Ufa hosts "Global Trends in Beekeeping Development" international online symposium

"Global Trends in Beekeeping Development" international online symposium of beekeepers has started in Ufa. The event is timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apimondia Congress in Moscow.

"In recent years, the beekeeping sub-industry has been making an increasingly significant contribution to the overall results of domestic livestock farming, providing the country with valuable food products, medicines, and raw materials for several industries. Honey production in Russia last year maintained a positive trend and increased by 4.4% to 66 thousand tons," Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev said.

In his welcoming speech, the Head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, emphasized that Bashkortostan had always been famous for its honey, beekeeping was a traditional Bashkir occupation with a thousand-year history, and it was now carefully maintained in the form of wild-hive beekeeping.

Dr. Jeff Pettis, President of the Apimondia International Federation of Beekeeping Associations, is confident that the symposium will give an approximate understanding of what Bashkortostan offers regarding beekeeping's scientific development. He noted that the online format was an excellent way of communication. He urged the symposium participants to visit Apimondia and the ApiExpo exhibition, which would be held in Bashkortostan in 2022.

"At the upcoming congress, we will study all the problems, find a solution, appeal to statesmen of the world, so that beekeeping is in the attention of every head of state. Beekeeping cannot develop without state support because there are natural disasters, floods, fires," Arnold Butov, President of the Russian National Union of Beekeepers, said.

Leading scientists in genetics, bee health, beekeeping economics, and practicing beekeepers are taking part in the symposium, the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture of Bashkortostan noted.