Ministry of Agriculture: Hungary is an agricultural country that loves honey and bees

By: STA Date: 2022. 08. 25. 19:16

The entire Hungarian society highly values the work of Hungarian beekeepers, who make one of the most nutritious and valuable foods in the world available to us, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy stated at the International Beekeeping Congress in Istanbul on Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture (AM) told MTI.

The activities of beekeepers are also strongly supported by the national government, as evidenced by the introduction of a pollination subsidy (Photo: Pixabay)

According to the announcement, the minister reminded that Hungary is one of the largest honey producers in the European Union. Hungary has one of the highest bee densities in Europe, with around 13 bee colonies per square kilometer. Almost 1.2 million bee colonies and 20 thousand beekeepers live in Hungary. The country’s ecological conditions are favorable for beekeeping almost everywhere. Between 25,000 and 30,000 tons of honey are produced annually in Hungary, 60 percent of which is exported. “Our acacia honey is a curiosity, hungaricum, but our varietal and mixed honeys are also of excellent quality – added the minister.

Since 2010, producers have already been supported with 50 million euros through the National Beekeeping Program

A bee animal welfare tender was announced, unique in the European Union, with a budget of 25 million euros. The success of the measures is clearly shown by the fact that since 2010, honey consumption per capita has been continuously increasing in Hungary and the number of beekeepers is not decreasing, the minister pointed out.

István Nagy stressed that Hungary and Budapest await the beekeepers of the world with friendship and warm hearts and can be a worthy venue for the 2025 Apimondia, the ministry’s statement reads.

MTI