State accounts for 15% of honey production in Brazil

05/17/2024

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Recent weeks’ heavy rains have covered or fully destroyed many beehives in the state — Foto: Sérgio Ranalli

The recent floods in Rio Grande do Sul are expected to confirm a situation that has been threatening small farmers, who dominate the activity in the region: the state will likely lose its position as Brazil’s largest honey producer. The recent weeks’ heavy rains have covered or fully destroyed many beehives in the state, which had already been dealing with the consequences of the floods of September last year.

The 2023 floods compromised the spring flowering, which is now hindering the recovery of the remaining swarms. “Around 10% of bee colonies were lost in this flood, which destroyed 35,000 to 50,000 beehives,” estimates Patric Luderitz, vice-president of the Beekeeping and Meliponiculture Federation of Rio Grande do Sul (FARGS) and coordinator of the State Beekeeping and Meliponiculture Sector Chamber. “The sector is in a catastrophic situation.”

The numbers are preliminary but tend to rise as the damage assessment advances, Mr. Luderitz says. The Brazilian honey production amounts to R$1 billion.

According to the most recent data by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Rio Grande do Sul produced 9,000 tonnes of honey in 2022, or 15% of national production. Of the approximately 100,000 beekeeping farms in Brazil, 37,000 are located in Rio Grande do Sul.

With the high rates of bee mortality and hive destruction, beekeeping in the state will take at least two years to recover, Mr. Luderitz estimates. “It all will depend on the weather and the funds we will have available. One thing is to get R$300,000. R$3 million is a whole different thing,” he points out.

In Cachoeira do Sul, beekeeper Ede Nelson Beck estimates he has lost at least 500 of his 1,700 beehives on the banks of the Jacuí River. Each of his beehives had some 30 kilograms of honey.

Most farmers build apiaries in floodplains as biodiversity tends to be richer in these areas, which improves production. “We have been keeping bees in these areas for years and have never seen losses like we are experiencing now,” Mr. Beck said.

With the floods, he expects the segment to struggle to resume operations in the municipality. Much of Cachoeira do Sul’s agriculture is located in the highlands, meaning the food supply for insects in the floodplains is limited.

“The solution will be to install apiaries in hilly grasslands, which will likely reduce production. We will lose these [floodplain] blooms. This is the city’s new reality,” he lamented. “There will hardly be a corner left for beekeepers to produce honey.”

President of the Rio Grande do Sul Beekeepers Association (AGA) Abenor Furtado points out that the heavy rains in recent weeks worsened the problems the segment had been facing since last year’s floods. “We were counting on the fall season flowering but then came this rain,” he said.

Without enough food, bees in Rio Grande do Sul will become extremely weak to face the winter, which could further increase losses in the state. Mr. Furtado hopes the next flowerings, beginning in August, may help recover swarms.

Until then, the bees will have to be fed artificially—and the state’s honey production will be negligible. “We are already considering that we will have no production this year,” he said.

*Por Cleyton Vilarino, Globo Rural — São Paulo

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/