GAF
The "sweetest" Cuban production grows(II)
Cuban beekeeping today includes, in addition to honey and wax, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, pollination and constitutes an active factor in the balance of the Cuban ecosystem
Necessary integration
That the province has such favorable results in its beekeeping productions is also due to the close link reached between beekeepers and the seven queen bee breeding centers that exist here, where a genetic program has been maturing that facilitates the annual change of 100% of these bees for better yields.
In one of these breeding poles - specifically the Batalla de Peralejo ubpc - located in the rural community of El Datil, in Bayamo, its president, Yaneisy Leyva Domínguez, consolidates this work in front of a small team of eight members.
«Here we have adopted the necessary measures to face the new coronavirus without ceasing to carry out the grafts and the careful selection of the breeding feet, which allowed us to have sold 2 867 of our queen bees by the end of May, 199 above than planned, "explains the leader of this group, the National Vanguard, while highlighting the scope of the unit, the largest of its kind in the province, responsible for supplying beekeepers in Bayamo, Río Cauto, Jiguaní and Guisa.
"Also within the activities for better management of queens we have begun to increase the conservation bank, an important repository for any eventuality, such as the one that was given to us when they diagnosed positive cases of the pandemic in the municipality of Guisa, a fact that prevented beekeepers from that municipality to make their purchase on the appointed date, and thanks to the ten banks we already had, we were able to keep, until recently, the 200 queens they had hired, "highlights Leyva Domínguez, convinced that the alternative , together with the integration between producers and the center, is key to beekeeping development.
DIVERSIFY PRODUCTION
Although it is the end of the year harvest that defines the fulfillment of honey production, in a recent meeting with directors of the agricultural sector in the province, José Ramón Machado Ventura, Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, stressed the importance of not not neglecting a single one of the stages and processes of this exportable item, which, once international trade has been restored, must contribute solid income to the country.
"In general, bee products such as pollen, jelly, propolis and wax, in addition to honey itself, are having great demand and value in the international market, so these productions must not be stopped", emphasized on that same occasion Gustavo Rodríguez Rollero, Minister of Agriculture.
To support this national aspiration, in Granma not only has the management of hives and queen bees been strengthened, but also parallel productions have been intensified.
Speaking of this program in the territory, the director of the beekeeping UEB, Causilla Sierra, highlights that “this has been a strong work with beekeepers to assume the production of wax as another cardinal line, although the results are already beginning to note with the 8 059 kilograms of wax delivered out of the 7 390 committed, while propolis is around 762 kilograms ».
That these digits of the beekeeping granmense portray, for good, the effort of a sector that advances without being exempt from limitations and lack of resources, does not mean that everything is done. The debt must still be paid with the national demand, until now unsatisfied, with the availability of bee products on the market.
Therefore, a lot of dedication and commitment will have to continue accompanying the work of those who have assumed, as a day-to-day goal, keep on the path of growth the most "sweet" of Cuban productions.
