Giving bees a chance in organic farm business

BEIjING - When Tang Hong, 27, started running an environmentally friendly bee farm this year in Pingwu county, Sichuan province, it proved so successful that one fifth of her neighboring villagers joined in to form a cooperative.

The young businesswoman said her hometown, Guanba, about 300 kilometers north of Chengdu, had certain qualities that made the honey especially tasty and nutritious.

"The special environment here made our honey sweeter than other areas and we have just received an organic food license," she said. Organic honey is usually priced at 100 yuan per kilogram in shops, more than triple that of the regular product. She said that all of the village's 2,000-kg output this year sold out and everyone in her village received a bonus.