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| ▲ Korea Beekeeping Association Sancheong County / Head Inho Lee | ||
Honey is rich in vitamin B and B6 which is good for health and skin. It contains iron, cures hangover and strengthens kidney. The Korea Beekeeping Association Sancheong County wowed both Koreans and the world by winning the grand prize at the 44th APIMONDIA International Apicultural Congress held in Daejeon Metropolitan City in 2015.
Among many honeys produced in South Korea, the Jiri Mountain honeys have been the king of sweetness. Among the Jiri Mountain honeys, the Sancheong County is most famous in terms of smell, taste and neatness.
“The color and the taste of honey depend on flowers. There are many wild flowers in Jiri Mountain and bees collect honey from these naturally grown flowers in the fields. In addition, we make honey in a conventional way but through our strict hygiene and quality management system that covers all processes from making to distribution and selling” says Inho Lee, the head of the Korea Beekeeping Association Sancheong County.
“Honey is a gift from god. 70% of the plants on earth fertilize through insects of which half of them by honey bees. Many strawberry and lemon farmers need help of honey bees for fruit setting.”
The Korea Beekeeping Association Sancheong County won the grand prize at the 44th APIMONDIA International Apicultural Congress in the category of quality by beating out 131 countries with its acacia honey, scoring the highest in terms of cloudiness. As a result, the regional beekeepers were only 86 in 2003 but grew to 186 in 2015 and 300 in 2019, generating yearly 30 billion won sales (25 million dollars) through a variety of honey-based products.
It is noteworthy that honey bees pollinate 71% of the 100 main crops needed to feed the people on earth.
“We now see increasing number of people moving to the county to open a beekeeping. For this, we established Apicultural University in 2018 and is providing necessary information, training and exchange programs so that they can settle down nicely and contribute to regional economy.”
When asked about future plan, Lee said that he wished to make Sancheong honey as the best honey brand in Korea and in the world.
김태인 기자 red3955@hanmail.net
