A total of 86 beekeepers have produced honey on a manageable scale by placing around 13,000 beehives near local sesame and plum farms in Magway Region.
Pollination by bees has benefited local farmers, too. While sesame and plum growers have seen high yields, beekeepers from the region have produced 250 tons of honey in 2018, and exported 200 tons of honey.
“Last year, we exported 200 tons of honey from Magway. This year, we have already exported one container of honey to the US. Last year, at least 2,500 to 3,000 tons of honey were exported from across the country. Farms reported high yields on account of pollination by bees. Most villages have agreed to rear bees alongside farming,” said U Soe Naing, the head of the Magway Apiculture Division.
Beekeepers move their beehives, depending on the blossoming period of crops. The beekeepers produced honey in the irrigated sesame farms of Minbu, Pwintbyu, and Salin townships on the western side of the Ayeyawady river in April and May, while monsoon sesame farming was taken up in Magway township in June and July. Corn farming was undertaken in Myothit and Taungdwingyi townships in August, whereas plum farming was done in Kani, Sagaing Region, from September to November, and at Moenyo and Minhla in Bago Region in the summer. “In other countries, sunflower farmers have to hire beekeepers on their farms to breed bees. In Myanmar, some local farmers are aware of the advantages of breeding bees alongside farming. Some watermelon farmers from Daik-U in Bago Region hire beekeepers. We have to explain to local farmers that bees can fly one to two miles,” said U Thein Zaw, the chairman of the Magway Region Beekeeping Association.
While the Magway Region depot purchases a viss of honey for K2,500 for export, beekeepers sell a liter of honey for K4,000 in the market. Honey producers tour sesame, plum, lychee, and watermelon farms across the country to produce honey. (One viss equals 3.6 pounds.) Plum honey production accounts for 60 per cent of the total production across the country.—Zayyatu (Magway)
(Translated by Hay Mar)
