Between February 7 and 10 over 150 companies from 22 countries are participating at the 17^th International Fair Apiculture-Pleven 2019. Leading manufacturers from Austria, Canada, Italy, Germany, England, Poland, Serbia, Turkey, Greece, China, Finland, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the USA, Russia, Sweden, Spain, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Pakistan are presenting the latest novelties in the field of beekeeping equipment. The International Apiculture Fair which lasts for four days will be again visited by organized groups of beekeepers from different Bulgarian regions, as well as from Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Cyprus and Turkey.

Fifty bee-keepers from the town of Bitola (North Macedonia) will attend the apiculture fair for the first time at the invitation of Pleven Mayor Georg Spartanski who visited Pleven’s sister city in the beginning of November last year. An agreement for cooperation will be signed between the apiarists from Pleven and their colleagues from Bitola within the frameworks of the apiculture fair.

The International Beekeeping Fair is traditionally accompanied with a rich programme which includes presentations and discussions on topical issues in apiculture and visits of outstanding bee-gardens. Lecturers from Germany, France, Poland, Serbia, Romania, Russia and Bulgaria will present novelties, new trends and aspects in apiculture sector.

Bulgaria produces an average of 10,000 tons of honey per year, of which between 7,000 and 8,000 tons are exported. The Bulgarian apiarists have received nearly EUR 19 million since 2008 under a national apiculture programme. The money is used for modernization of the apiculture sector, Silvia Vasileva, head of Stock-Breeding Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, told Radio Bulgaria:

It is important to note that the number of bee colonies has increased steadily in the recent years. We created the necessary legislation, which will need to be amended over the years. The problems of the Bulgarian apiarists are now similar to the problems of bee-keepers from other EU member states. Now we can speak of a completely different type of beekeeping in Bulgaria- it develops as an individual subsector and the number of people in this country who raise bees at home to increase their household incomes has dwindled.