Iranian honey production

Every now and again, the importance of honey in the Arab world comes to my attention:

“According to the past year’s statistics there are 2.8 million colonies of honeybee hives in Iran which produce 22,400 tons of high-grade honey with an average harvest rate of 7 to 10 kilos however over half of this amount (11,200 tons) is produced from two provinces West and East Azerbaijan,” said Faraj Allah Molavi, the Executive of the Union of honey bee growers of the province East Azerbaijan.

More on Iranian honey production.

Propolis soap

A violin restorer has contacted me looking for raw propolis to use as a ground for violins. Apparently, the story goes something like this:

Back in the days of the old master violin makers, 1550–1730, people who kept bees didn't have the hives we have today. They kept their bees in skeps, baskets woven of straw. Each year, in preparation for the honey run, the beekeeper would clean the hive by leaching it in lye, the result of leaching wood ashes with water. (Today we scrape the propolis from the hive.) The lye would digest the propolis making the hive ready for the bees. This digesting process created a liquid soap from the propolis. It is my belief that this liquid soap was the source of the mysterious ground the violin makers used as an undercoat.

The author gives a recipe for propolis soap and its application here.

Drought and flowering cycle hits Queensland

Queensland (Australia) beekeepers are concerned about the effects of their ongoing drought on honey production. Some eucalypt trees only flower every two or three years and their cycle seems to be going out of sync. One source said that even with rain, honey supplies wouldn't return to normal until 2009.

Somebody's happy!

Tasmanian beekeepers are expecting a bumper leatherwood honey harvest up to 40 percent above average because of an exceptionally warm February.

Badgers' honey

Good old Wisconsin, the badger state, came second in the US states honey production table. The average yield per colony was a staggering 93 lbs (42 kg).

The usual top two states -- California and North Dakota -- experienced lower harvests because of dry conditions.

Back from the tropics

Well, that was quite a break -- I'm back from Sri Lanka and have finally found time for a little blogging. So let's start in the tropics.

I hear a surprising amount about beekeeping in Sri Lanka, but after this second visit to the teardrop below India, I still haven't seen much evidence. But here is some.

While trekking up to Ella Rock in the tea-growing highlands in south central Sri Lanka, we were -- as usual -- graciously picked on by a wannabe guide. Sri Lankans know full well that an hour or two with a foreigner can earn a few dollars that will go a very long way in Sri Lankan rupees.

He was a schoolboy just starting his Christmas holiday (yes even Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic Sri Lankans celebrate Christmas just a little). We didn't need a guide, but he was a little charmer and anyway he'd keep away other would-be guides. To my surprise, he earned his fee.

We asked him if he knew anything of beekeeping and he told us how his father would go even higher up into the mountains to raid wild bee (presumably Apis dorsata) nests. Then he remembered that there was a bee tree nearby on the edge of a tea plantation. So he took us there. Sure enough we could see several crescent-shaped nests hanging from branches. Apparently the bees like a particular type of tree, but I'm afraid I don't recollect its name.

We photographed the (empty) nests and then, as we left, a woman called out to our guide in Sinhalese. The boy told us to follow him and her as she made her way back to her home. Her husband was also a honey-hunter and he showed us a large jar of mashed up comb and honey. It didn't look too appetising, but they insisted I taste it. It was good. They then fetched a little medicine bottle which they insisted I fill with honey to take away. I think they were delighted when I gave them some rupees -- either that or they were too stunned to react or too disappointed to smile!

 


 

The home of the honey hunter in his plot of vegetables.

Axis of apiculture

Beekeeping is up-and-coming in Syria. It held its first beekeepers' conference this weekand the Agriculture Minister said it was one of the most important brannches of agricultural investment. Syria had nearly half a million beehives in 2005 producing 2100 tons of honey and 85 tons of wax.

Feast and famine

While Australia has droughts causing low yields in many parts, South Africa has rains causing lots of swarms and honey.

The other side of Guantanamo

Guantanamo, Cuba, or rather the US foothold in Cuba, is infamous for its orange jackets, but there is a brighter side:

Guantanamo that is the real Cuba is where the country's organic honey production began. I'm not quite sure how they define organic in this context (does someone track the bees' foraging), but it's been a good production year.

Fiji stamp of approval

Despite cyclones and other naural disasters, one of the fastest growing industries in Fiji is beekeeping. Hives are expected to increase from 7000 to 8000 this year and honey production from 200 to 250 tonnes.

And they are celebrating beekeeping in stamps.

Bulgaria buzzing

Eastern Europe's honey industry is on the rise. Bulgaria will apply for EU subsidies for its beekeeping industry. It has 40,000 beekeepers and in 2005, produced 11,200 tons of honey, 3700 tons of which was exported (nearly all to the EU at an average price of $2200 to $2300 a ton.