The beekeeping sector in Lebanon : a sustainable integrated development strategy

Abstract

The American Foulbrood (AFB) disease is one of the most serious bee diseases affecting the brood, and causing substantial damage to apiaries. The misuse of antibiotics by beekeepers in order to treat AFB has led to elevated antibiotic residues in Lebanon honey products, constituting one of the major trade barriers affecting export activities to the EU territories. The occurrence of the AFB disease is common in Lebanon. In fact, 53% of the Lebanese beekeepers are suffering from AFB infection with an annual loss 1.7% of their colonies. In an attempt to eradicate this disease, beekeepers are using excess amounts of antibiotics. The samples examined in this study have shown the elevated amounts of antibiotic residues, reaching the level of 705 ppb/kg. This thesis studies the local beekeeping market and analyzes the performance of 30 of the biggest beekeepers in the country covering 9.34% of the beehives, with an annual honey production of 6.87%. If further depicts that only 43% of the beekeepers studied are eligible to export honey products to the European Union. This low percentage is not sufficient for an industry with as much potential as the honey production has, and thus upgrading the domestic market would increase the chances of opening new markets worldwide, especially the European market that constitutes of around 25% of the world’s consumption. Despite of that, the local market has been slowly, but unstably, developing with an obvious increase in the number of beehives. This increase is sensed with a drop in the production yield that has not been stable through the past years, dropping sometimes below regional average. As for the country trade activities, the import has been shown to be very close to the exports but with a monetary value of 200%, meaning that the price of exported products is half the price of imported ones.