" with stronger increases in southern European countries where
beekeeping is more common ' "

Growing in the number of hives and beekeepers in this countries of UE
is driven by two facts (at least in Spain, where I´m from...)

1- Economic crisis: many people is trying to make a living from bees (
they are new beekeepers, full or sideline). New beekeepers (and new
farmers in general) receive grants from UE if they set up a new farm
or beekeeping operation and they are less than 40 age years old.
Amazingly, many many of this new beekeepers are starting to learn from
scracth with 500 hives directly!!...or simply they were beginners with
a few hives...

2-Existing beekeepers are extending their operations (numbers of
hives) as a way to increase their incomings due to grants: UE pay
money for each colony they own, from a minimun of 150 hives to a
maximum of 500. Also, crops, in general, are going down, and they need
more hives to produce the same honey than before.


P. David Quesada
Laboratory of Honey Bee Pathology
Extremadura; Spain

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