Times are tough for Hungary's beekeepers: Costs are up, production is in decline and competition from Ukrainian honey is driving prices down. Not even Hungary's controversial import ban on Ukrainian products seems to be helping.
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00:00 Norbert comes from a family of beekeepers.
00:07 Norbert currently has seven apiary sites where he manages a total of 280 bee colonies.
00:23 He says he has never faced as many challenges as he does right now.
00:27 Bee production has dropped to a quarter of last year's volume, and demand has also declined
00:33 significantly. All of this has destroyed his plans.
00:41 Inflation in Hungary has been extreme, and Norbert's costs have exploded as a result.
01:07 The price of medication for bees, beehives and fuel have all gone up.
01:13 And since Russia invaded Ukraine and the EU removed customs duties on both Ukrainian grain
01:19 and honey, Ukrainian honey has been flooding the European market.
01:25 Although Hungary introduced a national ban on the importation of honey, prices across
01:29 Europe have fallen, driving Hungarian prices down with them.
01:36 The problem is that they don't check the residue of the medicine.
01:41 Ukraine is not a EU country, so they don't have any medicine in their supply.
01:48 So they only checked a sample from the UN and found DDT in their honey.
01:53 We have had a ban for 40 years, because the label was proven.
01:57 And then this honey ends up in the shelves of the shops, unfortunately.
02:05 Tibor faces the same major challenges.
02:08 He is storing his unsold honey in dozens of barrels in his backyard.
02:13 Obviously, I have it here because I want to make it valuable.
02:18 But the sale stopped, and the price has dropped to a level that is below production costs.
02:23 So I can't sell it like this.
02:40 The wholesale price of honey has halved since last year, and now averages around 1.50 euro per kilo.
02:47 However, producers need 2.60 euro per kilo just to break even.
02:55 The big, professional, really commercial companies that use this honey can survive.
03:12 Norbert has seen a growing number of his colleagues quit full-time beekeeping.
03:21 I know a few beekeepers in the capital who are looking for a job.
03:26 Someone bought a car repair service, and they paid for it.
03:31 They have the car repair service, and they have money from it.
03:46 I have a 66-hour training course, and I decided to learn it.
03:51 Every evening, when I get home, I do it for an hour every day.
03:56 If it doesn't work, I talk to the beekeeper, and I go to a two-and-a-half-year training course.
04:06 I have already seen it, and we will see what the future brings.
04:12 It would seem that not even the controversial national ban on importing Ukrainian agricultural products can save Hungary's beekeeping community.
04:21 The number of beekeepers is expected to shrink considerably in the next few years.
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