Hungarian beekeepers face uncertain future

DW (English)

Times are tough for Hungary's beekeepers: Costs are up, production is in decline and competition from Ukrainian honey is driving prices down. Not even Hungary's controversial import ban on Ukrainian products seems to be helping.

Transcript

00:00 Norbert comes from a family of beekeepers.

00:07 Norbert currently has seven apiary sites where he manages a total of 280 bee colonies.

00:23 He says he has never faced as many challenges as he does right now.

00:27 Bee production has dropped to a quarter of last year's volume, and demand has also declined

00:33 significantly. All of this has destroyed his plans.

00:41 Inflation in Hungary has been extreme, and Norbert's costs have exploded as a result.

01:07 The price of medication for bees, beehives and fuel have all gone up.

01:13 And since Russia invaded Ukraine and the EU removed customs duties on both Ukrainian grain

01:19 and honey, Ukrainian honey has been flooding the European market.

01:25 Although Hungary introduced a national ban on the importation of honey, prices across

01:29 Europe have fallen, driving Hungarian prices down with them.

01:36 The problem is that they don't check the residue of the medicine.

01:41 Ukraine is not a EU country, so they don't have any medicine in their supply.

01:48 So they only checked a sample from the UN and found DDT in their honey.

01:53 We have had a ban for 40 years, because the label was proven.

01:57 And then this honey ends up in the shelves of the shops, unfortunately.

02:05 Tibor faces the same major challenges.

02:08 He is storing his unsold honey in dozens of barrels in his backyard.

02:13 Obviously, I have it here because I want to make it valuable.

02:18 But the sale stopped, and the price has dropped to a level that is below production costs.

02:23 So I can't sell it like this.

02:40 The wholesale price of honey has halved since last year, and now averages around 1.50 euro per kilo.

02:47 However, producers need 2.60 euro per kilo just to break even.

02:55 The big, professional, really commercial companies that use this honey can survive.

03:12 Norbert has seen a growing number of his colleagues quit full-time beekeeping.

03:21 I know a few beekeepers in the capital who are looking for a job.

03:26 Someone bought a car repair service, and they paid for it.

03:31 They have the car repair service, and they have money from it.

03:46 I have a 66-hour training course, and I decided to learn it.

03:51 Every evening, when I get home, I do it for an hour every day.

03:56 If it doesn't work, I talk to the beekeeper, and I go to a two-and-a-half-year training course.

04:06 I have already seen it, and we will see what the future brings.

04:12 It would seem that not even the controversial national ban on importing Ukrainian agricultural products can save Hungary's beekeeping community.

04:21 The number of beekeepers is expected to shrink considerably in the next few years.

04:27 [Music]

04:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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