The beekeepers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are not satisfied with the honey yield this year – said the president of the Federation of Beekeepers of FBiH Rehad Deljo to Fena news agency.
He recalled how last year was relatively better compared to this year, although it was not a championship either.
“The bees came out healthy, there were no significant losses in the winter period, the spring development was good, solid, but there was a long rainy period during the summer grazing. The bees had to use their supplies, so the supplies were used up, and after that came the most honey-bearing bee pasture, which is acacia. There were areas that yield acacia, however, then rainy periods appeared again. Other pastures appeared that were not generous,” Deljo said.
He pointed out that beekeepers who moved their bees to higher altitudes had more significant results, 5-10 kilograms each.
“So there was some yield and some combination of honey from acacia and meadow was realized. In principle, we have relatively weak yields for this year, I will bear in mind that the average was seven to 12 kilograms,” said Deljo.
Speaking about yields, he pointed out that this year, Posavina Canton, Sarajevo Canton, Podrinje do not have any significant amounts, but they do have mountainous regions.
“Kupres, Canton 10, Central Bosnia Canton, they have higher yields, it is another mountain pasture, forest, meadow honey,” said Deljo.
According to him, in a period of 10 years, there will be one extremely bad year, one extremely good year, when there are large and significant yields, and the other seven or eight pashas can be solid.
“This year we didn’t have any big yields, it’s probably just for our needs,” Deljo said.
He pointed out that FBiH beekeepers produce 2,000 tons of honey, and emphasized that the same amount of honey is imported.
Deljo said that, unfortunately, there is adulterated honey, but he did not have accurate information about it.
“Honey is the most adulterated product. We have a permanent in cooperation with the Agency for Food Safety, with cantonal inspectorates, we carry out analyses. The beekeepers’ association has created a regulation on the quality of honey, which is one of the ways to fight adulterated honey. It is now a legal obligation for all cantons to submit samples for analysis, for heavy metals, lead and the like. There is adulterated honey, but we are trying our best through our activities and cooperation with government institutions to finally put an end to it, to give our citizens and customers what they pay for, which is the quality of honey,” said Deljo.
Speaking about incentives for beekeepers at the FBiH level, Deljo points out that there are incentives, but that they are insufficient.
“We expect institutions to help beekeeping and the beekeepers themselves. There are various ways, but we are still expecting, looking. Federal institutions have made significant progress in the development of investments, increasing the incentive policy, but this is insufficient. It is common knowledge that we are stagnating compared to Serbia and Croatia, which invest significant funds in beekeeping and pay special attention to that sector of agriculture,” Deljo said.
Speaking about the price of honey, Deljo emphasized that prices vary, depending on the quality.
“We have a variety of pastures, although this year is a relatively weak projection year in relation to yields, some ask for 30 BAM for a kilogram of honey. Honey we have in stock. We have honey that really deserves 30 BAM, it is quality honey, for example sage. But in my opinion, the average price of a kilogram of honey should be 25 BAM, because on the other hand, the buyer should also be monitored. Honey is mostly consumed by the young generation and the mature generation, pensioners, so the social situation should also be monitored, because we, as honey producers, want to protect our customers and present our domestic production, which is still neglected,” said Deljo.
According to him, there are about 350,000 beehives in FBiH.
“That is a respectable number, it should be preserved, expanded and given a chance through a better incentive. That is one force, which should be given a business form, through tourism, to sell honey as a tourist product. We have a tradition in beekeeping, we just need to keep investing and investing,” said Deljo.
There are about 4,500 thousand beekeepers in FBiH, according to the 2018 register of beekeepers.
Deljo pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina has extremely high-quality honey.
“We cannot compete in yields with big beekeeping powers like China, Argentina, Mexico, but that’s why we have extremely exceptional quality, a quality that has been proven in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We can make a profit in that segment, because our honey has its own quality and its own customer, and we hope that it will remain so,” concluded Deljo.
