An Austrian apiarist has revealed how the support from her fellow association members has helped her to get started.
Silvia Ritter is a member of the Viennese Imkerinnen und Imker Wien West association.
Reflecting on her beginnings, she told the local online newspaper MeinBezirk: “Especially at the start, guidance and support by experienced apiarists is highly important. You’re in charge of hundreds of animals and you want to ensure that they are doing fine.”
Silvia said she appreciates the manifold activities the beekeeping club in western Vienna is offering.
The Imkerinnen und Imker Wien West – which was founded at allotments in Vienna’s Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus district in 1920 – holds member conferences on a regular basis.
Its specialised library features around 350 books and DVDs about apiculture.
The association also hosts ‘honey sensor’ events where beekeepers are trained to differentiate the various local sorts of honey.
Silvia explained: “There are few conifers in Vienna, so the city’s beekeepers can hardly produce any forest honey which has a very distinctive taste and colour.”
There are more than 33,000 beekeepers in Austria, according to the Federal Ministry Of Agriculture. In the 2020/2021 business year, the 456,000 honeybee colonies that exist across the country produced 4,100 tonnes of honey.
Austria has nine million inhabitants. The country was ranked 13th among the EU-27 in the European Commission’s 2021 honeybee hive statistics.
Beekeeping is most popular in the provinces of Upper Austria and Lower Austria. However, there is also a highly active beekeeping community in the capital city of Vienna.
