GAF
Stable benefit of honey for export in Artemisa
Artemisa, Jul 29 (ACN) The stability in its operation allowed the Base Business Unit (UEB) West Honey Processing Plant to fulfill the plans for this demanded product in the first half of the year, whose 80 percent is destined to the export, mainly to Europe.
Rigoberto Velázquez Hernández, director of the UEB, located in Caimito, told the ACN that until the end of June the entity benefited two thousand 30 tons (t) from one thousand of thousand of 554.6 t planned, a possible result thanks to the effort of the 28 workers because they had to assimilate greater volumes of honey and consequently readjust the schedules for unloading and processing.
This is a sustained result since since 2018, the year the UEB was launched, they have exceeded the planned plans and not only due to the work of the group, but also to the growth of honey production in the provinces of Matanzas, Artemisa , Pinar del Río, Mayabeque and Isla de la Juventud, all of which pay tribute to the plant.
According to the manager in the shipment of honey, Matanzas stands out, the largest producer in the country, which contributed more than two thousand tons in 2019, a record for that territory, while the UEB Apícola Artemisa exceeded 280 tons destined for the benefit that year , the highest figure since its creation in 2011.
He stressed that the UEB maintained its vitality during the confrontation with COVID-19, always complying with the country's hygienic-sanitary measures, such as the mandatory use of the nasobuco and the reorganization of office furniture and work in other areas to achieve the required distance between workers.
He explained that when they received more honey than expected to benefit, they managed to sell 10 tons of wax and 500 kilograms of propolis, products extracted from hives with high demand abroad and in Cuba for their pharmaceutical and industrial value, amounts higher than those marketed in 2018 and 2019.
Velázquez Hernández specified that the UEB has a development plan until 2030 that plans to turn it into a beekeeping complex capable of processing and producing pollen, propolis, royal jelly and wax sheets for honeycombs, which is of interest to the country, ratified in the Government visit to the entity last January.
This year a dehumidifier was installed, equipment that allows to reduce the humidity of the honey after processing and consequently achieve a product with a higher commercial value.
The Artemiseña plant, one of the three in the country, began to adjust the technology in February 2018, was officially opened in July of that year and its mission is to benefit the honey collected in Matanzas, Artemisa, Pinar del Río, Mayabeque and Isla de la Juventud which was sent to Sancti Spíritus for this process, which entailed a large cost of fuel for transportation.
