The president of the Association of Beekeepers “Leotar” from Trebinje, Obrad Ninković, stated that most Trebinje beekeepers have sold out their honey reserves, because of the high demand for this product due to the coronavirus epidemic, and because the last year was extremely bad for production.
“Honey reserves have been depleted from previous years, and the coronavirus pandemic has boosted honey sales. People bought honey to protect their health and strengthen their immunity. All stocks of honey were sold, according to the data of the Association of Beekeepers Leotar“, says Ninković.
Ninković points out that there is no honey on the market, because last year was catastrophic for Trebinje beekeepers due to bad weather during the spring. Beekeepers who moved their bee colonies to higher areas in the area of Gacko, Čemerno or Kalinovik managed to get some money.
He notes that beekeepers from several bee colonies have reserves for sale from last year, so honey can be found in smaller quantities in retail, but it is somewhat more expensive.
“The retail price was around 18 BAM, and now most beekeepers have raised the price to 20 BAM. We know that the price depends on the demand, and the demand was very high“, explains Ninković.
When it comes to this year’s production, Ninković says that beekeepers expect the first honey extracting in the second half of June, and that it is too early to talk about what this year will be like.
Nikola Barzut, a beekeeper from Trebinje, says that he has not had honey for sale for several months, and that last year he had to move the bee colony to the Gacko area in order to extract some honey.
Bileća beekeeper Željko Bajović still has a certain amount of honey from last year, since he owns about 500 hives, but he says that other beekeepers in Bileća do not have enough of it for sale.
