The beekeepers in the three central German states have harvested well this year. On average, they were able to harvest 47.6 kilograms of honey per bee colony in Saxony, 50.3 kilograms in Thuringia and 51.7 kilograms in Saxony-Anhalt, according to the Bee and Beekeeping Center in Mayen, Rhineland-Palatinate, in response to a dpa inquiry. Compared to 2022, this was an increase of 4.1 kilograms in Saxony, 7.7 kilograms in Thuringia and 3.2 kilograms in Saxony-Anhalt.
In Germany as a whole, beekeepers were able to collect an average of 36.7 kilograms of honey per bee colony, 2.3 kilograms more than in the previous year.
"It was a very good bee year," said Christoph Otten, head of the specialist center. "Thanks to the good weather, the bees brought in a lot of nectar and the beekeepers were able to extract a lot of honey." In the meantime, there was also precipitation or it was dry. However, this only had a minor impact on the amount of nectar.
If you want to buy a jar of German honey, you will have to dig a little deeper into your pocket than before. According to the non-representative survey, beekeepers charge 6.50 euros per 500-gram jar of honey, which is around five percent more than last year. "Business costs have increased significantly, which is why price increases were overdue and yet often do not cover costs," said industry expert Otten.
There are an estimated 1.1 million bee colonies in Germany. There are around 170,000 beekeepers, the vast majority of whom do this as a hobby or as a sideline. The Bee and Beekeeping Specialist Center is responsible for an industry survey, in which around 13,000 beekeepers took part this time.
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