A "pollination" tax or tax should be paid by agricultural producers to beekeepers. That is why honey producers in our country insist. The strange tax is already working in larger countries and has yielded positive results.
Associate Professor Yulian Stanchev is a hereditary beekeeper. Practically his entire life has been spent among beehives. He has his own motives for doing only this. "The bee with pollination provides 70% of humanity's food," explained the chairman of the Regional Beekeepers' Union - Pleven, quoted by Nova TV.
He is the author of a number of reports and a submitter of proposals to improve the situation in the sector. His latest proposal to the state is to introduce a "pollination" tax for agricultural producers. A similar practice existed in the USA. “Where pollination has been paid for 100 years. Beekeepers receive high remuneration. For example, last year for pollination of almonds, they received $175 per bee colony for pollination. And it lasts half a year. Hives are moved from southern states to Canada and the beekeeper's income is very high“, he explains.
In our country, such a practice existed, but it is rare. “We have suggested that beekeepers seek contractual relations with farmers, but this is very difficult to do. Herbs exist thanks to bees, but beekeepers do not receive anything from herb producers“, Stanchev specifies.
The past year 2024 is one of the worst for beekeepers, according to the industry. “It was a disastrous year with low yields. A number of beekeepers complain that bees are melting, high mortality. The bees did not fly away and could not find flowering plants. They could not fly away even if there was no nectar. And when you add the low purchase price. In our country it is a maximum of 4 leva. Beekeepers are unhappy“, he said.
The price of 4 leva per kilogram was also purchased wholesale, while retail honey is sold even three times more expensive. Against this background, the problem with the unregulated import of honey, of dubious quality, continued to exist. “In fact, this honey is imported from China and Ukraine throughout Europe. Other beekeepers are also worried because this honey is cheaper. It is artificially dried from the humidity of the nectar, they do not wait for it to be dried by the bees themselves, to be sealed. And they take it out, dry it artificially and offer it for honey“, adds Stanchev.
In addition to the lack of clear regulations and quality in the sector, beekeepers also face the problem of honey consumption by Bulgarians. “The consumption of honey in our country is much lower than in Europe, even in Greece and Turkey, where annual consumption is more than a kilogram per person, and in our country 400 grams“, he emphasized.