Beekeeping in Slovakia history and modern reality
Slovakia is an Eastern European country, which is comfortably located between Poland and Hungary, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, there are many interesting moments in the history of beekeeping in Slovakia, but modern trends in the development of Slovak beekeeping are no less interesting, which we will talk about in this article. Read to the end it will be interesting.
Content
- History of beekeeping in Slovakia
- Slovak beekeeping in transition
- Modern beekeeping in Slovakia
- What is the best honey in Slovakia
- Honey plants in Slovakia
- What are the bees in Slovakia
- What kind of beehives are in the apiaries of Slovakia
- Beekeeping season in an apiary in Slovakia
- Diseases of bees in apiaries in Slovakia
- Support for beekeeping in Slovakia
- Scientific work in beekeeping in Slovakia
- Structure of beekeeping in Slovakia
- Problems of beekeepers in Slovakia
- Organizations of beekeepers in Slovakia
History of beekeeping in Slovakia
Beekeeping in Slovakia has a long history. References to beekeeping on the territory of Slovakia are contained in the treatise of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 BC), the notes of the philosopher Prisk (448), the document of the monastery in Hronsky Benyadik (1075) and other written sources of the past. For centuries, beekeeping in Slovakia has been promoted by priests, teachers, and later scientists, lawyers and other professionals and beekeeping enthusiasts. The first book on beekeeping in Slovak was published in 1775. Since 1849, news and information about beekeeping have been regularly published in newspapers and magazines.
At the beginning of the 19th century, regional associations of beekeepers began to appear, and in 1869 Stefan Zavodnik created the first association of beekeepers covering the entire territory of Slovakia. In 1921, an experimental bee farm was established in Svarino, and in 1928, a beekeeping research station in Liptovsky Hradok, which in 1939 received the status of a beekeeping research institute. Since 1923, the professional magazine "Beekeeper" (Vcelar) has been published. In 1932, with the funds collected by beekeepers, a public cultural and educational center, the Beekeeping Apiary, was created in Kraleva near Senets. In 1975, a beekeeping museum was established on its territory.
The time after the end of the First World War until 1989 was a period of continuous development of Slovak beekeeping. In 1920, there were 91 thousand, and in 1989 - 480 thousand bee colonies, as a result of which Slovakia became the world leader in the number of bee colonies per square kilometer (7.5 pcs / sq. km). In the eighties, processing enterprises bought an average of 3.5 thousand tons of honey per year (in the record year 1982 - 5 thousand tons). The number of beekeepers during this period was 38 thousand people.
Slovak beekeeping in transition
With the end of socialist Czechoslovakia and the formation of two independent states on its territory in Slovakia, the number of state and cooperative farms began to decrease, the number of beekeepers and bee colonies decreased, and honey production decreased. The decline in the industry continued for ten years and stopped at the beginning of the 2000s. Subsequently, the intensification of production led to the fact that the honey productivity of an average bee colony doubled, and honey production in the country recovered to 3.5-4 thousand tons per year. In terms of per capita honey consumption (1.1-1.3 kg per year), Slovakia today surpasses most other EU countries.
Modern beekeeping in Slovakia
Key indicators of Slovak beekeeping in 2015:
Number of beekeepers (thousand people) 17.1
Number of bee colonies (thousand pieces) 279
Honey production (tons) 4296
Import of honey (tons) 2668
Export of honey (tons) 879
What is the best honey in Slovakia
Slovak beekeepers boast some of the best quality honey they collect from the mountains and valleys of Slovakia. Among flower honey, acacia, chestnut, rapeseed, sunflower honey are common.
Forest honey is absolutely unique. This is honey from forest herbs, which bees collect from about 120 honey plants. Honeydew honey is very popular, which beekeepers in Slovakia collect in the mountains in June and July - from spruce, fir, oak.
But forest honey is rarely seen on the shelves of Slovak stores.
Honey occupies an important place in the Slovak national cuisine and is used to make gingerbread, sweets, muesli, chocolate bars with honey, nuts with honey, sweet soft drinks and mead. Honey consumption per capita in Slovakia is lower than the EU average (0.3 kg - 0.7 kg). One of the explanations for this phenomenon is the export orientation of Slovak beekeeping. Slovak beekeepers export 30-50% of their honey. These are mainly forest honeydew and monofloral honeys. The main buyers of Slovak honey are the EU countries - the Czech Republic, Spain and Germany.
Honey production by regions in 2015 (tonnes):
Bratislava 170
Western Slovakia 1700
Central Slovakia 1259
Eastern Slovakia 1167
Total: 4296
Honey from small apiaries and small honey producers enters the Slovak market. According to a study on store shelves at the end of 2018, conducted by the Slovak Chamber of Agriculture and Food, the share of Slovak honey was at the level of 69%, i.e. out of 100 kg of honey sold, 69 were from Slovak beekeepers.
Slovak honey wins many prizes at world competitions. The Slovak honey standard allows a water content of 18% in honey.
Recently, the demand for honey in Slovakia has been growing faster than its production. As a result, honey imports increase and its exports decrease. The main suppliers of honey to Slovakia are Ukraine, Moldova, China and EU countries.
In Slovakia, there are several modern honey processing plants that meet EU standards.
Dynamics of import and export of honey in 2013-2017 (tons): 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Import of honey 5495 2870 2668 1587 1692
Export of honey 2027 1482 879 224 537
The trend of recent years is to buy honey from a beekeeper in the apiary, consumers are looking for high-quality Slovak honey in local stores and are ready to pay for it. For example, in Bratislava, a kilogram of honey can be bought for about 15 euros, in the east of Slovakia, honey costs from 5 to 6 euros.
Honey plants in Slovakia
The development of beekeeping in Slovakia is facilitated by its unique nature and rich honey base. About 40% of the territory of Slovakia is occupied by broad-leaved and coniferous forests, there are 9 national parks and 14 large-scale protected natural areas with a total area of 1.1 million hectares. According to experts, this potential makes it possible to significantly increase the production of honey and other bee products - "under favorable economic conditions."
In 2019, a memorandum was signed between the Slovak Association of Beekeepers and the state enterprise Lesy SR on the allocation of places in the forests for apiaries to local beekeepers.
What are the bees in Slovakia
Krainka (A.m. carnica) is the native breed of bees in Slovakia. Six lines of local carnica are bred in five nurseries and 30 multipliers. In 2002, they produced 9,000 queens. It is also allowed to import queen bees of some other lines of Krainka from neighboring countries. The importation of bees of other breeds is prohibited. Artificial insemination of queen bees in Slovakia was practiced on a very limited scale (100 queens per year at the beginning of the 2000s), but over time, the popularity of such breeding of bees is growing.
For 2021, seven lines of carnica were bred in Slovakia - Tatranka, Kosichanka, Karnika Sokol, Shahanka, Voynichanka, Sitnyanka, Julia (Tatranka, Košičanka, Carnica Sokol, Šahanka, Vojničanka, Sitňanka, Júlia).
What kind of beehives are in the apiaries of Slovakia
The most popular types of hives: on a frame 420*275 mm (local name "Tatran" or "B" - В 9, В 10, В 11 (the number corresponds to the number of frames in the hive) and on a frame 370*300 mm ("Czechoslovak") The hives of Langstroth and Dadan, the Optimal hive are popular in Slovak apiaries, but not to the same extent as in other countries of the region.Hives can be insulated or not insulated.
Beekeeping tools and equipment are not produced in Slovakia. Everything you need is purchased in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Beekeeping season in an apiary in Slovakia
The beekeeping season in most of the country lasts from early March to late October. The main spring honey collection is from wild apple trees, willow, acacia and rapeseed, and summer - from clover, sunflower and meadow herbs. In mountain forests honeydew honey is collected from spruce and fir. Other important honey plants in the forest zone are blueberries and raspberries.
Winter losses of bees in Slovakia are at the level of 10%.
Diseases of bees in apiaries in Slovakia
Amitraz strips (Avartin), a pyrethroid preparation (Gabon PA, PF), and formic acid (Fumidol, Apiform) are used to control varroa mite. To combat foulbrood since the end of 2002, only the most radical measure has been practiced - the destruction of infected bee colonies.
Support for beekeeping in Slovakia
With the accession of Slovakia to the EU in 2004, its national program for the development of beekeeping began to be supported by subsidies from the EU budget. For the period from 2016 to 2019, the EU allocated 3.4 million euros for this program. A similar amount has been allocated from the Slovak budget.
The regulation in the field of beekeeping and its products in Slovakia has been brought into line with the legal framework of the European Union.
Scientific work in beekeeping in Slovakia
Research in the field of beekeeping and its products is carried out by the Research Institute of Beekeeping in Liptovský Hradku, the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, the University of Agriculture in Nitra, the University of Veterinary Medicine in Kosice and the Specialized Institute for Food Industry in Dolny Kubina. Breeding of the main honey bee in Slovenia - karniki - is carried out by 6 farms and 60 stations-loudspeakers.
Institute of Beekeeping in Liptovský Hradku, the main directions of his scientific activity are the physiology, biology and pathology of bees, the development of the honey base, as well as the fight against bee diseases.
Scientific but - research activities in the field of beekeeping are coordinated by the Institute of Beekeeping, which cooperates with the University of Agriculture and the University of Veterinary Medicine.
Structure of beekeeping in Slovakia
In 2015, about 80% of beekeepers have less than 20 bee families on their farm, about 20% - 21-150 bee families and 0.3% - more than 150 bee families. There were only 56 professional beekeepers - owners of more than 150 bee families in 2015. Among them were several beekeepers with more than 300 bee colonies.
As of 2022, beekeeping in Slovakia is based on small beekeepers, whose apiaries have up to 18 bee colonies. Their market share is up to 95 percent. Together with several dozen large producers, they annually produce about 5-6 thousand tons of honey.
Problems of beekeepers in Slovakia
The beekeepers in Slovakia are currently under a bureaucratic burden - sending documents in paper form to the Agricultural Payment Agency (ASP) and to the CEZ (Central Register of Farm Animals) system.
For example, in order to become an amateur beekeeper, before you buy a bee colony, a person must complete an application for registration of farm animals, as well as a breed registration form, which you provide to your local regional veterinary and food administration (RVPS).
After checking the facts, the RVPS will validate the breeding registration form, i.e. will approve the place where you place the bees. Subsequently, you can purchase bee colonies and notify the start of beekeeping within 7 days by filling out a standard bee breeding notification form that you submit to the relevant regional veterinary and food administration.
You will then send both completed and validated forms from the RVPS (breeding registration and beekeeping notification) to the central register of farm animals - CEHZ.
All beekeeping operations are under the control of the RVPS and must be registered with the central register of farm animals. Beekeeping in Slovakia without registration is illegal!
At the same time, the beekeeper is obliged to keep a record of the medicines and veterinary drugs used in bee colonies in the form of a Book of Veterinary Procedures and provide them upon request.
In agricultural production, the sowing of monocultures, intensive farming with the use of extremely poisonous preparations, and the import of cheap Asian honey are expanding. However, the practical problems do not end there.
High inflation in Slovakia caused a rise in the cost of selling and manufacturing beehives by 20 percent, prices for stainless steel tools and machines increased by 35 percent over the year. Glass containers for honey increased in price by 10 percent. Prices for other goods, such as medicines and feed, will increase by 10-15 percent during the season. All this greatly reduces the income of Slovak beekeepers.
Organizations of beekeepers in Slovakia
More than 90% of beekeepers are members of two beekeeping associations: the Association of Slovak Beekeepers (Slovenský zväz včelárov) - created in 1957 - ABA, of which the majority of beekeepers are members, and the Union of Slovak Beekeepers, renewed in 1990, in which 13% of organized beekeepers are members.
The Union of Slovak Beekeepers trains beekeepers on the basis of a specialized school for agricultural specialists in Banska Bystrica.
Through its organization, the Slovak Union of Beekeepers supports its members in obtaining state subsidies for beginner beekeepers.
Also, the Slovak Association of Beekeepers provides its members with subsidies, for example:
up to 50% for the purchase of technical equipment (honey extractor, printing table, etc.), up to 50%, up to 500 euros for monitoring the seasonal state of bee colonies, up to 100% for the purchase of veterinary drugs and much more.
