Is Hungarian honey in trouble?
The beekeeping season has just started, but you can already predict what kind of a season it will be. Honey production is even more important this year, as its immune-boosting effect may help fight the coronavirus epidemic.
The weather has a huge impact on honey production. The quantity, quality, and price of the honey produced also depend on the weather, writes napi.hu. Honey can strengthen our immune system, treat an existing disease, and flavour our food. Honey contains a lot of vitamins, minerals, and natural antibiotics. Because of these advantages, it is a well-loved product worldwide.
2021 has not been favourable to beekeeping so far.
“Rapeseed bloomed nicely this year, but the cool, rainy weather prevented the bees from spreading it, with fewer bees leaving the hive. Acacia is mostly frozen, we don’t expect a lot of honey from it either, so it’s likely to become more commercially expensive. We are still optimistic about sunflower, wild tobacco, and linden, as they will bloom later. We make mixed flower honey from these plants, which is otherwise slightly cheaper than variety honey, such as acacia honey,” said István Kónya, a beekeeper and honey producer.
Kónya said that between 15-30 thousand tonnes of Hungarian honey were produced every year, made by 1.2 million bee families of twenty thousand beekeepers. In Hungary, the per capita honey consumption is 0.9 kg per year. According to Kónya, it would be important to increase domestic honey consumption.
Honey has many positive effects on our health.
Honey increases the amount of haemoglobin in our body and helps the absorption of Calcium. It can also cure respiratory illnesses and infections. It can help with insomnia, insect bites, colds, as well as infected wounds. Honey contains many useful vitamins and minerals, such as Calcium, Magnesium, vitamins B1, B2, B4, C, and K.
According to Kónya, the weather is not conducive to honey production. Due to the cold and heavy rain, we can expect less honey this year, which will bring with it a rise in prices. However, the problem is even greater. Bees are dying worldwide. Hellovidek reports that more than 75% of the global food production depends on domestic and wild bee populations.
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Source: napi.hu, hellovidek.hu