site.btaFree Beekeepers Association Goes on Protest on October 11

The members of the Bulgarian Free Beekeepers association will go out on protest on October 11, chairman Yasen Yanev told a press conference in Varna on Thursday. He said the protest will take place in Sofia, in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, at 1 pm.

Yanev pointed out that the state needs to support beekeeping and protect the sector. According to him, the organization has sent a letter to the Minister of Agriculture with a request that beekeepers receive financial assistance, but the answer was negative, arguing that no funds are earmarked in the budget. According to Yanev, the support should come under the de minimus rule. He pointed out that for three years now Bulgarian beekeepers have not received aid under this scheme, while their colleagues from neighbouring countries are making the most of this opportunity.

The beekeepers also demand that state laboratories be designated to determine whether banned pesticides have been used when spraying crops. Yanev specified that currently such tests are only carried out in private laboratories, and beekeepers themselves have to pay for the service, the cost of which varies between BGN 450 and 520.

Ivaylo Dobrev, a beekeeper from Targovishte region, added that he and his colleagues are currently working at a loss. Beekeepers in the country are becoming fewer and fewer, many have gone bankrupt, others have given up, and eventually the state will have to import hives from neighbouring countries in order to have bees to pollinate the crops, Dobrev said.