The beautiful spring allowed many plants to bloom magnificently. Good conditions for the bees. A cause for joy for beekeepers in the south-west as well. But the summer heat was not good.
Mayen/Karlsruhe (dpa/lsw) - Baden-Württemberg's beekeepers harvested significantly more honey this spring than in the previous year. In the so-called early flow, each bee colony produced an average of 18.4 kilograms of honey, the specialist center for bees and beekeeping said when asked by the dpa. In the rainy previous year it was only 10.1 kilos and in 2020 17.5 kilos. The reason for the high crop value this spring was the good weather.
"It was sunny and dry, but at the same time the soil still had a basic moisture content," said the head of the specialist center, Christoph Otten. "As a result, the plants grew well and the bees were able to collect a lot of nectar." The harvest - called "Tracht" - is divided into early and summer costumes.
The president of the regional association of Baden beekeepers, Klaus Schmieder, was happy about the better spring harvest. For the whole year, however, he only expects an average amount because the heat put an early end to the summer costume. In view of last year's total failure, however, one is satisfied. And: "The quality is very good this year," he said.
1768 beekeepers from Baden-Württemberg took part in the harvest survey conducted by the specialist center in cooperation with the German Beekeepers' Association. The stated harvest value refers to the beekeepers who harvested. Some beekeepers leave the honey in the hive for the bees to use themselves. Germany has around one million bee colonies, which are kept by around 170,000 beekeepers. The majority are hobby beekeepers.
