The heat also upsets the bees. The industrious insects, long considered an indicator of the state of health of nature due to their importance in the ecosystem, are suffering from the great heat and drought that have hit Italy for several weeks (if not months), so much so that there production of made in Italy honey which is more than halved compared to the average, for a total this year of around 10 thousand tons.
This is what Coldiretti estimates in underlining that it is about one of the worst results in the history of modern beekeeping for at least 35 years. The effect of the widespread spring frosts which was followed by the heat and drought with dried flowers due to the lack of water and the violent summer storms which in a patchwork pattern aggravated the situation but - underlines Coldiretti - without forgetting the fires who have slaughtered tens of millions of bees.
In reality, the concern also concerns the fact that the work of bees - reports Coldiretti - is important not only for the production of honey but also for the pollination of plants, so much so that Albert Einstein maintained that: “If the bee disappeared from the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live”.
“The anomalous climate – explains Coldiretti – has affected the different types of honey in the plains while only the rare mountain honey survived. Moreover, this year's production trend follows on from last year's already poor harvest, which dropped to just 16 tonnes”.
The collapse of national harvests opens the door to imports of lower quality honey with arrivals from abroad that have already reached over 7000 tons in the first four months of 2017 according to the Coldiretti analysis on Istat data and if the trend will be confirmed on the shelves two out of three jars will be foreign. About 1/3 of imported honey comes from Hungary but a substantial flow of over 10% comes from China, a country at the top for food insecurity.
According to Coldiretti, to avoid bringing products from abroad to the table, often of low quality, it is necessary to carefully check the origin on the label or to contact the producers directly on farms, agritourisms or in the markets of Campagna Amica. Honey produced on the national territory where GMO crops are not allowed (unlike what happens, for example, in China) it is recognizable through the obligatory labeling of origin strongly supported by Coldiretti.
The word Italy must obligatorily be present on the packages of honey collected entirely on the national territory and if it comes from more than one European Union country. The label must bear the indication “blend of honeys originating in the EC”; if, on the other hand, it comes from non-EU countries, there must be the writing "blend of honeys not originating from the EC", while if it is a mix, it must be written "blend of honeys originating and not originating from the EC".
There are 1,2 million beehives scattered in the Italian and dei countryside 45.000 hobbyist and professional beekeepers with an estimated turnover of 150 million euros but – concludes Coldiretti – with a value of more than 2 billion euros for crop pollination.
