A HONEYED VEIN

A turning point has been reached in Azerbaijani apiculture. A number of ventures are being implemented in the country which envisage the formations of a contemporary production basis in the sector, the selection of bee species, boosting the volume of production and bringing the end product to foreign markets. The above-mentioned projects will be supported not only by the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Laws, programmes, benefits

Small-scale production, the absence of cooperatives, the lack of the latest technologies, including the absence of state-of-the-art enterprises providing for the collection and packaging of the products of wild-honey farming and finally insufficiently expert veterinary back-up, without which it is impossible to diagnose and treat bees according to the latest methods, are just a few of the problems facing a considerable numbers of Azerbaijani bee-keepers.

Most of the above-mentioned negative phenomena can be traced back to the 1990s. In that period bee-keeping decreased by 45 per cent, ten specialised apiculture state farms were reorganised, the sectoral infrastructure collapsed, especially the veterinary segment. In the initial stage of land reform, the owners of small apiaries simply did not have sufficient financing, technical possibilities and experience to turn bee-keeping into a dynamic, profitable, export-driven agricultural sector. 

Striking changes have undoubtedly taken place in apiculture over the last few years. State involvement and the backing of international specialist organisations have made apiculture an institution and developed the sector's infrastructure.

The first comprehensive measures to develop apiculture were outlined in Azerbaijan's State Programme for Food Security adopted in 2008 and covering the period up to 2015. 

The next step was the law "On apiculture" adopted in 2009, which regulates the terms in this field, and, what is most important, is called upon to ensure the conditions are right for the export market. "The rules for exercising state control in apiculture" adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers a year ago, pursued similar aims. These rules were aimed at preserving the bee population's gene pool, observing the veterinary requirements on the part of bee-keeping subjects, providing for the output of top-quality apiculture products and so forth.

A number of bee-keeping associations have been set up in the country over the last decade, which together with Ministry of Agriculture experts have organised the provision of bee-gardens with medicinal reparations, special equipment, helped to ensure veterinary monitoring and so forth. Over the last few years the sector has actively received financial backing from the National Fund for Support of Entrepreneurship. Moreover, up until 2019 Azerbaijan's government has exempted bee-keepers from taxation, apart from tax on the land.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has also rendered assistance to the pilot project in this field as well. On the agency's initiative, dozens of Azerbaijani farmers have studied the experience of bee-keeping professionals in Turkey, TIKA has also rendered technical assistance and made it possible to set up experimental apiaries for breeding queen bees and so forth. 

All the above-mentioned measures, as well as the favourable natural climatic conditions and rich feeding stocks have boosted the number of apiaries and the popularity of this type of activity in the countryside. Thus, over the last 12 years, the number of bee colonies in the republic has increased by two and a half times. According to last year's figures, something like 240,000 swarms of bees were counted in the country, and approximately 7,500 bee-keeping farms are engaged in wild honey production.

Today there are approximately 32 specialised breeding structures supplying the bee-keepers with families of purebred bees. The almost 2,500 tonnes of honey produced last year is nowhere near what the sector could potentially produce. According to Ministry of Agriculture estimates, the country's food crop base would allow the numbers of swarms of honey bees to be increased at least five-fold and for the productivity to be boosted two- to three-fold.

The list of problems

For the moment the average annual figures for honey production are growing slowly. When weather conditions are favourable, each family of bees will produce on average no more than 10-11 kg of honey. By way of comparison, the average figures world-wide are 20-30 kg per hive.

The reasons for the low yields of the Azerbaijani apiaries hinge on the inadequate technical basis, the failure to use modern methods to boost the yields, as well as the high death toll among the bees owing to diseases and parasites resulting from insufficient veterinary back-up. Besides this, a cardinal change has taken place in the bee population over the last three decades.

The devastation of state and then private apiaries by parasites in the 1980s-1990s led to the mass destruction of the historical population of the Caucasian honey bee species. Consequently, their colonies were restored with subspecies from the country's southern region, as well as varieties brought in from Europe. But, in spite of the fact that the new bees were excellent in reproducing themselves and had immunity to diseases, they were less resilient than the traditional Caucasian honey bee.

With time, two local subspecies and the imported bees interbred, resulting in a hybrid population of bees which produces tangibly less honey per hive.

Another reason for the sector's low yields is that work is poorly organised at the majority of apiaries, methods are not intensive, which makes cost-cutting and boosting yields and competitiveness difficult.

Comparison of the sector's pricing parameters makes this clear. A kilogramme of natural honey produced in Azerbaijan, depending on the sort, varies between 20 and 30 manats in price, while in the neighbouring states and throughout the world the cost of honey is at least one third lower.

Yet another problem is that most of the honey produced in the country is processed and packaged by cottage-industry methods or even sold loose by weight. A system of gathering and industrial packaging of honey meeting international hygiene standards has only been organised to an insignificant extent; without this it is impossible to get the mass export of honey going. Moreover, the process of other, no less valuable products such as bee venom, beeswax, royal jelly and propolis is conducted on a residual basis and also by cottage-industry methods.

Honey marketing

In order to resolve all the problems Azerbaijan's Agriculture Ministry has set about creating an effective mechanism for introducing bee-keeping activity, including the creation of a system for procuring and processing the output and marketing the apiculture end products.

According to Qalib Mammadov, head of the Agriculture Ministry's Livestock Products Production and Processing Department, the development of a specialised system for introducing bee-keeping has already started;  it is scheduled to be  put into practice in the coming year, which will help to boost productivity, as well as providing for competitive large-scale production.

In particular, it envisages the creation of packaging enterprises, the latest standards relating to the packaging of apiculture products will also be established so they can be marketed and promoted on promising markets. 

Advertising of the quality and medicinal properties of Azerbaijani honey is planned to target tourists and promote apiculture products on foreign markets. It is planned to involve hotels and other tourist facilities in this process. In short, even today Azerbaijani honey is actively being advertised within the framework of business forums and other events conducted by the Ministry of Economy and Industrial Development and the products of local apiaries are being exported to Europe within the framework of different exhibitions as well.

"Selection work has been designated as the most important trend in upholding Azerbaijani apiculture. In 2016 it is planned to set about implementing a programme to restore the gene pool of the Caucasian honey bee," Q. Mammadov stressed.  The FAO has also rendered its help in improving local subspecies and preserving genetic diversity. A project has started to be since 

2015 with the joint efforts of the FAO and Agriculture Ministry revive the Caucasian honey bee to the bee-gardens of Azerbaijan's northern regions. In the first stage of this project, it is intended to get at least 20 colonies of higher-yielding bees.

"This is a very difficult task since the Caucasus species of wild bee is only found in some remote mountainous regions today and it would be difficult to find an virgin locality, in which to introduce an elite bee," the FAO apiary expert Rainer Krell noted. 

By selecting strong, energetic and carefully selected Caucasian queen bee populations, the best generation of worker bees will be produced, and, as a result, Azerbaijani bee-keepers will be able to look forward to the revival of the local bee which will yield even larger amounts of honey.

These targeted reforms will also help bee-keepers' associations by providing them with the necessary resources and services, such as good packaging and easier access to advantageous markets. Mindful of the importance of these ventures, the Azerbaijani government has taken upon itself the commitment to support the FAO programme for six years.