Status and Trends in the Development of the Beekeeping Sector in Bulgaria
Status and Trends in the Development of the Beekeeping Sector in Bulgaria

Author(s): Georgi Angelov
Subject(s): Economy, Business Economy / Management, Micro-Economics, Agriculture
Published by: Университет за национално и световно стопанство (УНСС)
Keywords: beekeeping sector; beekeeping; negative trends; honey
Summary/Abstract: The present study is aimed at the state and trends in the development of beekeeping in Bulgaria. There are not many studies devoted to the problems in the sector, but their importance for the development of beekeeping in Bulgaria is great, therefore clarifying them will improve the development of the sector. The need for the research stems from the fact that, despite the great opportunity for the development of beekeeping available to the country in recent years, the sector is not only not developing, but is facing a catastrophe. The main hypothesis is that beekeeping in Bulgaria, despite the good natural conditions for development, is too far from its potential. This stagnation of the sector has a certain reason. This is where the main goal of the study comes from. To identify the main reason or factor stopping the development of beekeeping in Bulgaria. or this purpose, the main indicators of the state of beekeeping were analyzed. The main channels for the sale of bee honey and the quantities of production realized through them have been tracked. The largest buyers and sellers in the country have been identified and a comparison of the prices offered by them has been made. The external factors affecting the price and demand for Bulgarian honey have been analyzed. As a result, the reasons and circumstances leading to the negative trends in the sector have been established. From the conducted research, we have reason to claim that the most significant factor affecting the development of beekeeping is the profitability of a bee colony. As the low profitability, in this case, stems from the adoption of bad legislative policies by the State and the EU, to the detriment of beekeeping. Which have led to price and quality dumping. As a result, local production is forced to sell at unrealistically low prices and the sector finds itself in great difficulty and on the verge of bankruptcy. Interventions are proposed that would help transform the sector into an attractive and profitable business. But a decisive role for the development of beekeeping remains in the hands of the state and European administration and their legal and financial policies aimed at the sector.

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