#romania2019.eu/ 'Beekeeping in a European and Global Context' conference to take place in Bucharest on May 25

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and the Beekeepers Association are jointly organising on May 25 the conference on "Beekeeping in a European and Global Context", an event taking place in the framework of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, MADR said on Thursday. 

The conference will be opened by Agriculture Minister Petre Daea. 

The event, organized on the occasion of the World Bee Day, is intended to highlight the importance of pollinators for humanity and for the entire ecosystem, the need for the development of beekeeping sector amid ongoing climate change, and the bees' crucial role in increasing crop yields. 

The main subjects of debate are the situation of the beekeeping sector as well as its importance in the European and global context, bee health, organic beekeeping in Romania, FAO support for sustainable beekeeping. 

Attending the conference alongside Minister Petre Daea will be European Union officials and experts, including Tanja Strnisa, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia; Carolina Starr, Agriculture Officer, FAO representative of the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia; Eran Raizman, Senior Animal Health and Production Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia; and Daniel Dezmirean, PhD, Professor at the Cluj University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine. 

An exhibition of beekeeping products will also be on display at the headquarters of the Beekeepers Association at No. 42, Ficusului Blvd., and the participants will be able to visit the lab of the National Beekeeping Institute. 

Romania produces on average 22,000 tons of honey annually, ranking fourth in Europe, and its honeybee population reached in 2015 a peak of 1.47 million families. 

There are some 40,000 registered beekeepers, 60 percent of whom are members of the Beekeepers Association, accounting for 900,000 bee families. 

According to data of the Beekeepers Association, there has been a 15 percent increase in honey consumption in the past 2-3 years to a yearly 550 grams per capita, but Romania is still at the bottom of the European ranking, as per capita honey consumption is 3 or 4 times less compared to two kilograms in Germany or 1.5 kilograms in the Netherlands and Belgium. According to statistics, the average Romanian's daily diet includes 70 grams of sugar and only 3 grams of honey.