Honey production in 2018 has dropped by about 60% on average, Nikolay Kumenov, chairman of the Federation of Bulgarian Beekeepers in Bulgaria told the BNR. As a reason for the fall, he pointed out higher rainfall during the year. Another reason is the dramatic increase in bee mortality.

According to him, this is because of the use of pesticides banned in the EU.If in the past years Bulgaria used to export about 12-15 thousand tons of honey, export now will be about 7-8 thousand tons, Kumanov said.

In a statement, beekeepers are demanding state support of 60 euros per year for a bee family, criminalizing unregulated use of pesticides and state monitoring of illegal imports of banned pesticides in Bulgaria.