Beekeeping in Tajikistan
Beekeeping in Tajikistan was well developed by 1991, but was subsequently brought to the brink of destruction; currently, Tajik beekeeping, overcoming difficulties, is growing and achieving good results. What allowed beekeepers to revive the industry and what are the prospects for beekeeping in Tajikistan in the 21st century.
Content
- Beekeeping conditions in Tajikistan
- The difficulties of beekeeping in the 1990s
- Revival of Tajik beekeeping
- Difficulties of beekeeping in Tajikistan at the present stage
- Diseases and enemies of bees in Tajikistan
- Economic problems of beekeeping
- Where is the best honey in Tajikistan?
- Beekeeping in Tajikistan in the 21st century
Beekeeping conditions in Tajikistan
Tajikistan is a country of the highest mountains. Its peculiar nature is full of striking contrasts. The complex and dissected topography, vertical climate zones and other geographical and climatic factors contribute to a rich and unique flora, numbering more than 4 thousand species of flowering plants and more than 200 species of honey plants. Mountains occupy almost 93% of the territory, and despite this, the area of farmland and forests is 4.4 million hectares, their honey reserve, according to minimal estimates, is 132 thousand tons, which allows increasing the number of bee colonies to 480–500 thousand. However, the current level of use of honey reserves is no more than 6–10%.
The difficulties of beekeeping in the 1990s
In 1991, the maximum number of bee families in Tajikistan reached 248 thousand, the production of commercial honey - 6.2 thousand tons. Over the next years, beekeeping in the republic fell into severe decline. As a result of the civil war, political and economic reforms, the industry suffered enormous damage, up to the almost complete disappearance of apiaries in some areas. During this period, a lot of them were eliminated in personal farms of the population, state-owned breeding farms, and specialized large commercial farms in the public sector. The industry's inability to adapt to a market economy only aggravated the severity of the problem. As a result, the number of bee families and the production of commercial honey decreased in 1997 (relative to the maximum) by 18.1 and 620 times and amounted to 13.7 thousand and 10 tons, respectively.
Revival of Tajik beekeeping
Meanwhile, since 2000 the situation began to improve. The number of bee families and the production of commercial honey at the end of 2003 compared to 2000 increased from 29.1 to 42.8 thousand and from 172 to 524.9 tons, or by 47.1 and 205.2%, respectively. At the same time, the majority of families (from 69 to 83%) and the production of commercial honey (from 55 to 96%) occur in household apiaries of the population. In agricultural enterprises, which includes all state and public organizations, the share of these indicators is insignificant - 14–26 and 3–23%, respectively, and in these categories of farms, from year to year, as a result of denationalization, there is a steady decline in the number of bee colonies and honey production. Due to the lack of government incentives and support, farms are in the worst situation, accounting for only 1.3-7.2% of bee colonies and 1.0-21.5% of honey production.
Another important indicator is the yield of marketable honey per bee family increased throughout the republic from 5.9 kg in 2000 to 12.2 kg in 2003. At agricultural enterprises and farms it decreased from 5.7 to 2.0 kg and from 17.6 to 6.1 kg, respectively, and in home apiaries, on the contrary, there is a stable increase - from 4.7 to 14.2 kg.
Given this state of affairs, profitable beekeeping in Tajikistan is not possible, however, in recent years the demand for packages of bees, foundation, hives, honey extractors and other equipment has sharply increased, which is associated, on the one hand, with the wear and depletion of previous stocks, and on the other - with increasing interest of people in beekeeping. The small amount of small equipment coming from Russia is clearly not enough. Therefore, urgent measures are needed to restore previous workshops for the production of equipment and organize new ones. The widespread use of local resources should significantly reduce the cost of manufactured products.
Difficulties of beekeeping in Tajikistan at the present stage
There is also an acute shortage of high-quality foundation, therefore, in the regional centers, Garm and Pamir regions, foundation production workshops should be organized, in which the “Margarita” line produced by Agat CJSC (Saratov region) can be installed. This is entirely within the capabilities of the newly created beekeepers’ associations.
In the republic, over the years of reforms, a lot of problems have accumulated regarding the organization of breeding work, and without this one cannot count on progress in the industry. Government assistance is needed to restore the network of state breeding apiaries, which, along with preserving and improving the breeding and productive qualities of the local bee population, should engage in purebred breeding of zoned breeds. Moreover, the production of early queen bees and package bees is one of the economically profitable areas of the industry in the republic.
Diseases and enemies of bees in Tajikistan
The tasks of veterinary protection of bees from diseases, their diagnosis and differentiation, especially foulbrood diseases, remain relevant. The development of comprehensive measures for the prevention and treatment of diseases is the primary task of district, regional and city veterinary services.
Due to the narrow range of agents used to combat varroa (mainly oxalic acid and bipin) and the lack of comprehensive measures against it, the disease causes enormous damage to beekeeping. Moreover, varroatosis provokes the progression of ascospherosis, foulbrood and other diseases. Therefore, it is important to carry out veterinary activities in apiaries comprehensively and according to a strict schedule. They should include not only drug treatment, but also zootechnical and other control methods. It is because of varroa that colonies often have an unsatisfactory winter or die, although in Tajikistan the winter maintenance of bees does not cause such problems as in most regions of Russia. Warm and mild winters allow them to fly off frequently, so the problem of nosematosis practically does not exist. However, treatment against varroa and preparation of bees for wintering must be carried out at the optimal time (before the end of September). In winter, bee colonies must go with a sufficient supply of food: for the foothills and southern zones at least 12-15 kg, for the mountains - 18-20 kg.
The quality of medicines imported into the republic leaves much to be desired. Beekeepers often complain about the low effectiveness of the products they use; there are frequent cases of bees dying after using them. In this case, without strengthening control over the quality of drugs by the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan, the situation will not improve.
Improving methods of controlling pests and bee predators also plays an important role. In recent years, wasps, philanthus, hornets and bee-eaters have caused significant damage to apiaries, sometimes destroying 10–30% of colonies. From the end of July to mid-September, when the nectar production of the cotton plant continues, apiaries freeze due to the massive raid of the bee-eater, the flight of bees almost completely stops, and this bird destroys single-flying insects.
Economic problems of beekeeping
Other prevailing problems in the industry include economic ones, since in market conditions one cannot count on government assistance. The sale of honey alone will not provide a profit, and in most cases its insignificant yield per bee colony makes maintaining an apiary unprofitable. Meanwhile, world experience shows that the integrated use of bees for the production of various types of products, in particular biologically active products, is a promising direction. Thus, in countries with developed beekeeping, more than 400 therapeutic and prophylactic drugs based on biologically active substances are produced. For Tajikistan, with its dozens of mountain sanatorium-resort hospitals, the widespread use of apitherapy and BAPPs in the practice of official medicine is of great socio-economic importance.
It is necessary to approach the problem in a differentiated manner and improve the technology for the production of non-traditional beekeeping products in relation to local conditions, ensure the optimal development of bee families, their resistance to disease and good wintering. Due to the location of beekeeping areas at different altitudes (from 300 to 2500 m or more above sea level) and climatic conditions, nomadic beekeeping is highly effective in the republic. With two or three migrations (or even more) per season from south to north and back, colonies can be used to obtain early queens and at the same time pollinate gardens (March-April), produce packages of bees (with the end of the period of change of wintering bees) and additionally to obtain honey and wax. It is quite possible to combine this with the production of pollen, propolis, royal jelly and other dietary supplements.
Where is the best honey in Tajikistan?
In the specific conditions of some high-mountainous areas (off-road, etc.), stationary beekeeping is effective. The specialization of apiaries for the production of mountain honey, which has long been famous for its medicinal properties, taste, aroma and is in great demand, is beneficial here. Analyzes of mountain honeys from Gissar and Pamir, carried out in 2003 by the All-Russian Research Institute, confirmed their high quality. Our observations over the past 15 years in this zone show that with good preparation of families for honey collection, each can produce 20–25 kg of marketable honey, and from families with a helper queen - more than 30 kg.
Along with honey, in the high mountain zone you can get environmentally friendly dietary supplements: pollen, propolis and royal jelly. However, it should be taken into account that in the mountains the beekeeping season is much shorter, and the wintering period is longer. Here, with the end of the main harvest (late July - mid-August), the supply of pollen and nectar to the colonies sharply decreases, and brood rearing is correspondingly reduced, while in the valley (with irrigation) the increase in the strength of colonies for wintering continues until October. Therefore, in the mountain zone
Not different types of products must be produced in optimal combination and with timely and proper preparation of families for wintering.
It should be noted that the Republic has adopted the Law on Beekeeping, which provides the industry with a legal framework.
XXI century gave rise to a new rise in beekeeping in Tajikistan. The practical implementation of all the tasks facing the industry today requires solving many problems. Meanwhile, the rational use of advanced technologies for keeping and using bees gives beekeeping the opportunity to become one of the highly profitable branches of the agro-industrial complex.
Beekeeping in Tajikistan in the 21st century
By 2023, the number of bee colonies has grown to 180,000 colonies. How was Tajik beekeeping able to ensure its growth in the 21st century?
First of all, it is worth noting the work of the government, which began to develop a sectoral program for the development of beekeeping in Tajikistan every 5 years. The “Program for the restoration and further development of the beekeeping industry in the Republic of Tajikistan for 2006-2010” was adopted; its implementation was entrusted to the State Unitary Enterprise of Beekeeping “Med of Tajikistan”. Subsequently, the “Beekeeping Development Program in the Republic of Tajikistan for 2011-2016” was adopted and implemented.
Since 2006, a traditional honey festival has been held annually throughout the country. The annual honey festival is held with a large exhibition of beekeeping products, first in cities and regions of the country through a competition-fair and sale of honey and beekeeping products, and then the winners gather in Dushanbe, which leads to sales of honey, recognition of Tajik apiaries with the best honey, exchange of experience and developing connections between beekeepers. Specialists and beekeepers from Tajikistan regularly participate in international conferences on beekeeping.
Every year, scientific conferences and seminars on the development of beekeeping are held in remote and mountainous areas of the country.
Measures were taken to improve the breed composition of bees in Tajikistan; the Carpathian bee became the main breed of bees in Tajik apiaries. This was facilitated by the peacefulness of bees, early development, good winter hardiness, good work on forbs, the Carpathian bee is still a mountain bee and is well adapted to mountain conditions.
The best hives for the conditions of Tajikistan are recognized as 12 frame double-hull hives on the Dadan frame, as well as 16 frame beds. These hives provide good wintering, rapid spring development and greater honey collection.
