Many professional beekeepers could give up in the foreseeable future due to soaring expenses and insufficient backing by lawmakers, an apiarist has warned.
German beekeeper Klaus Ahrens said he and his peers had to spend 30 to 40 per cent more on their operations in the past two years compared to harvesting seasons before the cost-of-living crisis.
The full-time apiarist from Faßberg, Lower Saxony, emphasised: “At the same time, our turnover decreased by 20 to 40 per cent. Consumers are unwilling or incapable to pay more for regional honey.”
Members of the federal German parliament, the Bundestag, recently rejected a ‘pollination bonus’ bill. Proposed by the left-wing opposition faction Die Linke, it would have meant that every apiarist in the country received an annual ‘pollination bonus’ of EUR 60 (GBP 52) for each colony they managed.
Klaus said: “What infuriates me in particular is that politicians apparently make their decisions without consulting experts. As far as I know, none of the MPs in the committee where the issue had been negotiated got in touch with any professional beekeeper.”
The pollination activities of honeybees and the hundreds of solitary bee species are essential to the agricultural production of food. Apiarists have been criticised over their alleged ignorance regarding the conservation of native species.
Speaking about the importance of Germany’s professional apiarists, Klaus explained: “Half of all bee colonies in Germany are managed by just three per cent of the country’s beekeepers.”
The German Union of Professional Beekeepers calls for subsidiary payments to every beekeeper with more than 25 colonies.
Furthermore, the organisation, which represents around 4,500 apiarists, urges the government to reintroduce customs duties for honey from abroad.
At the same time, bureaucratic obligations and taxes need to be lowered, the association said.
Around 34,000 tonnes of honey were reportedly produced in Germany in 2022. The country’s average per-capita consumption of the product is 935 grammes.
