Professional beekeepers: Chinese gypsies creating sweet careers

Liu Jiashan is standing at the door of a cooperative in Liujia Nanshan Village, Songbai Town, Wulian County, Rizhao City, Shandong Province on April 12, 2016, answering phone calls from customers.

Liu Jiashan is looking at the dead bees outside the hive. He said it was caused by bees fighting with each other for honey.

Liu Jiashan is checking the growth and reproduction of bees in the hive.

Liu Jiashan is checking the flowering period of cherries. With more than 30 years of experience in beekeeping, he knows the honey gathering period of all kinds of flowers like the back of his hand.

Liu Jiashan (left) and workers are filling honey.

Liu Jiashan is checking the growth and reproduction of bees in the hive.

Liu Jiashan, who has been raising bees for 37 years, is one of thousands of beekeepers who have created a "sweet" career in China in Rizhao City, Shandong Province, April 12, 2016.

Liu Jiashan is mentioned in Liujia Nan Mountain Village, Songbai Town, Wulian County, Rizhao City, Shandong Province. His name, like this mountain village famous for cherry blossoms, is well known to the local people.

Three famous teachers have achieved a "sweet" career. Liu Jiashan, 51, has been learning beekeeping skills since he was a teenager. In the 1970s, due to the large number of local cherry blossoms, located in the depths of the mountains and rich sources of flowers, the government began to encourage farmers to raise bees to get rich. Under the professor of the enlightening master, he basically mastered this technology in a year. In 1980, in order to start a "sweet" business, he took more than a dozen beehives, boarded the train, and went to Qujiang and Yingde County of Guangdong Province to start a nomadic life. At that time, due to immature technology, less honey and poor quality, it was almost impossible to earn money, and sometimes even eating was a problem. A year later, he met an experienced beekeeper in Shanghai, and he learned from his teacher for four years. In 1984, with the gradual maturity of technology and the broadening of his horizons, he felt that he only produced honey, the product was relatively simple, and the profit was relatively thin. So he paid tribute to an old master in Zhejiang to learn the production technology of royal jelly. Two years later, because he was studious and willing to study, he soon mastered all the beekeeping skills. Since 1986, he has led beekeepers from all over the country to contract locomotives, going south to Yunnan, Sichuan, Henan, northward to the northeast and Beijing, and running more than half of China.

With the prosperity of rural tourism in his hometown, Liu Jiashan's hometown, Liujia Nanshan Village, which is located in the depths of the mountains, has attracted many tourists from inside and outside the province. After he saw this business opportunity, he has fixed the beehive at the entrance of his village since 2012. At that time, there were few bee farmers in the whole county, but there were many kinds of flowers such as cherry blossom, peach blossom, lavender, locust tree flower and so on, which provided rich resources for bee breeding. So he set up a professional cooperative for apiculture to teach beekeeping skills free of charge. After several years of development, it has grown from a dozen at first to more than 20000 boxes of bees in 104 households, driving more than 400 people to work. His cooperative also attracted beekeepers from Weifang, Linyi, Jiangsu and other places to join, with an annual sales income of more than 12 million yuan.