The beekeeping heritage is constantly growing
The last 2022 census indicates 1.8 million bee colonies that survive and produce, albeit amid infinite difficulties, thanks to the commitment of 72 thousand beekeepers: a natural capital, that of the Italian Republic, of over 100 billion bees, whose value is estimated at 500 million euros.
Numbers that place Italy at the top of the European Union rankings, as the president of the FAI Raffaele Cirone said, at the inauguration of the apiary on the terrace of the Ministry of Agriculture. "This year will be for us the 'World Day of the honey bee for productive and sustainable agriculture', explained Cirone, specifying that "the Italian bee, of the subspecies Apis mellifera Ligustica native to our Peninsula, is widespread in all continents and represents the first pollinator (over 90% of all useful insects present in our ecosystems) of rural environments, urban, peri-urban and natural".
The Italian honey bee is a fundamental factor in the productivity of the food needed by the planet: the presence of hives on the territory generates in Italy 2 billion euros of value of agri-food production, to which must be added the ecosystem contribution that bees guarantee to biodiversity, estimated at 150 billion euros.
Coldiretti's appeal
The decline in national honey production caused by climate change has left room for imports from abroad, which in 2022 grew by 12% for a quantity of over 26.5 million kilos, also coming from countries that do not always shine for transparency and food safety. This is what Coldiretti says, based on Istat data on the occasion of World AP Day. According to the survey "From the hives" of the Joint Research Center (CCR) of the European Commission, reports Coldiretti, among the samples of honey imported into the EU between 2021 and 2022, almost 1 in 2 (46%) is suspected of adulteration. The highest number is recorded by China (74%), with Turkey having the highest relative percentage of suspect samples (93%), while the UK has recorded an even higher doubtful sample rate (100%), probably because it is honey produced in other countries and further blended before being sent back to Europe. A worrying scenario against which it is possible to defend oneself with the purchase of Italian honey recognizable by the indications on the label, strongly desired by Coldiretti. For this reason, the young people of Coldiretti have mobilized throughout Italy with the campaign "God save the bees - Meno api meno futuro", in support of #mieleitaliano raising awareness among personalities from politics, culture, sport and entertainment.