Beekeepers are desperate – production down 70% this year

Unstable weather conditions, fires, and floods contributed to the weakening of bees due to lack of food, and the ban by forest departments on beekeepers visiting forests in the summer caused low production.

Added to this is the consistently high cost of products (medicines, packaging materials, bee food), while the wholesale price remains at the same level of 4 euros, which, according to producers, is the result of domestication. There is now a clear risk that thousands of beekeepers will leave the profession.

According to reports, honey production has dropped by 70% this year.

“We are the link that, if broken, will destroy the primary sector. We are on full alert because there is danger. Many are leaving the profession, it is not viable, we cannot be productive with production costs and purchasing prices that are holding down the prices of our products,” – President of the Beekeepers Association Panagiotis Mourikis says in a conversation with MEGA.

Speaking about complaints from beekeepers about imported honey, Mr. Mourikis emphasizes that this is low quality honeywhich comes in containers from third countries at low prices, mixed with a small amount of Greek honey and goes on the shelves under the guise of Greek.

According to him, honey passed off as Greek comes “from China at a price of 1 to 1.5 euros.” “We’re not going broke”he said, explaining that because of Chinese honey, beekeepers are forced to sell their own honey to companies for 4 euros, which does not allow them to be viable.

“We ask operators to cooperate so that they can see the problems we have analyzed and the solutions we have proposed,” – he concluded. “The honeybee with its products is an important link in the chain of the primary production sector. There will be no bees, there will be no pollination, there will be no fruit on our table,” he said about the risk of a further decline in the number of beekeepers in Greece.

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