Wrapped in a cloud caused by the use of the smokers that are used in the hives and dressed in work equipment, nearly a thousand beekeepers called by the agricultural organizations Asaja, Upa, Coag and the Agri-food Cooperatives have gathered this Thursday before the Ministry of Agriculture.
Two beekeepers were baptized with honey.
They ask for help in the face of the crisis that the sector is suffering, as a result of the effects of the drought and the increases in costs, and to stop the massive imports of Chinese honey at low prices.
The sector urgently demands a labeling that responds to the real content of the containers when it comes to mixed honey, something that does not happen today, and that harms both farmers and consumers who purchase a product knowing the country of origin of the honey. Honey,
Spanish beekeeping, with more than 36,000 farms and three million hives, is facing one of its biggest crises in the last decade, as a result of the drought in recent months, which has resulted in less food in the field for bees .
In addition to weakening them, it has promoted diseases such as varroa, a deadly mite for bees.
This has also had its negative effects on the pollination of crops.
Added to this situation is an increase in the costs of transporting the hives in an activity where 50% of the farms and 80% of the hives are nomadic, and move in search of "pasture" for the bees.
Spanish beekeepers gather to ask for help due to the crisis that the sector is going through, summoned by the organizations Asaja, COAG and UPA, this Thursday before the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in Madrid.
Javier Lizón (EFE)
Under normal conditions, production in Spain amounts to around 36,000 tons, which represents 90% of consumption.
However, of that volume, due to its quality and foreign demand, especially in other EU countries and others such as the United States, Saudi Arabia or the United Kingdom, it exported almost 24,000 tons in 2022 until October at an average price of almost four euros per kilo. .
The new threat is cheap honey imports, especially from China.
This reaches the Spanish market directly or indirectly through other countries and is forcing the storage of nationally produced honey.
In 2020, until October, honey imports amounted to more than 34,000 tons at an average price of 2.37 euros per kilo, 1.48 euros in the case of Chinese honey,
Low price imports
Of this volume of purchases abroad, China is officially the first supplier with 7,085 tons at low prices, displacing other South American countries.
From the sector it is denounced, in addition to the entry of a cheap product, that it is also, in many cases, a low-quality honey made with substitutes such as corn or rice siroccos and a country where animal health products prohibited in the European Union.
José Luis Pajuelo, an Andalusian beekeeper, regrets that the cooperatives have their honey stored due to lack of outlets while the market is flooded with imported honey, especially Chinese, many of dubious quality.
Along with this official volume, beekeepers also denounce the entry of Chinese honey through other countries such as Portugal, which in 2022 exported more than 6,000 tons to Spain.
All this means that, despite a reduction in production due to weather conditions, beekeepers have stored their crops, while blended honeys dominate in the shelves where the Spanish part is a minority.
Pedro Loscartales, an Aragonese beekeeper from Coag, considers it essential to tackle the negative effects of imports at low prices and the lack of clarification on labels, thinking both about producers and consumers, so that they know what they are eating.
A beekeeper holds a bee smoker during a concentration of professional agricultural organizations and entities related to the beekeeping sector in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, this Thursday, in Madrid.Carlos Luján (Europa Press)
The other major problem in the sector lies in the current Community regulations on the requirements for packaging labelling.
The regulation only requires indicating the countries where the honey originates from, but not the percentage of each one.
This means that a blended honey can have 99% Chinese honey and only 1% Spanish honey, something that beekeepers want Spain to change during its European presidency.
This regulation, they denounce, also supposes a fraud for consumers, who do not know what type of honey they are acquiring.
The sector demands from the Administration an exceptional support plan, incorporating beekeepers to aid for fuel consumption, campaigns to promote Spanish honey, animal health plans and, above all, that clarification on the label on the origin of the product and the percentage from each country.
Vanesa Iglesias, a beekeeper from Asaja in Extremadura, highlights the need for direct aid to ensure the viability of the sector.
From Upa, the Extremaduran beekeeper Antonio Prieto also considers an adequate health policy and the fight against invasive species that cause high losses in the hives to be important.
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