Honey Production

Romania is one of the European Union's most important honey producers. More than 50% of its honey is exported elsewhere in the European Union, on a par with fellow producers Spain and Hungary. But Romania's industry lacks the processing factories it needs to ensure its output stays pure, and a loophole in EU legislation enables the use of dangerous pesticides that beekeepers and NGOs say are killing the bee population. In 2015 and 2018, Romania led the EU in terms of annual honey production, and the country has ranked among the world's top 10 since 2011. The spike in Romania's industry - which has strong traditional roots â–“ is down to heavy investment, as well as the popularization of pastoral beekeeping, which is the practice of moving hives throughout the year so that bees have access to more pollen. The country's rich landscape of wild flora and fauna makes it ideal for cultivating honey, beekeepers say. At its height, Romania produced up to 35,000 tons of honey a year. For perspective, China leads global production with 300,000 tons, followed at a distance by Argentina, the United States, and Turkey at 80,000 tons each. Ukraine used to be up there, too, until the start of Russia's invasion in February. The war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact not only on its own status as a major honey producer but also on neighbouring Romania's beekeepers. The harvest in 2022 was half that of previous years, according to beekeepers, affected also by the severe drought that took up much of the season and racked up more expenses as beekeepers had to feed the bees at apiaries because of the lack of suitable flora. Only those who moved their bee colonies managed to produce any honey. There are more than 2 million officially registered beehives in Romania. Crops of sunflowers and acacias, as well as orchards, suffered from the lack of rainfall, which meant fewer flowers were pollinated. The beekeepers hoped to receive some assistance from Romania's Agriculture Ministry, but none came. Ioan Fetea, the president of the Association of Beekeepers of Romania, points out that other agricultural sectors were hit harder and thus the government was not likely to give them any aid. They asked for 40 million euros ($42 million) and if they were to even get 10% of that, it would be 4 million euros. They would be happy with that. Since June, the situation has worsened as they have had a lot of costs related to feeding the bees special syrups and cakes.