natural Forest honey can fetch up to $784 per pound but it comes with risks the first step is locating the Beehive at noon on a sunny day the bees go to the streams in order to get water to cool down their hive so honey Hunters often head to the streams to stalk them back to their homes with binoculars small GPS devices are also being developed to make this job easier once the nest is located the honey Hunters prepare for the hunt by wearing protective clothing a smoke blower and a harvest container this large tree is home to more than 30 beehives these Hunters are very good at climbing they let the smoke out wherever they climb while fixing a rope ladder to the tree after reaching the Beehive the hunter drives away the bees with smoke or a light scrape with a knife the branches in order not to cause damage the smoke also calms the bees and makes them less likely to sting after waiting for a few minutes the hunter trims The Beehive and only collects the inner parts filled with honey the honey Hunter must be careful not to damage the Beehive or disturb the bees too much they also must leave enough honey in the nest for the bees to be able to survive the winter or build a new Hive after harvesting they will Mark these locations to return next year this honey is called mad honey because of the flowers that the bees get the nectar from can cause hallucinations and it's located thousands of feet up at the peak of the Himalayan Mountains thanks to their Thousand-Year mad honey hunting tradition only this Village in Nepal knows how to harvest it and they only use a bamboo ladder for the gurung people and many Asian people this rare mad honey is a gem in traditional medicine used to treat respiratory issues to prepare for the mad honey hunt the villagers check the handwoven bamboo ladder and water it so that it is flame resistant and safe to use after several hours of traveling to the honey location the villagers hang the bamboo ladder down the cliff so the hunters below can start to climb up the people distribute smoke in several places in order to distract and calm the bees just one wrong step and they will fall from a height of nearly 9,000 800 ft when he reaches a sufficient height to harvest the honey he simply ties a rope to secure himself in and that is his only harness as he reaches out to the beehives this is a 12T long stick called a Tango which the locals use to cut the honeycomb and make it fall onto a plastic sheet placed 800 ft below they will harvest just enough to allow the bees to continue building their nest a harvested honeycomb often weighs 3.3 to 4.4 lb The Nest here is 30 in in diameter and 3 ft in length in addition the high risk of harvesting has driven the price of 1 lound of Honey up to $136 this is an annual tradition with so many bites so much effort but sometimes the bees don't produce the honey as expected so would you dare to risk to harvest it like the hunters who hunt for honey in the wild beekeepers also wear basic protective gear and use smoke When approaching the bee Colony they then shake the frame inside the box to drive away the bees beekeepers usually select frames in the hive that contain honey and have been at least 75% covered by the bees empty beehives are also put back into the box after removal beekeepers will always keep around 44 lb per box in temperate climates up to 130 lb in areas with very harsh Winters this ensures The Colony has enough food in all weathers then they live the honeycomb frames out of the hive using a soft brush to sweep out the remaining bees small aperies often raise 100 to 300 B colonies while large ones can have as many as 5,000 colonies a box has from 7 to 10 honeycomb frames these are often taken to a cuge in order to extract the honey this centrifugal method allows the be LA to remain in the honeycomb and continue to develop normally before putting the frames back into the box workers scrape off the beeswax to make various other products honey Harvest typically occurs during the summer and Autumn months after the plants in the area have produced nectar if you visit this famous tourist attraction in Paris France you might be surprised to find be hives there surprisingly Parisian honey is often considered purer than honey from rural areas due to the absence of widespread pesticide use in the city a 200 mil bottle of Honey produced in this way is currently being sold for $41 and its taste is often described as floral and delicate I'm sure if you hear the name Manuka the thoughts would immediately pop into your mind you are talking about the world's most expensive honey in 2021 a company in New Zealand sold 200 jars of Manuka honey for $4 4,964 per 230 G jar Manuka Honey is expensive because it has a special antibacterial agent called MGO which is very popular in health and beauty products additionally this honey is only found in certain regions of New Zealand and Australia bees need to travel 6 km to reach those areas and the flowering time is only around 12 days in a year harvesting takes 2 to 6 weeks therefore helicopters and a series of machines are used to harvest and extract this special type of honey this is considered to be the superfood of the Beehive and can cost 20 times more than regular honey to make it first the queen bee needs to be isolated from The Hive this is because the colony only begins to produce royal jelly to feed potential Queen La when they lose their Queen then the workers use a grafting needle to place the female la age 12 to 18 hours into the fake queen cups made from beeswax or plastic after that they place the cup frames into the nest box after 72 hours the worker begins to harvest the royal jelly this process requires Great care and concentration the laa has to be removed before collecting the royal jelly this type of laa is also very valuable in the Li and Food Industries the worker then uses a specialized plastic spoon to remove the royal jelly from the cells this special substance is harvested entirely by hand a beehive can produce around 22 lb of royal jelly royal jelly fed on rap seep flowers in hu Bay is a premium type with a price of around $150 per pound with the belief in the benefits of longevity royal jelly is increasingly becoming popular on the market in 2021 a Turkish honey called centur was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's most expensive honey typically they start off at around $4,895 per pound but the emerald variety of centur honey can reach up to 5 $500,000 per pound the beehives are placed inside caves sitting at $6,300 to 99,900 Ft above sea level this helps them to absorb powerful minerals it takes 15 years to harvest and only 33 lb of Honey is harvested each year in mid November the producer bottles it by hand with gold plating and the buyer's name imp printed on it this country is famous for the great wall or Silk Road China not only preserves an ancient craft but also dominates the global market producing more than 1 billion tons of silk every year the evolution from Caterpillar to Silk fabric is a fascina ating process it starts with the efforts of farmers raising billions of silk worms each silk thread is woven from the first journey in the life of each silk worm Farmers need thousands of silkworm cocoons to create 1 kg of silk from a tiny silkor worm egg to adulthood each stage requires careful care to ensure perfect quality Farmers carefully select the best caterpillars because the health of the breeder is very important to produce high quality silk worm eggs silkworm eggs as small as grains of sand will hatch into L after about 10 days of age the laa undergo 5 weeks of growth before entering hibernation to become cocon finally from these silk cocoons they hatch into adult butterflies choosing a good silk worm breed not only affects silk quality but also affects their ability to survive in a silkworm farming environment ideal conditions for silk worm growth include temperatures between 77 and 82° F and humidity between 85 and 90% silk worm farms always ensure that these conditions are met to promote development and optimize silk production that's why the world is always impressed with silk and the silk worm raising method used by the Chinese feeding these Lara is a meticulous job malberry leaves are the main food source mulbury leaves are cut into small pieces and fed continuously to ensure adequate nutrition on average each silk worm can consume from 50 to 100 G of mury leaves per day young silk worms do not eat as much as old silk worms leaves should be added at least once a day ideally they feed the silk worms with leaves two to three times per day once the silk worms reach full size farmers usually feed them once in the morning once at noon and once in the evening experienced silk wor Farmers have found that instead of feeding large amounts of mbery leaves at once they increase the intervals between feedings in order to reduce waste build up and reduce the risk of disease no one knows how many Murry leaves a silkor worm eats during their lifetime therefore to save on food costs Farmers often grow mury trees themselves if a silk producer is planning a breeding run of around 20,000 silk worms they will plant around 2,000 cuttings and care for them for around 8 months to a year before starting silkworm farming producers must have 500 to 600 kg of leaves in order to feed 20,000 silk worms throughout their life cycle in early spring thousands of families in rural China walk into the fields to pick the last mry leaves from the trees Nong gets ready for their silk worms at the same time regular cleaning of the farming area is very important in order to prevent diseases these tireless efforts ensure that each silk thread produced is exceptionally pure and soft dry lime helps a lot in creating a cleaning environment not only does it keep the barn dry and ventilated it also Wicks away moisture preventing the growth of bacteria and fungi in humid conditions the hungry caterpillars spend about a month munching on mury leaves after growing to a size of around 3 in at maximum in around 6 weeks they stop eating change color and weigh around 10,000 times more than when they first hatched when entering the final stages of their life cycle silor worms begin to spin cocoons this is to prepare for their magical transformation at this time the silk worm covers a layer of adhesive to shape the Cocoon it ejects a single protein filament then rotates its body in a figurate motion around 300,000 times creating a kilometer of filament Farmers must harvest the cocoons before the silk worms complete the process of turning into butterflies it's very important for them to carefully remove the Cocoon from the shell and maintain its shape the cocoons are boiled in water to soften and bind the silk fibers together forming shiny silk rolls the next step is the combination of traditional and Modern Art farmers can D silk fibers with natural ingredients such as turmeric leaves or chemicals to create a rich color palette to meet customers needs silk threads go through weaving techniques from traditional looms to Modern weaving and automatic Machinery all methods produce fine silk fabric that reflects the craftsmanship and sophistication of Chinese Farmers this process not only highlights the beauty of silk but also preserves the inherent qualities of silk fibers every product made from silk ensures the high quality and durability making it the top choice for those who demand perfection in every detail silk threads from silkor worm cocoons have been woven into fabric for more than 4,000 years although silk only accounts for a small percentage of the global textile Market approximately less than 0.2% but its manufacturing base is spread across 60 countries around the world India is the second largest silk producer in the world after China then are countries like Brazil thail land and Vietnam the combination of advanced technology and traditional methods has helped China establish a leading position in the global silk industry currently this country has more than 500,000 silk worm farms and more than 1,000 silk processing factories tiny silk worms not only produce quality silk threads but are also an attractive source of in income for Farmers from 2 to 3 days after the cocoons are completed Farmers proceed to harvest the silkworm cocoons after harvesting silkor worm cocoons can be used in industrial factories they must first go through a quality check process this process includes selecting and eliminating lowquality cocoons retaining only the best cocoons for processing into high quality silk silkworm cocoons are collected and packaged into large bags for transport to the processing Factory each bag can contain up to 1,000 silkor worm cocoons with a weight that can go from dozens to hundreds of kilog silk manufacturing companies in China can buy cocoons from local farmers at attractive prices providing them with significant additional in come at the factories dedicated workers meticulously inspect each silk cocoon to ensure absolute quality before processing poor quality silk cocoons are removed the purest silk worm cocoons are boiled for 10 to 15 minutes to soften the silk and kill the puper inside this stage is very important in creating unique silk products workers adjust machines and control twist levels and speeds according to the customers specific needs the automatic spinning machine is one of the outstanding products that combines precision and stability and can process many different types of Yarns currently supporting equipment has been developed to optimize the silkworm farming process this helps farming areas to increase their economics the silk industry in China is not only a symbol of wisdom and spirit but this precious cultural heritage also enriches the country's appearance and economy at the same time the perseverance and creativity of farmers has maintained this unique livestock farming profession
2024-08-31