UPDATE OF ARGENTINE BEEKEEPING SEASON 2025-2026
A lot of beekeepers recently attended several local meetings organized by different companies. It is a great signal of the expectations on the current underway season.
As an example, I talked with a friend yesterday who called me last year saying he wanted to reduce his structure by selling some beehives. We had a long chat yesterday talking about how to provide the bees with a strong protein cake next fall because -he said- "this year my beehives shrank significantly during the winter, and I had problems with Nosema".
With the common climate instability of the early spring, a lot of wind in August, rain, rising temperatures, and good development of the brood chambers, there is a significant demand of queen bees and cardboard strips with oxalic acid to avoid surprises with varroa mites. As we reported at the end of July, in the central region, many beekeepers moved their beehives to rapeseed and will soon be moving them to harvest honey from algarrobo (
Prosopis spp.) in the Chaco Park (mainly Córdoba and Santiago del Estero). Transhumants who began their season in the north of the country (Tucumán, Salta, and Jujuy) also travel to this area. Before moving to the grasslands, they also harvest honey from atamisqui (
Capparis atamisquea) and mistol (
Sarcomphalus mistol, formerly
Ziziphus mistol).
HONEY TRADE
It is striking that the monthly Honey Reports published by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) contain very notable errors, at least to what we know about Argentina prices, for the last three months. While the prices US importers have been paying aren't fantastic, the prices reported by the USDA for honey from Argentina are far below what was actually paid. The USDA published a CFR average price of USD 1662.- per metric ton of white honey (less than 34 mm Pfund) from Argentina, when for that period CFR contracts were no lower than USD 2,430. Errors of similar magnitude occurred in other categories and in previous months. It's a pity. We hope there will be some communication to correct these errors and restore confidence in this important service.
LAVALLE BEEKEEPING EXPO 2025
Our 148th issue of Espacio Apícola has already been printed, and we are taking it to the Lavalle Api Expo, which will take place in Villa Tulumaya, Lavalle, Mendoza, this Friday, September 5th and Saturday, September 6th. This exhibition is close to an area of significant fruit and vegetable production, from plum, apple, and almond trees to seed production of onion or carrot and greenhouses for tomatoes and peppers.
APIMONDIA: LAST CALL FOR REGISTRATION
This Friday, September 5th, is the deadline for online registration for the Apimondia Congress, which will take place in Copenhagen from September 23rd to 27th.
Visit the congress website and register here.
ESPACIO APICOLA 148
At the top of this English message we share the cover of our 148th issue, which addresses topics of technical and commercial interest in Argentina, such as the debate over the authenticity of honey in Europe and agrochemical residues in bee products. We invite you to read the summary of its contents in
Spanish here.