15-20 September Taylan Samancı & Aslı Elif Sunay R&D Department Altıparmak Food Industry Co., İstanbul, Turkey Project was supported by TÜBİTAK-TEYDEB (Technology and Innovation Funding Programs Directorate ) & DTM (Undersecretariat of the Prime Ministry for Foreign Trade)
BEEKEEPING IN TURKEY Turkey; Rich range of flora & wide range of honey. One of the 10 largest honey producers in the World. The largest producer of pine honey. Direct beekeeping: 40.000 families (115.000 beekeepers). 240.000 people live on beekeeping. Marmaris (Muğla) / Turkey
BEEKEEPING IN TURKEY 4.000.000 beehives. Migratory beekeeping (South-East-West). Average annual honey production: 50.000 tons. Average local consumption: 42.000 tons - 600 gr. per capita. Sunflower, Silivri (Tekirdağ) / Turkey Average annual honey export: 8.000 tons
OBJECTIVES In 2004, with the concept of farm to fork food safety, a country-wide project, namely Determination of Residues, Adulteration and Origin in Honey According to Geographical Regions was initiated by Balparmak. The aim of the project was to determine regional problems in honey about residues and authenticity and to train beekeepers for the solutions of these problems. Citrus, Finike (Antalya) / Turkey
IMPLEMENTATION Posof (Ardahan) Turkey A total of 12.359 honey samples were collected from 48 different locations in 7 regions of Turkey between 2004-2007 and analyzed for residues and authenticity.
OBJECTIVES of TRAININGS Increasing yield of honey per hive, Rearing locally adapted queen bees, Colony management, Fighting bee diseases and pests without using antibiotics and pesticides. Accessing information about beekeeping and new technologies. Göksun (Kahramanmaraş) / Turkey
ORGANISATION of SEMINARS Training seminars were organized in 57 provinces with the collaboration of Regional Beekeeper Associations and Provincial Directorates of Agriculture. A total of 4045 beekeepers attended the training seminars; 3791 for conferences and 254 for practical field studies. Gümüşhane / Turkey
CONFERENCES MAIN TOPICS Selection of the best place for beekeeping and use of flora. Selection of breeding queen bee. Winter bee losses Problems about feeding bees. Organization of the colony population before nectar flow. Tarsus (Mersin) / Turkey Problems about residues and authenticity for honey. Fighting against diseases.
PRACTICAL TRAININGS Göksun (Kahramanmaraş) / Turkey Keşan (Edirne) / Turkey Beekeepers were visited during the honey production season on the field. Field studies were also carried out upon request of beekeepers for their specific problems. Regular techniques were practiced on site together with beekeepers.
LOCATIONS of SEMINARS
SURVEY ON BEEKEEPING Genç (Bingöl) Turkey Beekeepers (3791) who attended conferences were asked to fill in a questionnaire to get information about their; Demographic characteristics Beekeeping applications
RESULTS / COUNTRY-WIDE
RESULTS / COUNTRY-WIDE Late autumn Early spring Early spring Late autumn
RESULTS / REGIONAL NUMBER OF HIVES
RESULTS/ REGIONAL BEEKEEPING EXPERIENCE
RESULTS / REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND 74,9 76,2 23,4 25,6
RESULTS / REGIONAL HONEYCOMB STORAGE
RESULTS / REGIONAL TYPE OF FEEDING
BEEKEEPING PROBLEMS Quality of the queen bee Low yield of honey per hive Varroa destructor European Fool Brood Winter time bee losses Not enough locations for hives to stopover. Marketing Flying of bees at daybreak/ Söke Ovası / Turkey
To evaluate the effectiveness of seminars, after one season (2008), feedback was provided from 131 beekeepers from 16 provinces in 7 different regions of Turkey. 6.1% of the participants said that trainings were ineffective and insufficiant. They also mentioned that they did not pay sufficient attention since they had already been experienced beekeepers. DISCUSSION 93.9% of the participants declared that trainings were effective and should be organized frequently. They also said that they derived many benefits and learnt different applications.
DISCUSSIONS Results of trainings on colony feeding, queen bee rearing, winter bee losses and colony management system. Effective Ineffective No Effect Colony Feeding 92.4 % 7.6 % - Queen Bee Rearing 69.5 % 30.5 % - Winter Bee Losses 64.1 % 13.0 % 22.9 % Colony Management System 23.7 % 76.3 % -
DISCUSSIONS Colony Feeding Queen bee rearing Winter bee losses Colony management system Yield of Honey FORMER APPLICATION Addition of pollen to cake, feeding bees in cold weather (below 14 C). Using low-quality queen bees reared in different geographical regions. Feeding bees with pollen added cake in cold weather, use of low-quality queen bees, incorrect hive ventilation, nutrient deficiency Colony management without organization of population. 15-20 kg / hive as average. CHANGE OF APPLICATION 92.4% 69.5% (started rearing queen bees from their own hives). 64.1% 23.7% 94.6% of beekeepers declared that because of climate changes in 2007, they experienced a decrease in the yield of honey even they partially applied the techniques from trainings.
CONCLUSIONS The survey showed that beekeeping is a professional activity in Turkey but beekeepers need training and information on colony management, fighting against diseases and queen bee rearing. Training activities performed during the project had significant impacts on solutions of problems of beekeepers even in unexpected conditions like climate changes. Usage of new and modern equipments must be promoted to increase yield of honey whereas decreasing manpower. Local races of bees must be protected to be able to rear strong and resistant colonies against diseases and environmental changes. Young beekeepers must be encouraged for the development of the sector.