GAF
Greater export of honey from bees in Camagüey
The export of honey from bees in this province reported at the end of the first quarter an income of more than eight million dollars (USD), higher than the four million 905 thousand 600 USD planned for that period.
Of the 102.2 tons (t) planned, 170.9 tons were sold in the international market, reported Maira Romero Guerra, an analyst at the Management Post of the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI) delegation in the territory. With the production of 213.6 tons (t) of honey from bees in those three months, the Base Business Unit (UEB) Apícola de Camagüey registers a fulfillment of 167 percent of what was planned and grows by seven percent compared to same period of the previous year. Among the causes that facilitated this result, the favorable weather conditions stand out, and the motivation for the increase in the price of this product, which used to be paid to more than 17,000 pesos per ton and currently has risen to 35,200 pesos, explained Omelio Barba Alonso, director of the aforementioned entity. He also highlighted the work of Camagüey beekeepers in the careful attention to the 17 596 hives that are active in the territory, while the plans for the production of derivatives such as propolis and wax are being fulfilled and increased. Currently, honey from bees is sold to the population at a point of sale located in the Market on the central Cisneros street, in this city, and at fairs held in the municipalities with great acceptance for the nutritional and medicinal properties it possesses, although the most of the production is destined for export. Barba Alonso said that the product obtained in Camagüey is sent to the processing plants located in the provinces of Sancti Spíritus and Santiago de Cuba. For this year the UEB Apícola Camagüey plans to exceed its production plan set at 830.5 t of honey with the commitment to promote the food development program, which has the approval and will of the beekeepers of this demarcation, whose production record was achieved in 1982 with 1 080 t.
