Explainer video: What is happening to honey in Greece – The paradox of increasing production

On the effects of the fires and floods of 2023 on honey production in Greece, both the assistant professor of the Agricultural University of Athens, Georgios Goras, and the president of the Federation of Beekeeping Associations of Greece (OMSE), Anastasios Dimitropoulos.

“The phenomena that we have been observing for the last 2-3 years as signs of climate change, the beekeeper has been experiencing them for the last seven maybe even 10 years” says Mr. Goras.

“It is the first indicator that situations can be observed, such as reduced production, disease problems that stress the bees and lead to losses, sometimes inexplicable.”

An example of the climate crisis, as noted by Mr. Dimitropoulos, is the fact that “it can be hot in the same day and a few hours later it starts to hail”.

How did the fires and floods of 2023 affect honey production in Greece?

Last year’s fires and floods, however, reduced production by 50%, as reported by the president of the Federation.

The data collected so far show that the Evros fire, according to Mr. Gora, cost the production of between 2,500 and 5,000 beehives, in an area that numbers almost 27,000 beehives. This corresponds to about 10% of the bee population.

The floods in Thessaly, on the other hand, caused the loss of approximately 117,000 bees.

This percentage corresponds to approximately 43% of bees, in an area that before the disaster numbered 270,000 bees.

However, these numbers refer to the losses that occurred only during the disaster period. The remaining bees that survived were also lost, due to heat shock and flowering problems from the floods.

The role of the bee in the whole of agricultural production

It is worth noting that, the bee, even if one does not like honey or royal jelly and so on. it is part of all of our daily lives.

“The fruiting of plants or fruits, however, that we eat is done through pollination. So we need pollinators. And if we don’t have other pollinators, like wild bees, the burden falls on the bee” explains the professor.

The paradox of production growth is where the problem comes to light

With all these disasters affecting production to a significant extent, a paradoxical increase in bees can be found in our country. Specifically, in 2023 in Greece beekeeping increased by 10%-20%. How did this happen;

Precisely because there are serious issues and because beekeepers are not able to produce what they produced a few years ago, they are increasing their bee numbers to reach levels that are about a 10%-20% increase compared to the previous one year, without increasing their yields.

This multiplication leads to an increase in honey production, but not proportionate to the increase in bees. About five years ago, Greece produced about 17,000 tons of honey. Today it approaches 20,000 tons of honey.

However, five years ago there were 1.8 million bees in the country and today 2.5 million bees. So the production increase is unmatched the increase of bees.

At the same time, as the President of the Federation underlines, the provision which forbids producers from having their bees in the forests also works as a deterrent to the increase in production. Deterrent because, as he explains, “honey is collected in forests and the countryside, where there are flowers and pine trees”. “On the contrary, in our neighboring country, Turkey, positions have been created in 700 forests and parks for the production of pine honey.”

The importance of protecting Greek beekeeping

These data, as noted in CNN Greece by scientists and people in the industry, highlight the need to protect the beekeeping practiced in the country, which is at stake through the Greekizations.

While, therefore, the cost of production is increasing, the producers themselves are not paid for their effort, while many times “the honeys we see on the shelf are not even Greek”, points out Mr. Goras.

With him stressing that “if we want to have agriculture in each country, which depends to a large extent on the pollination that takes place in each country, then a sector that indirectly carries out this work should be supported”.

This treaty has reduced the number of beekeepers from approximately 25,000 in 2022 to under 20,000 and despite this, as Mr. Dimitropoulos reports, “beekeeping in recent years in Greece is moving forward”.

Among the requests, which they believe will help them grow the industry even more, are the creation of bypasses on side roads so they can place cells in the countryside and mountains.

In conclusion, it is very important, as they both emphasize, to preserve the beekeeping practiced in each country.