The Last 20 Years of the Hungarian Beekeeping Sector - Production Funds

Oravecz, Titanilla – Mucha, László – Illés, Bálint Csaba

Keywords: beekeeping sector, number of apiaries, number of colonies, colony density, honey production, Q17

The beekeeping sector plays a fundamental role in agriculture, on the one hand in the pollination of plants and on the other hand in the production of honey and other apiculture products. Beekeeping contributes approximately 1% to the gross production value of the whole Hungarian agriculture and almost 5% to the value of animal husbandry. In recent years, a significant part - more than 80% - of the honey produced in Hungary has been exported in barrels, typically to Western European countries. However, current economic situation poses serious challenges for the domestic sector - Hungary’s honey exports exhibit a decreasing trend, in addition, the impact of the economic damage caused by the coronavirus on Hungarian apiaries is currently unpredictable. The present study is the first part of a series of articles. The main research objective is to present the basic tendencies and main processes of the Hungarian beekeeping sector in the last 20 years. Furthermore, the research is intended to demonstrate the key drivers of changes and the main challenges facing the sector in the framework of the series. This current article provides a better understanding in the following characteristics of the Hungarian beekeeping sector - the most important economic indicators and their changes for the period between 2000 and 2018; the number of apiaries and honeybee colonies; the annual average honeybee colony density and honey production, and also the change of the annual average honey yield per bee colony. The results show not only which regions have the highest number of bee colonies, but also the territorial concentration of apiaries. The data used for the analysis were provided by the Hungarian National Beekeeping Programs, the National Hungarian Beekeeping Association (hereinafter OMME), the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO), FAOSTAT, Statista and Trademap.

Full article