Honey on the Edge: China's extreme beekeepers scale a 1,200-meter cliff to save a vanishing wild bee
Imagine a sheer cliff 1,200 meters tall, and on its face, 700 wooden hive boxes glued to the rock like swallows’ nests. This isn’t a movie set—it's the Shennongjıa National Nature Reserve in Hubei, where a dramatic survival story unfolds for a vanishing wild bee. Apis cerana cerana, once common here, now teeters on the brink. And while China supplies roughly half of the world’s honey, more than 80% of local wild bee populations have already disappeared.
In This Article:
A Vertical Refuge for a Fragile Lineage
The 'wall of hives' is home to thousands of Apis cerana cerana. This unusual cliffside hive arrangement is part of a wild-bee sanctuary in Shennongjia, a place far from crowds where the drama of survival plays out every season. To reach the upper boxes, beekeepers use the lower boxes as stepping stones, climbing higher with ropes. The ascent is described as an extreme sport, yet to the caretakers it’s daily work in service of a fragile species.
The Culprit and the Consequences
Experts identify the European honeybee (Apis mellifera) as the main culprit behind the decline. Introduced to China, the foreign bees brought new infections and disrupted the Chinese bees’ mating rituals, with catastrophic results for Apis cerana cerana. Though smaller and producing less honey than their European cousins, Chinese bees are better adapted to local conditions, more resistant to some diseases, and can pollinate plants inaccessible to European bees. Losing this native species would harm biodiversity and threaten the region’s ecosystems.
Climb and Call of Bears
Harvesting happens twice a year—in spring and autumn. Beekeepers ascend the cliff at dawn, when most bees have not yet left the hives. They wear minimal protective gear, usually just a face net. Locals say Chinese bees are less aggressive than European bees and rarely sting without provocation. Why place the hives on a cliff? Bears. At ground level, bears would raid them weekly. Elevating the operation makes the hives unreachable to bears. “We used to place hives closer to the ground,” explains Zhang Yun, head of the conservation project. “But bears raided them weekly. We tried fences, repellents, even traps. Nothing helped. Then we came up with the idea of lifting the hives onto the cliff.”
A Living Laboratory, A Lasting Hope
Shennongjia offers a mosaic of climates—subtropical, temperate, and cool temperate—supporting roughly 1,300 plant species. The flora feeds the bees year-round, and the honey produced there is darker in color and richer in flavor, with reputed medicinal properties. Beekeeping in China has deep roots dating back to the second century CE. Today, ecological challenges threaten this long tradition, but scientists at several universities here continue to study bee behavior, genetics, and adaptation. They have established a genetic bank of Chinese bees to aid future restoration, and they are even exploring hybrids with Apis mellifera to combine the best traits of both. These beekeepers are not just farmers—they are guardians of culture and biodiversity. If you want more stories from unusual places and living traditions, follow us for future journeys.
