site.btaAgriculture Ministry, Beekeeping Industry Discuss Current State of Sector

Constructive dialogue with the beekeeping industry is a prerequisite for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to optimally implement important and responsible sector policies, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Stefan Burdzhev at the opening of the meeting of the Beekeeping Advisory Council held at the Ministry of Agriculture, the ministry said Thursday.

One of the areas of discussion was high winter mortality in bee colonies and ways to curb it. Burdzhev was adamant that the ministry's management has an understanding of the seriousness of this problem and the sector will be supported through de minimis aid. At present, experts are making a comprehensive estimate of the amounts earmarked for each sector and preparing the economic parameters for implementation according to the possibilities of the allocated budget.

The members of the Council were presented with information from the State Fund Agriculture regarding the overall progress of the campaign for the implementation of sectoral interventions under the Strategic Plans of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the 2025 application period."

An analysis prepared by the Executive Agency for Selection and Reproduction in Animal Breeding on the vitality of queen bees was also presented and questions were raised on the control of the activities of breeding organizations.

The Council was provided with detailed information on the implementation of the interventions "Organic beekeeping" and "Promotion of natural pollination". A positive trend of increasing interest of the beekeeping industry in participating in the intervention to support organic beekeeping was highlighted.