Professional Beekeeper: The Sweet Business of Chinese-Style Gypsies

On April 12, 2016, in Rizhao City, Shandong Province, at Liujia Nanshan Village, Songbai Town, Wulian County, Liu Jiashan was standing at the entrance of the cooperative, answering a phone call from a customer.

Liu Jiashan is inspecting dead bees outside the hive. He says this was caused by bees "fighting" each other over nectar.

Liu Jiashan is inspecting the growth and reproduction of the bees inside the hive.

Liu Jiashan is inspecting the blooming status of cherry blossoms. With more than 30 years of beekeeping experience, he knows the nectar-collecting periods of all kinds of flowers like the back of his hand.

Liu Jiashan (left) and a worker are filling honey into jars.

Liu Jiashan is inspecting the growth and reproduction of the bees inside the hive.

On April 12, 2016, in Rizhao City, Shandong Province, Liu Jiashan, a man with a 37-year beekeeping career, is one of the millions of Chinese beekeepers creating a "sweet" business.

In Liujia Nanshan Village, Songbai Town, Wulian County, Rizhao City, Shandong Province, when people mention Liu Jiashan, his name is as well known locally as this mountain village famous far and wide for its cherry blossoms.

Learning from three masters to achieve a "sweet" business. Liu Jiashan, now 51 years old, began learning beekeeping techniques in his teens. In the 1970s, because the area had many cherry blossoms and was located deep in the mountains with abundant floral sources, the government began encouraging farmers to raise bees to become prosperous. Under the guidance of his first teacher, he basically mastered the technique in one year. In 1980, in order to start a "sweet" business, he took more than ten beehives, boarded a train, and traveled far to Qujiang and Yingde County in Guangdong and other places to begin a nomadic life. At that time, because his technique was not mature, he collected little honey, the quality was poor, and he could hardly make money; sometimes even eating was a problem. A year later, he met an experienced old beekeeping master from Shanghai, and he became his apprentice, studying for four years. In 1984, as his technique gradually matured and his horizons broadened, he felt that producing only honey made the product relatively limited and the profit margin thin. So he then apprenticed himself to an old master in Zhejiang to learn royal jelly production technology. Two years later, because he endured hardship, loved learning, and was willing to study deeply, he quickly mastered all beekeeping techniques. Starting in 1986, he led beekeepers from all over the country and began contracting train cars, going south to Yunnan, Sichuan, and Henan, and north to the Northeast and Beijing, traveling across more than half of China.

With the prosperity of rural tourism in his hometown, Liu Jiashan's home, Liujia Nanshan Village, located deep in the mountains, attracted many tourists from inside and outside the province. After seeing this business opportunity, starting in 2012 he fixed his apiary at the entrance of their village. At that time, there were not many beekeepers in the entire county, while his hometown had many kinds of flowers such as cherry blossoms, peach blossoms, lavender, and locust tree flowers, providing abundant resources for beekeeping. So he also established the Fengsheng Beekeeping Professional Cooperative, teaching beekeeping techniques for free. After several years of development, it grew from the initial dozen or so households to the current 104 households with more than 20,000 hives, driving employment for more than 400 people. His cooperative also attracted beekeeping households from Weifang, Linyi, Jiangsu, and other places to join, with annual sales revenue reaching more than 12 million yuan.