Beekeepers from Ciego de Ávila create more hives from the beginning of the year to have a higher number of them in the period from October to December, the period with the highest flowering, which allows them to fulfill the annual plan of 412 tons of honey.

Robin Pérez Pérez, director of the Beekeeping Base Business Unit (UEB) in the province, informed the Cuban News Agency that they closed 2022 with 361 tons of sweet food, 51 less than expected.

This was due to the fact that nature did not favor the flowering of the three plantations that best grow and secrete nectars in Ciego de Ávila: the white and purple bells, and the lumberjack, the manager pointed out.

Hence, work is being done to prepare the first 300 new hives, out of 600 planned, before the end of the first quarter, since to obtain honey from them, at least six months must elapse, the time it takes to become productive, Pérez Pérez said.

He also emphasized that the incorporation of producers is added to this strategy, which currently makes it possible to have 355 apiaries and 9,630 beehives.

Unlike 2022, this year it is in better conditions, in terms of vehicle fleet, to carry out transhumance, that is, to take the hives in the two periods of greatest flowering (March-August and October-December) wherever it occurs the specific circumstance of availability of nectar or pollen for bees, he explained.

We carry out this operation in the Jardines del Rey keys, in the Chicola channel, La Redonda lagoon, Cunagua, areas of the municipality of Ciro Redondo that join those of Florencia through forest paths, Júcaro and the south coast of Baraguá added the specialist.

Beekeepers strive to offer a stimulating diet twice before the last three months of the year with the aim of obtaining two generations of bees and achieving the adequate population to face that stage in the existing apiaries in the province.

This action is carried out because the normal life of a bee lasts between 45 and 60 days, while that of the queen is five years.

Beekeeping in the province has five certified queen centers, located in the municipalities of Chambas, Florencia, Majagua, Baraguá and Ciego de Ávila, which is a guarantee for the replacement process of this type of bee, essential in a hive.

Besides, it has five Basic Cooperative Production Units that produce honey (three in the capital municipality, one in Morón and another in Florencia).

It also groups 74 producers, distributed in various Credit and Services Cooperatives of the 10 municipalities and in the UEB.

All these beekeepers have a card in freely convertible currency (mlc), since their honey is of exportable quality, a benefit that allows them to acquire their resources and improve the quality of life for themselves and their families.

Among these workers, Oneido Gómez Farías, from Majagua, stands out as the best producer, who along with his brothers and sons maintains a tradition in this work and whose contribution allows the town to have the status of vanguard at the province level.