If the State Does Not Intervene, We Will Have Fake Honey: Beekeepers Face a Problem

A number of regions in Armenia are facing a problem as beekeepers struggle to maintain their bees due to a lack of rainfall. Hakob Khachatryan, a beekeeper from the village of Hayrenyats in the Shirak region’s Artik district, reports that there is a drought in Shirak, posing serious challenges for keeping bees. He stated, “The southern wind has not stopped for over a week. Wheat and barley fields have dried up, there is no grass, and the wildflowers have bloomed ten days early and are already wilting on the ground. Due to a lack of food, bee colonies are throwing out their larvae, and we are forced to feed them. The situation in Amassia and Ashotsk is almost the same. I direct my request to the Shirak Regional Administration: help beekeepers and farmers to overcome this situation.”

Agriculture specialist Harutyun Mnatsakanyan told NEWS.am that the number of bees in Armenia has significantly decreased. “In addition to the drought, as gardening has increased in Armenia, the situation has become more chaotic, and the use of pesticides in agriculture is also high, contributing to the decline of bee populations. The number of bees has decreased sufficiently, and consequently, honey consumption has also decreased in Armenia, which again leads to these problems,” he noted.

Jivan Aslanyan, president of the Artik Beekeepers and Farmers Association NGO, stated in a conversation with NEWS.am that the only way to address this issue is to relocate the bees to higher-altitude areas. “It’s quite warm here, and it has been a long time since we had any rainfall. Every day, I think about how to help beekeepers. In this case, there need to be areas where the drought is not so pronounced, and the bees can be taken there. Beekeepers should be interested in where such areas exist in the region. There hasn’t been precipitation in Hayrenyats for a long time, and rainfall in the Ashotsk area is extremely low. Right now is the time when bees should be working hard to gather nectar, but there is a food problem. The bees have consumed what little food is available, but there is no other supply to replenish their reserves. The only solution is to find areas that are favorable for the bees. It’s a very sad situation. The outcome of their entire year’s work depends on these few days. They wait all year for this honey harvest, and to imagine a drought during the nectar flow season is distressing. If they do not have the opportunity to relocate the bees, they are forced to feed them to ensure their survival,” Jivan Aslanyan emphasized.

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