guiyang City, there is a man in his 40s with a disability named Wu Jiqian, known as the "Native Bee King." In 1998, he became disabled after falling and injuring himself while working, but he did not let this defeat him. Instead, with the help of the Yunyan District Disabled Persons' Federation, he joined the breeding industry together with disabled friends.

Today, under the Tangbaguan overpass, they not only keep 150 boxes of native honeybees, but also free-range some chickens and geese, gradually finding their way onto the path of escaping poverty and becoming prosperous. The entrepreneurial story of Wu Jiqian, a disabled man, has become a much-told tale passed around by his neighbors, and more disabled people have joined this beekeeping team, achieving prosperity through self-reliance.

Disabled by an AccidentDeciding to Start a Business

On the morning of September 4, the reporter came to Wu Jiqian's apiary under the Tangbaguan overpass. The apiary had already taken shape, covering three to four hundred square meters, with more than ten rooms in total, and 150 beehives neatly placed along the edge of a retaining wall at one side of the apiary.

Wu Jiqian, 1.6 m tall, has a shaved head and wears cloth shoes, looking like an ordinary, down-to-earth older man. Wu Jiqian said his hometown is in Chishui, Zunyi. His family was poor since childhood, and at the age of 13, he left home alone to work in Guiyang. Because he had little education, Wu Jiqian could only do dirty and heavy work. He worked as a bricklayer on construction sites, carried a back basket on the streets, and also did renovation work following a contractor.

In 1998, while working at a construction site, he fell from a wall and fractured his waist and legs, becoming disabled from then on and no longer able to do heavy work. After becoming disabled, Wu Jiqian bought a four-wheeled vehicle specially for disabled people and made a living by driving it. But later, the government no longer allowed the driving of disabled vehicles, and with the help of the Yunyan District Disabled Persons' Federation, he decided to start a business. After thinking it over, he remembered that his ancestors had experience in beekeeping, so he decided to become a beekeeper.

At the beginning of his business, Wu Jiqian did not have much money. So he came up with an old method from his hometown: searching for wild bees in the mountains. Hard work pays off. In the first half month or so after starting his business in 2012, he not only built the site and put up simple houses, but also found 4 colonies of native bees in the mountains.

Because he had some experience, the 4 colonies of native bees multiplied quickly, but his old techniques soon hit a bottleneck. The problem of splitting bee colonies could not be solved, and as a result many bees flew away. After encountering difficulties, he sought teachers everywhere to learn about beekeeping.

Wu Jiqian, who had only an elementary school education, gradually came to understand the secrets of beekeeping through continuous learning. The bees in a hive are divided into the queen bee, drones, and worker bees. The queen bee is the only female bee in the colony that can lay eggs normally; the only function of drones is to mate with the queen and reproduce; and worker bees are only responsible for producing honey. Each hive allows only one queen bee. Once a second queen bee appears, if the colony is not split in time, this queen bee will take some of the bees and flee the hive.

After learning the techniques, the apiary developed rapidly. In less than a year it grew to more than 40 boxes, and by the second year it already had more than 100 boxes, with annual income reaching nearly 100,000 yuan. In the past two years, Wu Jiqian has not only kept bees, but also raised silkie chickens,raised geese, and his income has grown higher and higher……

In the past three years, as the apiary has continued to develop, it has attracted more than 30 disabled friends from Nanming District, Yunyan District, Wudang District, Qingzhen City and other places to come and learn from him. Wu Jiqian selflessly helps everyone, not only teaching techniques, but also giving away bees and beehives, leading everyone to prosperity.

Wu Jiqian believes that beekeeping does not require a large investment and is not heavy work, making it very suitable for disabled people. Over these years, he has held 8 sessions of bee breeding classes, coaching more than 60 disabled friends in learning beekeeping, and giving them bees and beehives free of charge.

Up to now, more than 30 disabled households have received bees and begun beekeeping to prosper.

Now, Wu Jiqian not only keeps bees, but has also begun raising Chishui silkie chickens and native geese, and has opened a long-term training class at the apiary, where everyone can not only learn but also have meals. Wu Jiqian hopes to explore a path to prosperity suitable for disabled friends to start businesses, and to lead more disabled friends out of poverty and toward prosperity.