The amount of honey produced in Bulgaria is decreasing, although bee colonies and hives are increasing. This is indicated by the data from the latest agrarian report of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The price at which beekeepers manage to sell their production is also becoming lower. Over 34,000 bee colonies have died in our country in the last year
By the end of 2024, the number of bee colonies in Bulgaria is 838,000, which is three percent more than the previous year, but the honey produced is nearly 7% less and is just over 10,000 tons. The trend of reducing small apiaries and increasing the number of large ones with over 100 hives is maintained.
More than half of the honey that beekeepers manage to produce is sold to processing companies, but the problem is that the companies buy the honey at the lowest price - for the last year the price reached was 4.40 leva per kilogram, which is lower than the previous year.
Beekeepers receive twice as high a price in Direct Sales to End Users, but retail sales are only 2,000 tons.
The number of dead bee colonies is over 34,000. Due to the lack of state support and a consistent policy for the protection of bees, honey producers protest frequently, and in their last protest a few days ago they demanded a moratorium on the construction of photovoltaic and wind power plants, which they believe have a harmful effect on bees.