In 2020 there were around 426,000, the Ministry of Agriculture reported in a broadcast. “This positive balance is also proof that our environment is intact. We are on the right track,” said Minister of Agriculture Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP).
Most bee colonies are therefore in Upper Austria, Lower Austria and Styria. A bee colony consists of 20,000 to 50,000 bees and produces 20 to 25 kilograms of honey per year. In the 2020/2021 marketing year, honey production was around 4,100 tons. “We owe not only the honey to bees, but above all their pollination work, with which they preserve biodiversity and enable food production,” says Totschnig.
There are few professional beekeepers with more than 150 bee colonies in Austria. In contrast, the proportion of part-time and leisure beekeepers is very high at almost 99 percent.
Source: Nachrichten
