Beekeepers given boost

A one-off payment of €350,000 was granted to beekeepers on Tuesday to help them weather ongoing difficult economic circumstances.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the cabinet.

“Due to international developments and the effects of climate change, the past year has been a difficult one for the beekeeping business, leading to increased production costs and a decline in productivity,” Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou said.

She added that the financial boost to beekeepers was deemed necessary, given the importance of bees in food production in general.

“In Europe, 84 per cent of plant species and 76 per cent of food production depend on pollinators,” she noted.

The government’s decision aims to both “support the economy and maintain biodiversity”.

According to data collected in September and October of 2020, the number of beekeepers in Cyprus stood at 755, and the number of hives was 58,184. Total honey production that year was estimated at 519,881kg and the average annual production per hive at 8.93kg; by comparison the EU average was 22kg.

According to agriculture department data (2022), for a beekeeper to be considered sustainable in the industry his or her unit must have a yield of €20,000 per year, corresponding to a minimum of 175 beehives. However, the actual average of beehives per unit stood at 77 hives.