Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 30 / Trend, N. Umid, S. Isayev
Iran's honey production has decreased by 80 percent during the current solar year (started on March21), compared to the previous one, the managing director of the Union of Beekeepers, Effat Raeisi Sarhadi said, Iranian Shargh newspaper reported.
She went on to note that, beekeepers have faced about $403.2 millions (based on official rate of 24,800 rials per each USD) of losses due to bees dying because of diseases.
Raeisi Sarhadi said that, Iran's Veterinary Organization does not fulfill its obligations on supplying free medicine for beekeepers.
Beekeepers do not have sufficient money for medicine, she said, adding that due to lack of medicine for treating bees, the country's beekeeping industry is slowly disappearing.
Last year, averagely some 10 kilograms of honey were extracted from each beehive in the country, while the figure stood at only 2 kilograms during the current year, Raeisi Sarhadi underlined.
Iranian honey is among the best in the world because of the country's different climatic conditions.
There are about 5.400 million beehives in the country, from which about 53,000 tons of honey extracted last solar year. Nationwide, there are about 60,000 beekeepers.