Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
The Azerbaijan Beekeepers Association expects a significant growth in honey production in the country in 2018, Head of the Association Badraddin Hasratov told Trend May 30.
He stressed that this year's natural conditions as well as an increase in the number of bee colonies have positively affected the honey production.
Unlike last year, he said, this year wintering of bees went well, without losses.
"The primary harvesting has already begun, and honey pitching has already begun in some regions. In addition, this year we have increased the number of bee colonies by almost 100,000. If we had 300,000 bee colonies in 2017, now we have almost 400,000. Considering all these, we expect that it will be possible to get about 10-15 kilograms of honey from each bee family, and its total production, taking into account the possible losses, will reach 5,000 tons," Hasratov said.
He further highlighted the measures taken to increase the yield of bees and improve the bee gene pool.
Honeybee gene pool nurseries have been created at the Beekeeping Center, he said.
"For this, with the support of the FAO, specialists were trained and gene pool nurseries were established, which were provided with the necessary equipment. In addition, samples of insects from various regions of Azerbaijan were collected in search for a pure genetic line of bees of gray mountain Caucasian breed, and sent to Ankara, where biological and genetic analyzes were carried out," Hasratov said.
In 2017, Azerbaijan produced 3,000 tons of honey.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an order on March 5 to stimulate the development of beekeeping. Under the decree, with an aim to stimulate the development of beekeeping in the country, to support small businesses and to provide employment in rural areas to individuals and legal entities engaged in beekeeping, a subsidy of 10 manats is set for each beehive for five years, including 2018.
($1 = 1.7 AZN on May 30).
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_Mammadov
