Making a Living from a Dangerous Profession…
Nguyen Van Tuan, born in 1995 in Yen Bai province, has been hunting wild bees for their honey for many years. Despite his young age, his energy, professionalism, and daring have earned him respect even from veterans in this field.
To find honey, Tuan ventures into dense forests, tracking bees to locate their hives. ” I’m used to eating quick meals by the stream or taking short naps in the bushes. What’s truly scary is not that, but the bees’ attacks. I’ve had to go to the hospital several times due to life-threatening situations ,” he shared.
Tuan is drawn to this profession because of his adventurous spirit and love for exploration. ” I’m still young, so I’ll take on any job that suits me and earns me legal money. When I’m older and my health declines, I won’t be able to choose such a risky profession even if I wanted to ,” Tuan explained.
Tuan currently knows the locations of over 100 hornet nests. During the harvest season, he collects and sells them to customers. He sells cleaned hornet larvae detached from the hive for 300,000–400,000 VND/kg. Larvae still attached to the hive go for 200,000–250,000 VND/kg. ” Earning a few million VND a day is normal ,” Tuan proudly shared.
Aside from hunting wild bees to sell directly to customers, Tuan also captures them for breeding. At the end of the season, he sells the entire hives to professional bee traders for 2–3 million VND each.
The dangers of climbing tall trees to harvest wild honey. (Photo: Trinh Hoai Nam)
Accompanying Tuan on one of his honey-hunting trips, I witnessed him climbing a hundred-meter-tall tree. ” I have to wear heavy full-body protective gear and use additional equipment to hang onto the tall tree. Even with the protective clothing, the sheer number of bees can be overwhelming, and their venom can still cause difficulty in breathing and dizziness. One wrong move, and I could fall to my death ,” Tuan said.
Trinh Hoai Nam (born in 1997 in Ha Hoa, Phu Tho) shares Tuan’s daring choice of profession. Nam and his team harvested hundreds of beehives from a giant banyan tree in Huoi Luong village (Nam Lich commune, Muong Ang district, Dien Bien province). It is estimated that these hives could yield nearly two tons of wild honey.
Nam shared, ” Last year, there were 90 beehives in this tree. This year, we haven’t finished harvesting yet, so we don’t know the exact number, but we estimate there are over 130. We simply can’t count them all .”
According to Nam, the bees in this tree are a species called ” ong khoai quan ,” which humans have not been able to domesticate for honey production like other bee species. Therefore, this honey is purely natural and of the finest quality, and its price reflects that.
This year, Nam spent a large sum to buy all the honey from this tree. The yield is expected to reach over 1,100 liters. Nam is currently selling this honey in the retail market for 550,000 VND/liter.
Adorning Your Teeth with Jewelry
Nguyen Ngoc Anh, born in 1992 in Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, started working in his family’s jewelry business ten years ago while still a final-year student at RMIT University. His job was to deliver jewelry to small gold shops and work with customers.
After about five years in this “ready-made” business, Ngoc Anh felt bored and unfulfilled as a dynamic young person. After some research and market trend analysis, he chose to specialize in crafting dental jewelry (grillz), which is popular among artists.
” I started researching and referring to foreign materials to create a complete set of grillz suitable for the dental structure of Asians. I spent the first year making and remaking grillz for my friends and listening to their feedback. After many years of research and adjustments, I’ve created perfect products ,” Ngoc Anh shared.
Ngoc Anh crafting grillz for a customer. (Photo: NVCC)
Unlike foreign brands that craft grillz from gold and precious stones, Ngoc Anh also uses silver to make his products more affordable for Vietnamese customers.
Currently, a set of silver dental jewelry costs 4 million VND, while a set made of gold or natural diamonds averages 100 million VND for eight lower or upper jaw teeth. ” The most expensive grillz I’ve made cost around 200 million VND for a lower jaw set. For a full set of 16 teeth, the price can go up to 400 million VND ,” he shared. His increasing income has allowed him to build his brand and succeed in this unique field.
Grillz crafted with meticulous attention to detail. (Photo: NVCC)
Designing Costumes for Superheroes
Do Duc Muoi, born in 1997 in Lao Cai province, is a co-founder of Transform Studio, a special effects makeup and costume design company in Hanoi. Their products are used for characters like superheroes, robots, and dinosaurs in animated films.
Muoi shared that he started creating costumes and toys as a student and earned money from orders since the 11th grade.
Even now, this field is still very new, and not many people know about it, let alone make a living from it. ” In Vietnam, cosplay culture has only recently been introduced, and prop and costume production is still unheard of. In the beginning, I had to figure things out on my own, and there were times when I wanted to give up. But perhaps my youth and competitiveness drove me to persevere ,” Muoi shared.
Muoi and his superhero costumes produced by Transform Studio. (Photo: NVCC)
Costume-making is a meticulous and creative process that demands craftsmanship and attention to detail, including accessories and color schemes. The challenge in making costumes for animated characters is not just to make them look real but also to capture their essence and spirit so that people can instantly recognize the character.
Even as a second-year student at the University of Architecture, Muoi found ways to manage his capital, taking deposits from customers and using them as working capital to ensure production and pay employees and other expenses.
” When I was short on money, I had to convince my family to mortgage our house to get a startup loan. I wanted to prove that, although challenging, this industry could develop in Vietnam, and young people like us could make it happen ,” he said.
Currently, each costume averages between 700 and 2,000 USD. Transform Studio is financially stable, and Muoi no longer has to worry about capital as he used to.
To him, the greatest reward is becoming a respected figure in this incredibly challenging field.
