Organic Beekeeping Practices in Romania: Status and Perspectives towards a Sustainable Development

Abstract

Romanian beekeeping faces a lot of challenges nowadays due to the problems related to climate change, the use of pesticides in agriculture, but also to the pandemic crisis. In this context, organic beekeeping represents an important alternative to traditional apicultural practices. The purpose of the study was to present the current situation of organic beekeeping in Romania, but also to identify some aspects related to sustainability. The research methodology was based on secondary and primary data. An online survey was conducted in 2020 on a sample of 433 Romanian beekeepers. The main findings showed that the majority of participants were aware of organic principles and were familiar with the concept of sustainability in beekeeping. However, only a small percentage of beekeepers were certified in the organic system. The evaluation of the concept of sustainability showed that the most important factor for the surveyed beekeepers was the environmental aspect, followed by the economic and social components. The pandemic crisis has negatively impacted the beekeepers’ activities due to travel restrictions and the limited access to the apiaries. If, in economic terms, they were affected by the sales drop in the first months of the crisis, there were also some positive effects such as the increase in demand for health-related products.

Physico-Chemical Profile of Four Types of Honey from the South of the Republic of Moldova

“…During the evaluation of mankind, honey became an important commercial currency with which to pay for certain taxes [6] [7]. There has always been a strong link between humans and bees, and this relationship is largely based on the fact that 80% of plants are pollinated by bees [8] and today, beekeeping is becoming a key occupation for income generation, especially in countries developing [9] [10].…”

“Migratory beekeeping and its influence on the prevalence and dispersal of pathogens to managed and wild bees”

“…Migratory beekeeping movements take place mainly in the centre and south/southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, but there are regions such as the Canary Islands where a sharp change in the type of management has been observed in recent years with an increase of migratory colonies (from 22% of the total number of hives in 2014 to 51% in 2020) (ISTAC, 2020). In Romania, the second country in the EU in terms of the number of hives (2,247,000), 27.9% of them are included in migratory movements and 30% in mixed beekeeping practices ( Pocol et al, 2021 ). In Italy (Mutinelli, pers.…”

Four-Year Overview of Winter Colony Losses in Greece: Citizen Science Evidence That Transitioning to Organic Beekeeping Practices Reduces Colony Losses

“…Such observations in our analysis have made evident that Greek beekeepers were caught in a transition to more natural environments and methods. In fact, a general tendency for organic agriculture and beekeeping has been growing in previous years, globally [ 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ]. Only the increase in plastic hive use, which does not align with organic practices, contradicts our observed trend, but could be explained by economic reasons.…”

“…The EU has already started promoting the transition to organic beekeeping through local authorities by offering economic support opportunities [ 79 , 80 ]. As shown in previous reports, such motives, especially in the post-pandemic world economy, have proved efficiently attractive to convince beekeepers to make the necessary changes [ 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ]. Hence, based on our findings, we were able to demonstrate such a shift in the beekeeping sector.…”