As Stanisław Ból, president of the Polish Beekeeping Association, says in an interview with Farmer.pl, the problems of Polish beekeepers go far beyond the issue of importing honey from Ukraine.
– Ukraine is not the only market from which honey is imported to Poland. A whole stream of Chinese honey flows from the east. We are hearing that at the border such honey costs EUR 1-1.50 per kilogram. It’s impossible for authentic honey to cost such ridiculous amounts of money. I really don’t like the position of the Polish Chamber of Honey Association, which says that the most valuable are honey mixtures. It’s not true. We, as beekeepers, are inspected by the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection and if the pollen analysis result is not consistent with the criteria adopted for particular types of honey, the beekeeper is punished. But if honey is sold as a mixture, no one will face such penalties, says Stanisław Ból.
Beekeepers in a dramatic situation
As our interlocutor emphasizes, the fact that large amounts of honey are imported from abroad puts beekeepers – especially owners of large commercial apiaries – in a difficult situation. Most of them sold the produced honey to packaging companies. Currently, the flood of imported honey means that these companies are not interested in purchasing the product from domestic beekeepers. Ultimately, apiary owners were left with a large supply of honey from last year, and another beekeeping season is just around the corner:
– Therefore, the beekeeper is left with costs (even labor), but he is not sure whether he will have anywhere to sell the honey, not to mention obtain a satisfactory price – says Stanisław Ból.
As our interlocutor said, there is a chance to utilize the surplus of honey on the domestic market, at least to some extent. During a recent conference at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, there was an idea to use it to produce honey and lemon-based drinks, which would then be distributed in schools. On the one hand, it is a chance to improve the situation of beekeepers, and on the other hand, it is a great way to promote honey consumption.
PZP does not join the protests
Individual beekeepers, but also local beekeeping associations, are joining the protest organized by agricultural communities. Does the Polish Beekeeping Association intend to officially join these actions?
– There are no such plans at the moment. Of course, problems exist, but our organization wants to solve them diplomatically. As long as there is someone to talk to, we want to engage in such conversations. If there is no response from the ministry, we will consider other actions, concluded the PZP president.
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