May 2025 BIBBA Monthly

John Greenaway, president of SICAMM (The International Association for the protection of the European Dark Bee) took the opportunity on World Bee Day to write to the Officers and all the MEP's at the European Parliament requesting support for stronger protection of the native honey bee. See his letter below;

Dear Member of the European Parliament,

On this World Bee Day,  appointed by the United Nations (https://www.un.org/en/observances/bee-day), I am writing to you on behalf of the International Association of the European Dark Bee (SICAMM) and its Member Associations who are widely spread throughout Europe. I trust that you are aware of the vital roles of bees and other pollinators in ensuring global food security and nutrition. As concerned citizens passionate about conservation and the precious biodiversity of Europe, we are reaching out to inform you about the challenges facing our native subspecies of honey bees in Europe. We hope to enlist your support for stronger protection of these honey bees, natural European resources, to preserve biodiversity and to help to move beekeeping towards more sustainable methods.

The Dark European Honey Bee, Apis mellifera mellifera (Amm) has evolved, as have the other European honeybee subspecies, over millennia, to thrive in the climatic and environmental conditions in different parts of Europe. The Dark European Honey Bee was the dominant honey bee subspecies until recent decades in North West Europe. It is now under threat in its native geographical range primarily due to the importation of non-native honey bees and modern hybrids. Unlike other agricultural plants and animals, where hybridization can be used to advantage, the reproductive system of the honey bee, with queens mating freely with numerous drones in an area, quickly results in random hybridization of the local population, to no-one's advantage. Native species of honey bees thrive best in its original habitat. Recent scientific studies in Europe have shown that safeguarding the genetic purity of honey bees and promoting sustainable environments for their survival is crucial.

After 30 years of pioneering conservation work in different parts of Europe, we are now experiencing a genuine renewal of interest in the survival of native honey bees, and the number of beekeepers and other persons supporting it is increasing steadily. The time is ripe to highlight the conservation of threatened honey bee subspecies and to develop a more sustainable approach to beekeeping.

We would appreciate your support for the conservation efforts and the protection of our European native honey bees. i.e. the long-term survival of the native bees in their native geographical range. We would also be pleased to receive information on any upcoming initiatives that could assist our efforts. Please send your response and any information via email to info@sicamm.org.

We look forward to your cooperation on this important issue. We are at your disposal should further clarification be required.

Yours sincerely,

John Greenaway

President of SICAMM, on behalf of the SICAMM Main Board and Member Associations

 

Boštjan Noč, President of the EBA (European Beekeeping Association) also took the opportunity to highlight the unfair competition from fake honey that threatens beekeeping and misleads consumers. See his letter below;

The Eighth World Bee Day - unfair competition from fake honey threatens beekeeping and, above all, misleads consumers!

World Bee Day was declared by the United Nations in New York on December 20, 2017, following a 2014 initiative by the Slovenian Beekeepers' Association and with great effort from the whole of Slovenia, receiving unanimous support from the global political community. The first celebration was held on May 20, 2018, in Žirovnica, the birthplace of Anton Janša-May 20 is his birthday and the date on which we celebrate World Bee Day. The goal of World Bee Day is to protect bees and other pollinators.

As the initiator of World Bee Day, am I satisfied?

In terms of promotional efforts, I am more than satisfied - beyond expectations. But when it comes to supporting beekeepers and protecting consumers, I am definitely not!

Unfortunately, the world is barely-if at all-aware that bees can no longer survive without the help of beekeepers. Without bees and other pollinators, there would be even more HUNGRY people in the world!

That is why it is high time to support beekeepers. Beekeepers are losing the motivation to continue, and if they begin to abandon beekeeping, we are facing a catastrophe in the very near future. There will simply be fewer bees each year, and as a result, the free pollination service they provide will disappear-something that will have a serious impact on food production… So, Europe-it's now or never! This is about bees, beekeepers, and consumers!

First and foremost, fake, counterfeit honey must be immediately removed from the market. It is essential that Europe adopts concrete measures to support beekeepers and protect consumers in this matter before the year is out. Until concrete long-term measures are adopted, Europe should, in the meantime, ban the import of honey from those countries that are most problematic in terms of counterfeit honey. Control over honey must be GUARANTEED at entry points into Europe, as this honey can under no circumstances reach store shelves. This must be done to protect consumers so they can still enjoy real honey-honey that strengthens their health-and not "fake" honey, which can even be harmful to our health.

Europe must also urgently and immediately ensure direct payments for each beehive through agricultural and environmental measures as compensation for the free pollination service provided by bees. This year alone, approximately 50% of bee colonies in Europe died over the winter, and without immediate financial support to beekeepers for hive management, we face a catastrophe both in food production and in preserving biodiversity! Importing honey is possible (fake honey), but pollination simply cannot be imported!

On this year's World Bee Day, I wish for clear and definite protection of consumers and support for beekeepers. Europeans do not deserve to enjoy honey that isn't really honey and therefore should not be labeled as honey at all. Let's not forget: "A spoonful of real honey a day keeps the doctor away!" There is no food security in Europe without bees! Immediate support for beekeepers is essential to preserve the bees and, with them, the pollination service they provide!

I thank all beekeepers for continuing to engage in beekeeping during these difficult times, for caring for the production of high-quality bee products, for maintaining the pollination service of bees, and consequently for supporting the production of more than one-third of the world's food.

Special thanks go to everyone who helps beekeepers preserve bees by planting nectar-producing plants, by using harmful FFS products only when absolutely necessary and correctly, and by deciding to buy bee products from local beekeepers, thereby ensuring the best bee products that strengthen your health!

Let us be aware that the one playing the leading role in everything is the bee - the bee, we say - and once again, we say it: the bee! Without the bee, there are no bee products; without the bee, there is no pollination; without the bee, there is no food production - and also, UNFORTUNATELY, without beekeepers, there will be no bees.

Boštjan Noč,
President of the European Beekeeping Association and
President of the Slovenian Beekeepers' Association