In Mangyongdae-dong, Mangyongdae District in the capital city of Pyongyang lives an old man called “bee grandpa” and “bee expert.”
He is Ri Son who turns 72 this year.
Looking more than 10 years younger than his peers, the still sprightly man is busy keeping bees and writing books.
His books like Longevity and Honey and Longevity and Bee Pollen are gaining good feedback from the audience.
His familiarity with beekeeping began over 10 years ago when he retired.
While reading a newspaper, he came across the fact that a local honey product ranked first in the world’s leading honey producers’ products in the category of honey quality. He was so excited.
“I’ll have a try. I cannot only enjoy the benefits of the benevolent system. I’d like to produce honey myself and do a good job to the benefit of people,” he told himself.
So he took on bee farming.
He visited the Grand People’s Study House and met veteran beekeepers to acquire a wide range of knowledge and expertise. This made him convinced that he could keep bees if he intends to do so.
He spent almost half a year in the fields following the blossoms. And he found that the world of bees consists of honey, royal jelly, propolis, pollen, larva and wax and these are so good for human health and longevity. He invested much energy into beekeeping.
His dedication was not only to bee farming.
With the help of experts, he improvised new devices to identify bees and measure the sugar rate of honey to the surprise and admiration of beekeepers.
He donated lots of honey to hospitals in the city two years ago, and provided various kinds of honey products to the Pyongyang Baby Home on International Children’s Day last year.
Ri Son said that honey output is increasing year on year and its quality is excellent.
Ko Chol Hwa
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