After graduating from the Agriculture and Forestry College in 1965, Ho Van Sam began his career in Son La province. First, he worked for a bee center, which researched wild bees and kept them in wooden boxes. Productivity was low and unstable, so Sam tried another bee species imported from Italy. But his bee business shut down in 1993 because it was losing money. Sam refused to give up and kept a mere 7 bee hives, which produced a modest income.

“At first, I had a lot of difficulties because I lacked knowledge about the bees’ life cycle, the flower blossoming  and the weather in Son La. Then I realized that it is essential to know the bees’ origin and frequency of producing honey,” Sam said.

Thanks to his accumulated experience and application of science and technology, Sam now has more than 1,000 bee colonies producing high-quality honey, bee pollen, beeswax, and propolis and earns approximately 65,000 USD per year.

“I have an idea to connect households to create a production chain to produce high-quality products for local sales and export. I intend to promote the trademark of Son La honey,” Sam said.

Sam’s high-quality beehive products are resonably priced and popular in both domestic and foreign markets. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long from Son La city, said: “Sam’s honey has a natural flavor. That makes his product much sought after”.