Bavaria’s beekeepers hardly harvested honey this year after a rainy spring. The quantities were highest in Upper Franconia and the Upper Palatinate, said the President of the Bavarian Beekeepers’ Association in Zirndorf, Stefan Spiegl. “The beehives at the top have become almost 20 kilos heavier, that’s actually nothing.” In the south of the Free State there is a total failure in some regions: “As far as I can remember, this is the worst yield in at least 20 years.” This was due to the cold, wet weather in spring, said Spiegl. “As a result, the bees did not collect honey.” Many beekeepers would therefore have to feed their bees with additional sugar so that the animals do not die. “Our main concern now is the around 150 part-time beekeepers,” said Spiegl. “We’re trying to get help for them because of the crop failure.”
According to Spiegl, a trend of recent years is continuing with the poor honey harvest: while the honey yield in the warm and dry year 2018 was 33.4 kilograms, it fell to 22.7 kilograms in 2019 and again to 21.1 kilograms in 2020 . The current year will again be below this value, said Spiegl. “2020 was pretty bad, but this year it’s even worse.” In most cases, honey from Bavaria will hardly be more expensive, said Spiegl. “98 percent of beekeepers in Bavaria are hobby beekeepers. I have to say to them that you can sometimes charge 6 euros instead of 5.50 euros per pound for a regional product.” A large part of the trade is also imported from abroad, especially from South America and China.