“In Ukraine in 2024, bee mortality in the controlled territory was 20-25%, which is significantly higher than the pre-war indicators.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
In Ukraine in 2024, bee mortality in the controlled territory was 20-25%, which is significantly higher than the pre-war indicators. The director of the National Scientific Center “Institute of Beekeeping named after P. I. Prokopovich” Volodymyr Postoenko told about this, reports “Interfax-Ukraine”. High mortality is explained by unfavorable weather conditions in spring and summer, which led to a reduction in the area of honey-bearing plants. “The year 2024 was very difficult for beekeepers due to a sharp change in climate. In the spring period, white acacia is very important for the development of bee colonies. During its flowering period, there were frosts throughout Ukraine. The bees did not get honey from it. Then there was a problem with an important honey-bearing plant – sunflower. Advertising: Due to the drought, its yield was low, it did not produce nectar and the development of bee colonies did not take place equal to 20-25%,” said Postoenko. Previously, the mortality of bees in Ukraine was mainly associated with the lack of information about chemical treatment of fields by agrarians. However, the state introduced a number of legislative initiatives that significantly improved the situation with informing beekeepers about chemical treatments. The director of the Institute of Beekeeping drew attention to the fact that there are no reliable statistics for the industry, since only 5% of beekeepers are engaged in industrial production, the other 95% are represented by households. They, in turn, avoid paying taxes and, accordingly, reporting on their activities is approximate.Advertisement: Before the war, according to unofficial statistics, there were 3-3.5 million bee colonies in Ukraine. In addition, unofficial statistics say that the apiaries that existed before the war in the current occupied territory make up about 30% of the total number of apiaries in Ukraine before the war,” Postoenko clarified. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, before the full-scale war in Ukraine as of January 1 In 2022, the number of bee colonies was 2.6 million. During the two years of full-scale war in Ukraine (2022-2023), the number of bee colonies decreased by 13.8% and amounted to 2.3 million. In the top five regions for beekeeping, as of January 2024 year, included Khmelnytsky region, where 376,600 bee families live, Vinnytsia – 188,900, Kirovohrad – 149,900, Zhytomyr – 149,000, Ivano-Frankivsk – 140,500. “As a result of hostilities of the Russian Federation on on the territory of Ukraine, the livestock sector, in particular the beekeeping sector, has undergone destructive and destructive configurations,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy commented to the agency. We will remind: the minister appealed to the European Commission to take protective measures regarding the import of honey from Ukraine to Bulgaria of agriculture and food of this country, Georgy Takhov, at the meeting of the EU Council on agriculture and fisheries, his request was supported by the representative of Romania.