Beekeepers need cheap loans

Ukraineranks first in the world for honey production per capita with the index of 1.5 kilogram. Such statement has been made by the Association “Ukrainian Agribusiness Club,” referring to the study AgriEvent. According to director of the agency “AgriEvent” Anatolii Tsyrkun, in recent years our state confidently holds a position among the world’s three leaders in honey production, getting ahead of all European countries. Ukraine’s closest competitor in honey production among the EU states is Spain, which ranks 11 positions behind Ukraine in the world’s top producers. Ukraine is also actively exporting honey to the EU.

While back in 2010 the main buyer of Ukrainian honey was Russia, starting from 2011, most of the supply of the sweet product goes to Germany – 39 and 49 percent in 2011 and 2012 respectively. “There is a positive trend of continuous increase in exports of honey from Ukraine, which almost doubled from nearly 7,000 to 13,000 tons over the past three years. In this sense, the year 2013 is expected to be not least productive: in the first six months Ukraine exported 7,900 tons and in general it is expected that the exports for the year will reach about 20,000 tons. This trend is the result of the fact that farmers are paying more and more attention to niche products, partially reducing the risk of sudden price fluctuations on grains and oilseeds,” commented Anatolii Tsyrkun.

According to the expert, 70,300 tons of honey was produced in Ukraine in 2012, which is 40 percent more than it was in 2000. If viewed by region, the largest producers of honey in 2012 became Donetsk, Mykolaiv, and Zhytomyr oblasts with 10,000, 6,000 and 5,000 tons of honey respectively.

Ukrainian honey is really the best in the world, according to an honorable beekeeper of Ukraine, head of the Bila Tserkva City and Regional Union of Beekeepers Hryhorii Tsekhmistrenko. “Two world congresses in Australia and Paris awarded two different kinds of Ukrainian honey the first prize. However, it is one thing to produce honey and pushing it to the world markets is something totally different,” said Tsekhmistrenko. Especially in a situation when the demand for honey is not going up. Therefore, the issue of sales is rather difficult. “Ukrainian people are not accustomed to consume honey in large quantities and more willingly buying vodka, meat, or bacon. What concerns external markets, it’s hard to get out there for the Ukrainian producers, especially to the European market, because the requirements they have for honey production are very complex. Since in Ukraine there is no effective organization that would have a nice lab for testing the quality of honey, every beekeeper is forced to look for markets and customers on his own,” explained Tsekhmistrenko. Those, who hadn’t mastered all the intricacies of marketing craft, work with resellers. “They are buying honey in the country for the small price from beekeepers, who have up to 20 bee colonies and who are not always able to get to a city to sell their product. Thus, resellers take their sweet products for 15-20 hryvnias per kilogram, while the real price of good honey is 40-50 hryvnias,” said Tsekhmistrenko.

Answering The Day’s question about whether it is profitable to engage in bee business today Tsekhmistrenko replied: “We are not businessmen, we are fans of beekeeping. In order to do real business and live from it, you need to have at least 200-250 bee colonies. Otherwise, all profits go to offset the cost of production of honey and bee-keeping.”

The director of “Reverse” Company (honey exporter) Volodymyr Harbuz added that honey from Ukraine has been sold in the EU for quite a while already. But the problems with exporting, indeed, exist. “The main problem is contamination of honey with antibiotics. Many beekeepers treat bees with antibiotics of not good quality,” explained Harbuz. But, in general, the amount of honey sold abroad – to the EU countries, the US, and Canada has been increasing with each year. “The main supply goes to the EU,” said Harbuz. According to his estimates, Ukraine’s export potential in this area is 20,000-30,000 tons per year. “If beekeepers could get cheap loans, this could be achieved in a year or two. There are many requests coming from Europe now. Half of them are satisfied,” added Harbuz.

However, it is not only the issue of antibiotics use that inhibits the output of Ukrainian beekeepers in the European market. Another barrier is the long term payment for the delivered products. On average it is 45 days from the delivery time until the actual payment is done. Typically, customers in the EU buy the cheaper sunflower honey, it is used as a sugar substitute. In Ukraine acacia, lime, and motley grass honey are in greater demand. The cost of a kilogram of Ukrainian honey in Europe is estimated at two euros, while the price in Ukraine is 35-40, and sometimes even 70 hryvnias. “In terms of receiving direct income, trade in Ukraine is more profitable for the beekeepers, but if to take the income from sales, then surely the EU is more attractive,” said Harbuz.

Beekeepers and exporters speak of the situation with honey import to Ukraine very calmly. All the talk about the importing of Chinese honey, according to them, is just a horror story. “If such honey appears in Ukraine it is then re-exported to other countries and does not stay here,” said an exporter.

The experts interviewed by The Day believe that over time, Ukraine will significantly increase the total exports of honey. “We can easily produce 50,000-80,000 tons of honey. What does it mean? It means that we can overtake even the world’s leading honey producers. China currently ranks first, followed by the US, then Argentina and Ukraine. Climate and geographical conditions allow Ukraine to produce a lot of sunflower honey that is in high demand worldwide. Therefore, it is time to prepare for global leadership in producing organic honey,” summed up Harbuz.

There is another disturbing fact that might cause the change in world’s leadership in honey production. A mass death of bees is observed in almost all the countries of the old world, while in the US the consequences of that are the most painful. Scientist from the University of Pennsylvania Maryann Frazier announced the said statistics saying that since 2006 some US apiaries lost up to 80 percent of bee colonies. Up to 30 percent of all bees do not survive winter each year. At some point, the bees simply abandon their hives and disappear or a mass suicide takes place. The situation with massive plaque of bees in the US is considered by many a “biological catastrophe,” and scientists defined it as a “collapse of bee colonies” (CBC) or a “honey bee depopulation syndrome.” The exact cause of the mysterious death of insects has not been called yet. Scientists name negative effects of chemicals, pesticides, and insecticides, mites, bacteria, fungi or viruses attacks as the most likely causes. They also do not rule out a drastic change in climate as a possible cause.