Fewer beekeepers are keeping more bee colonies
Published: Thursday, Apr 25th 2024, 10:50
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Despite high annual bee losses, the number of bee colonies bred in Switzerland has grown over the last ten years. However, they have been looked after by fewer and fewer beekeepers.
These are the findings of the 2022 Beekeeping Situation Report published on Thursday by Agroscope, the Swiss Federal Center of Excellence for Agricultural Research in Liebefeld BE. According to the report, the turnaround towards more bee colonies began in the last decade after a trough in the 1990s.
According to Agroscope's census, there were over 183,000 bee colonies in Switzerland in 2022, compared to 165,000 in 2014. Colony density has also recovered since then and ensures effective plant pollination in most regions. In 2022, every square kilometer had 4.4 colonies. In the EU, the figure was 4.2.
This means that the density of bee colonies roughly corresponds to that of the population in the respective cantons. Sparsely populated areas also had fewer bee colonies.
The increase was accompanied by a higher number of bee colonies per beekeeper. From 9.4 colonies in 2014, the number of colonies per beekeeper rose to 11.1 in 2022, meaning that beekeeping is still a matter for small beekeepers.
Strong increase in honey harvest
At the same time, the number of beekeepers has decreased since 1940 in a long-term comparison. In 2022, there were still just under 16,500 officially registered beekeepers in Switzerland.
Over the last 120 years, Agroscope has observed a sharp increase in honey production per colony. During this time, the harvest rose from around eight to 20 kilos per year. At 7.1 kilos, 2021 was the worst honey year since data have been available. 2020 with 29.9 kilos and 2022 with 23.9 kilos, on the other hand, were above average.
The expansion of transhumance, the cultivation of rapeseed and the increase in ecological compensation areas had a positive effect on yields.
According to Agroscope, beekeepers are concerned about the increasing winter losses throughout the northern hemisphere since the 2000s. In the last 15 years, these losses have often been well over ten percent in Switzerland. It was extremely rare for losses to exceed this threshold in the 20th century.
©Keystone/SDA
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