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Corona-19 China Beekeepers
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"You must not take your life, no matter what," it said after a beekeeper from China's southwestern Yunnan province, Liu Decheng, recently hanged himself."
Heartbreaking. I often forget how fortunate I am that this is a hobby and my family and children do not depend on a honey crop. I know that there are a lot of misgivings toward Chinese exported honey, but I am guessing adulteration is not being done at the beekeeper level. Hurts to read that article.
Heartbreaking. I often forget how fortunate I am that this is a hobby and my family and children do not depend on a honey crop. I know that there are a lot of misgivings toward Chinese exported honey, but I am guessing adulteration is not being done at the beekeeper level. Hurts to read that article.
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Reminds me of the stories of the stock market crash of 1929 when men took their lives because of the losses. It is sad. On another note I didn’t realize how much honey was imported from China. And they are having trouble with the amount of next generation beekeepers not wanting to do the work.
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We ought to devise a plan to deal with such a pandemic here. Losing a few top commercial beekeepers and / or their apiaries would hurt the economy a lot more than people realize.
I think part of the issue is in translation. Here we call them 'migratory'.
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It will more likely increase the fraud, when there is lack of real honey.
We regularly have commercial beekeepers hanging themselves in Germany, too. Last year one, this year already another. Since we only have 83 full time commercial beekeepers, that is a real loss.-
All beekeepers of the World that make a living of honey have the same problem: bulk market prizes are at dumping levels and well below the production costs. In Germany we produce honey for 6.90 Euros per kg. Bulk market prices are from 3.40-3.80 Euros. So you pay more than 3 Euros to make someone buy your bulk honey. Same situation in all other member countries in the EU. For example in Poland the production costs are 3.74 Euros, bulk honey 2.80 Euros. Ukraine production costs 1.80 Euros, bulk honey at or below 1 Euro at the moment. And so on. It is the same situation for honey producers everywhere.
On the other hand, the customer prizes in the supermarkets are at all time highs. In Germany between 13 to 18 Euros per kg honey. So the producer gets 3.40 Euros and the supermarkets sell it for 13 Euros per kg honey...
Fair share for everyone would solve the problems immediately. But since then, the producers can't make a living. Which often ends up in a tragedy.
We don't have a pollination business in Germany, so we can't compensate the low honey prices. And we will never have, because we don't have much agriculture anymore. Of course there are "farmers" here. But compared to the global agriculture, this is hobby. We import all the food that we eat, and others produce it much cheaper and more efficient than we ever could. To be honest, that is true for commercial beeekeeping, too. It is the love for bees and farming, that keeps us kicking.
My heart is with the Chinese beekeepers, who can't migrate their bees and lose honey and income and often their bees, because they can't feed them. A beekeeper, who experienced similar probably understands better.
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Hi Bernhard, it was a surprise to read your post. Seeing the high honey prices on shop shelves in the EU, i had assumed your beekeepers were doing well.
Here in NZ the industry is in crisis. Beekeepers going broke, don't know of any suicides but the situation is there that may bring this about. It is not widely known here the situation of beekeepers overseas from us, so I have quoted you on our local forum. Here is the link for your info.
https://www.nzbees.net/forums/topic/13744-beekeepers-in-china-hanging-themselves/
Here in NZ the industry is in crisis. Beekeepers going broke, don't know of any suicides but the situation is there that may bring this about. It is not widely known here the situation of beekeepers overseas from us, so I have quoted you on our local forum. Here is the link for your info.
https://www.nzbees.net/forums/topic/13744-beekeepers-in-china-hanging-themselves/
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Not only in Germany but in all European countries and all Eurasian countries I know of. I spoke to many beekeepers and honey producers and it is the same situation for everyone.
Yes, that is the most likely solution, except I would skip the supermarkets and sell all honey directly to the customers. In China some big beekeepers sell all their honey through the internet/web. Don't know, if that is the future for us. But supermarkets are part of the problem we face today. All we need is a fair share.
In combination with a transparent production chain and traceability from hive to the jar to the customer we producers should be able to break the market power of the bottlers and traders. Because each product is individual and can't be replaced that easy with adulterated and no-name honey from god-knows-from-where-it-comes-from. Like it is the case today.
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It sounds to me like the efforts of the North American continent to stop the flow of Chinese fake honey is paying dividends to our producers, yet compounding the problem for others. All that fake honey has to go somewhere.
I believe the consumers are slowly and surely becoming aware of the far reaching economic problems that fake honey is causing, not to mention they are simply not getting the product for which they are paying.
The large grocers cover their complicity by requiring their suppliers to sign affidavits as to the "Point of Origin" of the "honey", but I know the people that go to the trouble of routing these products through a maze of countries would not have a problem signing an affidavit that is as fake as their honey.
I hope things change for the better for the world's honest beekeepers, but it will take a concerted effort by the entire world to isolate and punish the offenders. As long as the fines are able to be absorbed as the cost of doing business it will continue.
Alex
I believe the consumers are slowly and surely becoming aware of the far reaching economic problems that fake honey is causing, not to mention they are simply not getting the product for which they are paying.
The large grocers cover their complicity by requiring their suppliers to sign affidavits as to the "Point of Origin" of the "honey", but I know the people that go to the trouble of routing these products through a maze of countries would not have a problem signing an affidavit that is as fake as their honey.
I hope things change for the better for the world's honest beekeepers, but it will take a concerted effort by the entire world to isolate and punish the offenders. As long as the fines are able to be absorbed as the cost of doing business it will continue.
Alex
The media has blown this way out of proportion. Is it a nasty virus, yes. Should the stores be sold out of bleach, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper as a result of it, no. Went to get some sugar for the bees at Wally World. What a zoo.
Feeling a tiny bit of your pain. I started cleaning my feeders and needed more, you guessed it, bleach. None to be had. Thankfully, I work on trucks so have limited contact with the general public, unless I go to Walmart.
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Yes, here in NY the Greater American Bee Conference (Geneva Bee Conference) has been cancelled, Mike Palmer would have been the big draw; SABA 2030 Seminar with Larry Connor, Dr. Ernesto Guzman, Grai St. Clair Rice is in the works of being cancelled also. Toilet paper, bleach, hydrogen peroxide, isopropyl alcohol, mostly gone. Local hospital low on hand sanitizer. People are panicking.
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So I don't want this to sound insensitive to those suffering from covid-19. I do want to put it in perspective. Estimates are all over the place but seem to point to this virus being about as deadly as driving a car. Do we have permanent travel bans in place to keep those life threatening automobiles out of my state and certainly far away from my children's school? You may say I have more control over my driving than a virus. Ok, And how effective are we at keeping drunk or impaired people from driving home?
Of course there are individuals who are hard hit, I do not want to ignore their suffering. But our societal fear mongering is silly. Why do we buy all the hand sanitizer in the world and not even care about the other dangerous activities we partake in?
It is of course tragic if someone's livelihood is destroyed. This is also part of globalization. In the mean time, do all you can do to keep your immune system at it's peak. Cuz we should be doing that anyway. It's healthy. And honey and propolis are said to be a good support, so enjoy your honey!
Of course there are individuals who are hard hit, I do not want to ignore their suffering. But our societal fear mongering is silly. Why do we buy all the hand sanitizer in the world and not even care about the other dangerous activities we partake in?
It is of course tragic if someone's livelihood is destroyed. This is also part of globalization. In the mean time, do all you can do to keep your immune system at it's peak. Cuz we should be doing that anyway. It's healthy. And honey and propolis are said to be a good support, so enjoy your honey!
I must live in a area that doesn’t have many people who panic or they just are not very informed. Around here bleach, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, bottle water,etc. are still available at all the usual places. In fact a local supermarket was having a special on toilet paper. The bottled water is especially puzzling to me because I have never heard anyone hint that the water supply would be threatened by this virus.
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