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According to the information given by Turkish Beekeepers’ Association (TAB) Chairperson Ziya Şahin, a 28-kilogram honey tin, which could be produced for 450-500 TL last year, is produced for 650-780 TL this year.
According to TURKSTAT, although honey prices rose by 20 percent to 53 TL in the 2020-2021 September range, this hike reflected on the consumer, reaches 60 percent annually, according to TAB data.
Şahin said, “Despite the 55 percent annual rise in our costs, the price of the honey we sell, could increase in the range of 15-25 percent annually. Citizens have consumed 60 percent more expensive. Actually firms eat the cream of the work.”
10 THOUSAND HIVES DAMAGED, 150 THOUSAND RISKY…
Şahin stated that a total of 10 thousand beehives were damaged due to the fires in the summer months. Noting that there are 30 thousand bees in a hive, Şahin announced that tens of thousands of bees have died.
Stating that 6-7 thousand beehives were lost in Muğla province, where there are a total of 1 million 200 thousand hives, Şahin explained, “150 thousand hives are still at risk in a single district of Muğla. However, we need to look at the whole, not regionally. In Manavgat district of Antalya province where there are 250-300 thousand hives in total, 1,700 hives were damaged by fires. While 1.600 of the 80 thousand beehives were lost in Kastamonu province, 400 out of 25 thousand were damaged in the fire in Osmaniye province too.”
BEEKEEPERS DEMAND DEBT DEFERRED…
Indicating that the beekeeper’s loss of hive is covered by the state, Şahin added, “The postponement we have requested months ago has not been made for the debts to Tarım Kredi (Turkish Agricultural Credit Cooperatives Union) and Ziraat Bank.”
“A total of 82 thousand families across Turkey are engaged in beekeeping, 80 percent of them do beekeeping in migratory conditions. Each of our businesses can do this by taking a loan of 100-150 thousand TL annually. This is a serious number. The most important issue for now is the postponement of the debt burden of our beekeepers. We demand that all our beekeepers’ debts to Turkish Agricultural Credit Cooperatives Union and Ziraat Bank to be deferred,” Şahin concluded…
