They're now back in Vietnam, but for three days they went on a honey of a tour.
UC Cooperative Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen, a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty since 1976 and a worldwide authority on honey bees, guided a six-member contingent of scientists from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on a three-day tour.
That included a day at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on the UC Davis campus; and two daylong Central Valley tours that encompased two beekeeping operations, a pollination operation, and a lavender farm/beekeeping agrictourism location.
The Vietnamese group included Dr. Nguyen Hay, vice rector of Nong Lam University; Dr. Bui Van Mien, head of scientific research management office and head of the Department of Development Food Product, Nong Lam University; Dr. Le Minh Hoang, bee specialist, Institute of Research on Environment and Biotechnology; Dr. Nguyen Tai, general manager, Tan Phat Co.; Hoang Nhu Tung, director of Huy Hoan Co., Ltd.; and Luong Hong Quang, faculty of Food Science and Technology, Nong Lam University, who also served as the interpreter.
California ranks with North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida as the four leading honey-producing states, Mussen told the scientists. “The rankings are weather dependent, based on rainfall. Here in California, we annually average 20 million pounds of honey and 400,000 pounds of beeswax. The value of honey production in California varies from $16 to $30 million a year.”
The distance separating Ho Chi Minh City and Davis is some 8550 miles, but the camaraderie that developed among the U.S. and Vietnamese scientists drew them closer.
Honey bees, those golden social insects, brought them together.
Learn more about the visit and what Mussen told them.
Attached Images:
Opening a hive
All About the Bees