Srebrin Iliev to FAKTI: The problem with fake honey has two sides – for the producer and for the consumer

Bees are among the most important organisms for life on the planet, and their role in food production is becoming increasingly crucial against the backdrop of the disappearance of natural pollinators. From climate change and unregulated pesticides, to fake honey and the lack of effective state policies. As well as why Bulgaria still does not have a clear strategy for protecting pollinators, and this puts both beekeeping and food security at risk… Srebrin Iliev, Chairman of the National Beekeeping Industry Union, spoke to FACTI.

- Mr. Iliev, why are bees so important for food security and is it true that every third bite of food depends on pollinators?
- Even more so. Over 70% of ethnophilic plants cannot exist in nature without pollination. In the case of food, this dependence is even greater. Only cereals are relatively independent of pollinators. The most important pollinator is the honey bee, and it is becoming increasingly important due to the fact that natural pollinators are decreasing. Not only the yield, but also the quality of food depends on the quality of pollination. For example, poorly and insufficiently pollinated apples have ugly and crooked fruits. It is no coincidence that the bee has been defined as the most important animal on the planet. This proves that it is the main factor in ensuring not only national but also global food security and preserving biodiversity.

- How serious is the problem with the disappearance of bees in Bulgaria and Europe in recent years?
- The problem is quite serious, mainly with the disappearance of natural pollinators, and therefore the honey bee, which beekeepers raise, is becoming an increasingly significant factor in food production and biodiversity conservation. Just a few years ago, a state scientific institute from Germany announced a study that over 700 species of pollinators have disappeared in the EU alone. This necessitated taking serious measures and the initiative for the protection of pollinators was developed. On the Bulgarian side, the National Branch Beekeeping Union (NBPS) and the Association “Bioproducts“ We were one of the first initiators in the EU of the petition for consideration of this Initiative in the EP and EC in 2018. The scale of this initiative even forced the EC to take an extremely serious approach and this initiative for the protection of pollinators grew into a Regulation for the restoration of nature. According to this Regulation, each Member State must adopt its own National Plan by 30.09.2026. In Bulgaria, the Ministry of Ecology is responsible for this, but so far we have no data and we have not been invited to participate in the preparation of such a plan, which is quite a pity!? https://www.moew.government.bg/bg/priroda/reglament-otnosno-vuzstanovyavaneto-na-prirodata/

- How did it come to the point that a large part of the funds provided for combating diseases and aggressors in apiaries remain unused?
- This is a rather shameful fact and does not speak well of both Bulgarian beekeepers and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MAF), which developed this intervention as part of the Strategic Plan for the Development of Agriculture. What worries me most is the behavior of beekeepers, which is due to an arrogant self-confidence that they understand a lot and massively brag in Facebook groups about how they themselves produce some synonyms for veterinary medicinal products (VMP) for bees. Therefore, the targeted annual training of beekeepers, carried out by most societies on bee diseases and how to treat them, does not help well. But the main fault lies with the Ministry of Agriculture, which did not develop this activity well enough as a tool for implementing the intervention. It is surprising that it was the Ministry of Agriculture that allowed beekeepers, for example, to conduct resistance tests for certain VLPs, which is absurd. This is the obligation of the manufacturer of a given veterinary medicinal product. We also have an insufficient information campaign by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Bulgarian Veterinary and Phytosanitary Agency, as well as insufficient commitment by privately practicing veterinarians.

- Are there enough trained professional beekeepers in Bulgaria, or does the sector suffer from a lack of knowledge and training?
- Let's not use such a term - professional beekeeper. Every beekeeper must take care of his bees professionally and responsibly. This term was introduced in Bulgaria completely intentionally as a civic cliché and to protect the interests of the so-called processors. In a broad sense, however, we can consider that a professional beekeeper has economic significance as an agricultural producer, whose main income comes solely from beekeeping. This is related to a certain size of the farm, and in Bulgaria this is a beekeeper with over 150 or more bee colonies. However, this obscures the objective fact that the effect of scale does not work in beekeeping, and it is in the interest of society to have a large number of apiaries evenly distributed across the country. For years I have been talking about creating a National Beekeeping Map. The use of this term prevents us from seeing that Bulgarian beekeeping has structural problems and is developing in the wrong direction, unlike other developed beekeeping countries. Unlike us, who develop extensive independent beekeeping, the future lies in so-called integrated beekeeping. Otherwise, there are many well-trained beekeepers in Bulgaria, but they themselves ensure the acquisition of knowledge and skills. I must also note the fact that for more than ten years now, the Thracian and Agrarian Universities have had master's programs in beekeeping, and this is already having an effect. But in the mass case, the sector really suffers not so much from a lack of training, but from the nature of the subject matter of these trainings. They are mainly carried out by the National Agricultural Society, but in my opinion they have almost no effect. The most significant and rapid effect is given by specialized trainings carried out by the branch organization. For example, as in the AKIS system (agricultural knowledge sharing system), but this was not well developed as an activity in the technical assistance intervention and did not work.

- What is beekeeping in Bulgaria - business or hobby?
- Unfortunately - it is neither a business nor a hobby. Some mixture of the two, which does not lead to anything good. It would be good for it to become a business, but first beekeepers need to mature for that. And even if it is a hobby, which I don't understand what it is, bees should be looked after responsibly and professionally. I don't accept the concept of a hobby beekeeper - you are either a beekeeper or you are not.

- How do climate change, pesticides and intensive agriculture affect bee colonies?
- A serious question that artificial intelligence will have a hard time answering in its entirety. Undoubtedly, climate change has a significant negative impact not only on agriculture, but also on bees as a whole. The same is true for pesticides. However, in beekeeping, the use of unauthorized pesticides and unregulated spraying has a stronger impact. Regarding intensive agriculture, it is also somewhat related to them. But the greatest harm is caused by intensive crop production and the transition to monocultures.

- Why is the topic of fake honey becoming one of the biggest problems for Bulgarian beekeepers?
- The topic is huge and cannot be justified in a few sentences. This requires a separate program, as they say. The problem of fake honey has two sides. One is the harm to beekeeping, and the other is the harm to the consumer. I will mainly focus briefly on the beekeeper. When there is fake honey on the market, the beekeeper cannot sell his production and is forced to give up or reduce his activity. This reduces the pollination potential and stops the production of local foods. This forces the beekeeper, in another sense, to intensify his honey production technology and to use more and more bee feeding in order to produce more honey, but it will already have low beneficial qualities.

- How can the consumer recognize real honey from counterfeit or low-quality products?
- Difficult and even impossible. A visual and taste organoleptic assessment means nothing. Moreover, the products in the store must have a certificate. Modern counterfeits - mainly a mixture of different sugar syrups, are at a high technological level and fully correspond to the physicochemical indicators of honey. Therefore, the National Beekeeping Industry Union as part of the European Beekeeping Association (EPA) wants to accredit new analysis methods such as DNA and NMR.

- What is useful honey and what is ordinary honey?
- Useful honey is any honey obtained from the nectar of plants by the bee and processed by it in the beehive bioreactor. The more and more diverse plants the bee has visited, the more useful the honey produced by it. For example, polyfloral (multi-colored honey) honey is more useful than monofloral (single-colored honey) - such is sunflower honey, for example. There are exceptions, but this is not essential at the moment. For this reason, I recommend using the widely known term "Bouquet" honey.