Of pollination wonders and confetti honey from the region

The little toy bee rolls across the game board. A turn to the left, straight ahead, right again and it has already arrived on the field of pollination. At the stand of the German Beekeepers' Association, visitors can follow the process of honey production step by step in a very playful way (3.2/301).

Honey is a popular product at Grüne Woche. When asked what her personal highlight of the fair was, one visitor said: ‘The honey in the Berlin hall, because it was very delicious.’ Perhaps she was at the Berlin and Brandenburg Bioland Beekeeping Honigtreu (21/111 and 125). Inselmühle Usedom also offers honey (5.2/228), and Bienenwirtschaft Meissen from Saxony has been bottling honey for over 70 years (21/212). Hof Behn from Lower Saxony has confetti honey (Hall 20, 102) and pilot honey comes from Ludwigsfelde in the district of Teltow Fläming (21/149).

Honey from Usedom to Bulgaria

Honey lovers will also get their money's worth on the World Tour: ‘Atanasov 67 and Son’ from Bulgaria has been producing certified lavender oil and natural honey on a 3.5-hectare farm with lavender plantations and 20 bee families since 2008 (11.2/109). Honey with apple, mint and lemon is available from the Muskauer Heid apiary in Poland (11.2/109). Representatives of the Finnish Dark Bee Association draw attention to the endangered northern bee at their stand (8.2/116).

Germany is world champion in honey consumption

Visitors to the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Beekeepers' Association (5.2b/205) can find out about honey, wax, pollen and propolis, the pollination performance of bees and beekeeping in general from 10 am to 6 pm. ‘We are not interested in selling honey. We want to educate people,’ says vet Dr Ella Fischer. Klaus Schmieder, Vice President of the German Beekeepers' Association, also takes the time. He does the maths: The 150,000 regional beekeepers and their approximately one million bee colonies produce around 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of honey every year. However, honey consumption in Germany is 80,000 tonnes per year. ‘Germany is the world champion in honey consumption and is therefore a traditional honey importing country,’ says Schmieder. Many of the products imported from the USA in particular are much cheaper than those of regional beekeepers, but are often riddled with foulbrood spores, explains Dr Ella Fischer.

The importance of pollination

Moreover, the most important part of beekeeping is not honey, but pollination, says Klaus Schmieder. The German Beekeepers' Association uses glass columns to show how crop yields of apples, pears, rapeseed and red clover differ with and without bee pollination. The figures are particularly impressive for red clover. Without bee pollination, the crop yield would be 90 per cent lower. ‘Of course, wild bees and bumblebees can also pollinate. But their populations are declining and, unlike wild bees and bumblebees, honeybees are easier to breed,’ says Schmieder.

Using nature with respect

The 150,000 small beekeeping businesses in Germany are responsible for pollination, which ensures that foodstuffs such as the crops mentioned above, as well as field beans, buckwheat, carrot seeds and cherries, grow in sufficient quality and quantity. Bees have a flight radius of three to four kilometres, which is why the current structure with many regional family-run beekeeping businesses, which are mainly hobby beekeepers, is favourable in order to be able to pollinate as many arable fields as possible. With its presence at Grüne Woche, the German Beekeepers' Association wants to present “real German honey”, which will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2025. However, the main aim is to focus on the importance of regional products. ‘It doesn't matter whether the honey is Finnish, Hungarian, Italian or German. The only thing that matters is that the honey people buy is unadulterated and untreated. And that works best regionally,’ says Klaus Schmieder.

‘We endeavour to respect, protect, preserve and also use nature - but with respect,’ he says. For him, this also includes keeping an eye on his own consumption of products such as meat or honey. ‘The biggest pest there is is ourselves,’ he says.