KSA: Promoted locally, regionally and internationally in beekeeping sector, honey production and beekeeping professio

Ashraf AboArfe

The Kingdom if Saudi Arabia (KSA) has made great efforts at the local, regional and global levels in developing the beekeeping sector, honey production and the beekeeping profession, as its participation by the countries of the world in the International Bee Day, which falls on May 20, comes out of its belief in global cooperation and solidarity to confront the threats posed by the Corona pandemic to food security and ways Agricultural live.

This year’s World Bee Day, under the slogan “Participating Bees .. Rebuilding Better Bees”, gives priority to environmental regeneration and pollinator protection and will be an occasion to raise awareness about how everyone can make a difference to support, restore and enhance the role of pollinators.

For its part, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, through a specialized department for bees under the name of the Department of Apiaries and Honey Production, launches initiatives that contribute to spreading modern methods of beekeeping, raising the level of production efficiency, and improving quality in a way that leads to achieving economic returns.

The Ministry has set a plan to develop the beekeeping sector and honey production, through which it aims to improve and protect the local breed of honey bees and preserve them, organize and develop bee systems and methods, develop and improve the production efficiency of queens, parcels and other bee products, develop and protect bee pastures and regulate their exploitation, and create investment opportunities through partnership With institutions, bodies, and competent authorities, and others.

This plan relies on a number of programs that contribute to its realization, including the program for improving and developing the local honey bee breed and protecting it, the infrastructure development program, raising and developing the efficiency of local content and capacity building, the program for organizing and developing and protecting bee pastures, the program for developing the bee industry, honey production and encouraging investment, and the program Development of extension services, agricultural and scientific research.

The Ministry’s role in developing beekeeping in the Kingdom comes through the establishment of training courses, workshops, lectures and seminars directed at the beekeepers in proportion to the needs and conditions of beekeepers in each region, and the implementation of the project of application of extension methods in the field of beekeeping and honey production in a number of areas of comparative advantage in The field of bees, establishing model indicative apiaries affiliated with the ministry and securing their needs of beekeepers’ materials and tools in order to perform its indicative work entrusted to it by introducing beekeepers to modern methods of beekeeping, as well as preparing scientific and technical content for extension programs related to beekeeping and providing public administrations, directorates and branches with them to spread them at the level of beekeepers according to The needs of each region.

The Ministry also provides advisory service for community beehives by specialized technicians in charge of field visits, introducing the beekeeper to modern methods of beekeeping, and training workers in the field of beekeeping through specialized training courses in bees held by agricultural training centers or workshops directed to technicians. Their competence to ensure the quality of the extension service expected to be provided to the beekeepers through them.

The Ministry is keen on the participation of institutions, bodies and competent authorities, to create investment opportunities, and transfer modern technologies to beekeepers to improve the quantity and quality of production, reduce costs and increase income while preserving the environment and natural resources, and support and encourage the establishment of cooperative societies for beekeepers, as the profession of honey bee breeding is considered one of the agricultural professions Which can be practiced by all, in addition to its role in providing new job opportunities for young people.

The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has also launched an “agricultural” platform within its electronic services for beekeepers and honey producers, in order to keep pace with the digital transformation in its business, to facilitate the beneficiaries to implement their services in a record time, which contributes to raising the efficiency and quality of work and raising the percentage of digital services provided to beekeepers. In cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “FAO” to launch a project of beekeeping and honey production, in an indication for the investment and exploitation of natural resources and wealth in areas of comparative advantage.

While bees play a major role in pollinating agricultural crops and increasing their productivity in quantity and quality, beekeeping varies in the Kingdom through municipal cells, breeding in mountains, and modern cells, and among the most famous types of honey in the Kingdom are Sidr honey and Acacia honey “Al-Talh, Al-Samar, and Al-Dahyan. Clover honey, locally produced honey has been reaped advanced positions in international forums.

It is worth noting that the Kingdom produces more than 5,000 tons of honey annually, and the number of beehives exceeds one million denominations in the Kingdom.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “FAO” celebrates World Bee Day on May 20 of each year, with the aim of highlighting the importance of traditional knowledge in the field of beekeeping and the use of derivative products and services and its importance for achieving sustainable development goals, the importance of preserving bees and calling for concrete action yo preserve and protect it.