Today I want to talk to you about a problem facing apiculture in my native land, Valencia. This professional sector is facing difficult times that threaten its survival. I’ve tried honey from many places, including Nepal, Australia, Japan, China, New Zealand, and Spain. Of all the honeys I’ve tried, my two favorites are rosemary honey and orange blossom honey from Valencia.

Now for the news:

More than 300 beekeepers from professional agricultural organizations and entities in the Valencian Community’s beekeeping sector held a protest rally this week outside the doors of Les Corts Valencianes. The slogan was “SOS beekeeping in danger of extinction” to denounce the apparent indifference and lack of response from the government, particularly the Ministry of Agriculture, to the problems faced by this economically, socially, and environmentally important sector in Valencia.

Beekeepers from all over the Valencian Community are calling for “decent” agri-environmental aid to prevent Valencian beekeepers from having to move to other autonomous communities. The convening organizations have criticized the government for regulating the sector while it is dying. They point to the low budget and unaffordable measures in the PDR aid for biodiversity and the aid for the war in Ukraine, which doesn’t even cover one kilogram of food per hive.

Some leaders have covered themselves in honey to bring attention to the crisis in the price of this product due to massive imports from third countries. At the end of the protest, the organizations read the manifesto of demands and presented it to the different parliamentary groups and Les Corts through the official registry.