Success in the air for Pingshan beekeepers

Editor's Note: China Daily is running a series of stories on old revolutionary bases with profound history and heritage that are striving to lead local people on the road to prosperity in the new era.

Local incubator has helped thousands make more, lifting many out of poverty

Zhao Xiaobing was busy unloading a batch of honey from a minivan late one May afternoon. It had been produced by bees raised in Hebei province's Pingshan county.

"It's the peak season for honey in our county, as pagoda trees and date trees are in bloom," said the 38-year-old honey dealer from Nanguyue village.

Zhao is very proud of the bees from Pingshan, a county located in the Taihang Mountains that was once a revolutionary base under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Xibaipo, a site dubbed by historians as "the last rural command post of the CPC" before the founding of New China and a popular Red tourism destination, is also located in the county. "Pingshan ranges widely in elevation from a low point of 120 meters to a high point of 2,281 meters, which creates three peak blossoming seasons throughout the year," he said, adding that when the flowers in low altitude areas begin to fall, they are just entering full bloom higher up.