VietNamNet Bridge – In the dry season, residents of Bay Nui in Tinh Bien and Tri Ton districts, An Giang province) go to the forest to hunt queen termites, scorpions, etc., which are rumored to be good for men’s virility.

Seeking queen termites. Photo: Phuyenonline.

Mr. Tran Ly Vu, from Trang Bang town, Tinh Bien district, who is specialized in hunting queen termites in the Bay Nui area, said that there are many species of termites based on their colors, such as black, red, blue and white. Only the red termites have the queen termites which are as big as a thumb.

For the whole day traveling throughout the mountainsides of Dai and Phu Cuong, Vu found only several red termites. Vu said the price for a queen termite is VND30,000-VND40,000 ($1.5-2).

Wiping sweat on his forehead, Vu said: "In the past days I could find a few dozens of queen termites a day and sold them out immediately. A queen termite was priced VND20,000 ($1) and I earned a few hundreds of thousands per day easily, much more than my earnings from working as a motorcycle taxi driver. Since then, after the harvest season, a number of young men have flocked to the forest to find queen termites to sell to traders."

Vu said that queen termites have become rare now so they are more expensive, with VND30,000-VND40,000/termite. He can currently seek nearly ten termites per day.

Hunters only catch the biggest queen termites. Each termitary has two queens, an adult and a small one that is next to the adult. When the hunter catches the adult queen termite, the small one will pursue the task of maintaining the race. The queens are usually hundreds of times bigger than the male termites.

This year is the seventh year that Vu does this job. At first, he was a rookie learning from an old Khmer farmer in An Cu commune. Later he worked alone.

He said alcohol with queen termites is originally a product of the Khmer. This delicious wine has been become popular in the region. Visitors to the Ba Chua Xu Festival in Bay Nui area always look for this kind of alcohol, turning it into a specialty. It is said that queen termites in the Bay Nui area eat herbal plants in the region so they should absorb medicinal sources. If they are soaked in wine, there will have a type of very tonic wine.

Termitaries are ordinarily about a meter high and very hard. In the middle of the termitary is a hollow area, made by soft materials. The hunter has to use a hoe to dig at the center of the termitary to find an object like a loaf, which is made of a mixture of soil and rock. The queen termites are inside this “loaf.”

Vu took out from the termitary a piece of soil that looked like a piece of rotten wood, split it into two parts and caught the queen termite then put it into a bottle of wine. He said the hunters always carry with them a bottle of wine. When they catch the queens, they have to immediately drop them into the bottle to keep them fresh. Because the queens will have their belly broken after five minutes in the air.

At the Tinh Bien international border gate market there are many traders selling alcohol with insects, including alcohol with queen termites.

Alcohol with queen termites. Photo: Phuyenonline.

Besides queen termites, a species called “bu ray” by local people is also a favorite product at restaurants in An Giang. “Bu ray” is available at The Nha Bang market, Tinh Bien district in the morning. In recent years, this kind of insect has become a very familiar food at this market.

Placing two bamboo boxes full of “bu ray” onto the ground, which he caught last night, Mr. Chau Ruonl, a Khmer from An Phu commune, laughed and explained: "Bu ray live lurking on mango, cashew, jackfruit ... to eat young leaves. They are all very fatty. They look ugly but if you eat them once, you will be addictive."

Every night, Mr. Chau Ruonl and his son goes to the O Ta Bang mountain or the orchards in the region to catch around 4,000 “bu ray”, earning about VND280,000-$300,000 ($15).

"Poor people like us consider “bu ray” as our livelihood. The appropriate time to start catching “bu ray” is 9-10pm because this time the insects appear to eat leaves. Just using flashlights to illuminate the trees, “bu ray” will appear and fly around the lights. After several runds, they are tired and fall to the ground. I just pick them to put into the basket.”

“Bu ray” look like beetles.  They are thumb-sized, brown, with short body, wings, hard head and legs and soft body. They are available at many markets in An Giang like Nha Bang, Van Giao, An Hao or the market of Tinh Bien town and mountain markets in Tri Ton district.

It is very easy to process food from “bu ray". The first stage is to remove the wings, the bowel of the insects, then wash them with diluted brine to fry. Fried bu ray goes with salad and sauce.

ANTG