For those who have between 1,000 and 1,800 hives, the grace period is maintained but 10% interest is added to the repayment of the financing. This dynamic also includes the producers who made the affidavit out of date and were left out of the National Registry of Beehive Owners (RNPC)regardless of the size of your production.
Less honey in the hives
Also due to the drought, beekeepers hope that lproduction falls between 30% and 40%which would be equivalent to about 10,000 or 11,000 tons below the usual amount.
In this sense, there are areas of the country that add up to three years of drought with strong impacts on production, so that producers do not have any honey. In the less compromised areas, the credit lines authorized by the MGAP allow the purchase of sugar to feed the hives and stimulate production in the midst of water deficit.
Although an internal shortage is not foreseen since the largest amount of honey is for export, beekeepers find it difficult to place the product outside due to the low storage capacity.
The other negative side of the drought is the fires, that have already caused the loss of at least 200 hives.
The price of honey in fall
Another difficulty that beekeepers face is the plummeting international price: while a year ago it was sold abroad at around 3 dollars per kilo, today the values are only around 1.20 and 1.40 dollars per kilo of honey.
The war in Europe and inflation in first world countries, as well as the negative incidence of adulterated honey or fake honey at low prices from Asian countries depress the demand and the values of real honeys.
Added to this is the threat of mites varroa, that it was detected in the country; as well as the significant nutritional stress due to drought that affects the quality of life and longevity of bees.
Source: Ambito
