In 1911, Mr. Gong Huaixi, a Hanlin scholar and ambassador to the United States in the late Qing Dynasty, brought five boxes of Italian bees back to his hometown, Hefei. He entrusted them to his fellow villager, Mr. Gu Dongjin, who raised them in the Gong Family Garden (now Xiaoyaojin Park), pioneering the breeding of Italian bees in China.
In 1960, Gu Dongjin's son, Mr. Gu Yongcheng, founded the Gugong Bee Farm. By the 1980s, the farm had held beekeeping training courses in over 20 locations across Anhui Province.
In 1988, the Gugong Bee Farm was awarded the "China National Harvest Award" by the Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China.
In 1995, Mr. Gu Zhenyu, the third-generation heir, took over the family beekeeping business. That same year, the Gugong brand was honored by the Anhui Provincial Government as an "Anhui Time-Honored Brand" and an "Anhui Leading Enterprise in Agricultural Industrialization." Mr. Gu Zhenyu was also recognized as a "National Rural Youth Entrepreneurship Leader," and served as the Legal Representative of the Anhui Provincial Bee Industry Association (under the Provincial Department of Agriculture). The company holds dual qualifications for both food and drug production.
