Low temperatures and heavy rainfall have negatively affected honey production in France with several beekeepers describing the year as disastrous, reported France 24.
Beekeepers across France say that bees are starving to death and production plummeted by up to 80%.
Mickael Isambert, a beekeeper in Saint-Ours-les-Roches in central France, said: “It has been a catastrophic year.”
Isambert explained that a beehive typically produces 15 kilos (33 pounds) of honey per year. However, his farm had only produced between 5 and 7 kilos.
This decline was driven by the bad weather as when it rains, bees “don’t fly, they don’t go out, so they eat their own honey reserves,” according to Isambert’s co-manager and fellow beekeeper Marie Mior.
Heavy rainfall has prevented bees from gathering enough pollen, and flowers from producing nectar, which the insects collect to make honey.
Furthermore, the bad weather has affected the spring production causing 80% decline in some regions, making it difficult for summer harvests to offset, according to the French national beekeeping union (Unaf).
“With weather conditions that have been catastrophic in many regions with abundant rain… and low temperatures until late, many beekeepers’ viability is under threat,” Unaf added.
Unaf president Christian Pons mentioned that French beekeepers had already been struggling with several seasons of scorching heat and delayed frosts, making this “black year” even worse.
“Ten years ago, I made one and a half to two tons of honey per site, compared to 100 kilos today,” said Pons, a beekeeper in the southern Herault region.
Earlier this year, honeymakers protested against “unfair competition” by foreign producers. Therefore, the government released five million euros ($5.6 million) in aid.
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