An excellent production halved in 2022, due to the ongoing climate change.
On the day dedicated to beekeepers and bees, Campagna Amica di Coldiretti Sardegna takes stock of the honey sector, which has experienced a black crisis in the last year: “ 2022 was a very bad year, especially for southern Sardinia . Too much heat was the main factor, honey production halved (-50%) with peaks of -80%. The very life of the bees has been endangered, forcing us to intervene to help them with food and water”, explains Franco Anedda, of the Anedda beekeeping farm in Villaputzu.
Climate change and extreme events would negatively affect bee activity , with the sudden transition from too hot to too cold in a short time: "The blooms in this way last much less, instead of a month, only ten days, not giving the bees time to collect enough nectar”, adds Anedda.
“The 2022 season went well until May – confirms Giandomenico Pinna of the Mieleggiando di Dualchi company present today at the Campagna Amica market in Nuoro -. Afterwards, due to the heat, the production of honey was more than halved, that of eucalyptus, one of the most important, fell by 70%. Unfortunately all the beekeeping years are conditioned by the crazy climate, with strong temperature variations, sudden frosts, temperatures far above the average, drought”.
The area most penalized in the past year was that of southern Sardinia , while the other territories alternatively resisted: in the summer the Oristano area recorded good honey harvests, as well as in the spring central and northern Sardinia (excluding the Oristano area ).
“We had patchy productions – says Orlando Oliva of the Monte Arci beekeeping company in Terralba -. At the beginning of summer, the production of asphodel honey went well, while the spring ones with thistle and citrus fruits did not go well”.
(Unioneonline/F)
