By RITESHNI SINGH
of Ministry of Agriculture
There is a huge demand for local honey both locally and overseas and the industry is thriving.
National co-ordinator for Apiculture, Kamal Prasad, said the bee industry has progressed well over the last five years.
There are 1078 bee farmers with 8828 hives in the four divisions of the country.
The price for honey has gradually increased from between $5 to $7 per kilogram to $7 to $10 for bulk packs and from $12 to $15 per kilogram to $15 to $20 for retail packs.
Last year 187.93 tonnes of honey was produced which was an increase of 24 per cent compared to 142.41 tonnes produced in 2011.
Cyclone struck during harvest
Mr Prasad said: “Though the production had increased compared to the previous year, there was a drop of 12 per cent against the target for the year 2012 which was 200 tonnes.”
He the drop in production against the target was because of the destructions caused by Cyclone Evan last year.
“The cyclone struck at the peak of honey flow and harvesting season,” Mr Prasad said.
“Around 50 tonnes of honey was not harvested and 1018 hives were destroyed.”
“The cyclone devastated the floral vegetation and the bees did not have sufficient feed to survive.
“Therefore more hives were lost because of either the bees abandoning the hives in search of better areas for food or the pest Wax Moth has taken over the hives and destroyed it.”
Industry recovering
But Mr Prasad noted the industry is gradually recovering.
“This would take over six to eight months to get into production mostly to those areas that were much affected by the cyclone,” he said.
2013 target
It is envisaged the targets of 200 tonnes laid for the year 2013 will be successfully met as per support displayed by the Fiji Beekeepers Association and its members.
“The Apiculture section works closely with the Association in developing the future road map of the industry,” Mr Prasad said.
“The Ministry of Agriculture conducted 30 farmer trainings and three symposiums. A total of 570 potential and existing farmers were trained.”
Agriculture officer Kamal Prasad (sitting on the right) with the group members of a workshop extracting honey. Photo: MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE