Beekeeping in Germany

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Typical beekeeping advertising sign

The apiary in Germany currently has about 130,000 beekeepers with about 870,000 bee colonies . Around 95% of beekeepers in Germany are recreational beekeepers. Few do beekeeping as a sideline , and only about 500 are professional beekeepers . The assumed limit for a certain positive operating result is generally at least 30 bee colonies.

In Germany, a comparatively large amount of honey is consumed (approx. 1.1 kg / person and year). Around 20% of this is supplied by local beekeepers, the rest is imported from abroad . The most important supplier countries for honey are Argentina, Mexico, Ukraine and China.

For a long time, a major problem in beekeeping was the lack of offspring. The average age of beekeepers in Germany is currently 57 years. The number of beekeepers has been increasing again since 2008. In order to counteract the shortage of young women, especially among the female beekeeping, and to get more women enthusiastic about beekeeping, the German Beekeeping Association declared 2008 the year of women in beekeeping . In addition, EU-supported funding programs of the state governments have been in effect since 2010, so that the number of new beekeepers and the number of colonies rose by around 20% within ten years.

The main problems in beekeeping are the decreasing supply of flowers, the use of pesticides in agriculture and the varroa mite .

Legal basis

In Germany there are hardly any legal conditions attached to beekeeping and gainful employment.

Beekeeping must be reported to the competent authority in accordance with Section 1a of the Bee Disease Ordinance, stating the number of bees and the location. The task is usually the responsibility of the veterinary office . According to Section 2 of this Ordinance, however, only companies in which honey is commercially stored or treated are subject to special supervision. According to § 20 TierGesG , beekeeping must be reported to the responsible animal disease fund. This regulation, like a contribution to the animal disease fund, differs depending on the federal state .

Wandering beekeepers who move with their bees, for example because of better foraging conditions, require a so-called migration certificate . This is intended to counteract the spread of the American foulbrood disease . This is also a notifiable animal disease , just like tropilaelapsosis and infestation with small hive beetles , an infestation must be reported to the respective veterinary offices. The legal basis is the Bee Disease Ordinance of November 3, 2004.

The keeping of honey bees requires the approval of the owner, on whose area the bee colony is to be set up ( Section 903 BGB). In addition, bystanders such as neighbors must not be "significantly" affected ( Section 906 BGB).

Technical requirements

Beekeeper with swarm of bees on a branch

Beekeepers keep bees in artificial dwellings called prey , in which frames are hung. Nowadays, so-called magazine hives are mostly common , but there are numerous types and variants that differ from one another depending on the use of costume or just personal preferences. Magazine hives can be set up freely or placed in a protected place in an apiary or apiary. Many beekeeping associations operate so-called training apiaries. Further beekeeping equipment is required , for example beekeeping pipes or smokers . Seldom used equipment (e.g. for wax processing) is often available from beekeeping associations and can be borrowed there. Beehives and apiaries need a suitable location. Warm, but not fully sun-drenched areas with a good supply of traditional costumes and a nearby water point are favorable. High densities of more than approx. 20 colonies per square kilometer are only possible with optimal forage supply, otherwise honey robbery often occurs in weaker colonies. Apiaries can be set up both in built-up areas and in the open air, even on the edges of forests. As a building or structural system , they usually require a building permit .

Beekeeping is done as a hobby, as a sideline or professionally. It is estimated that 98% of German beekeepers are not gainfully employed. Most of them fall under the German small business regulation , so do not have to pay sales tax for the sale of honey. From a legal and tax perspective, beekeeping is part of agriculture .

Beekeeping organizations

history

Beekeeping associations in Germany have existed since around 1815. These associations were merged under one umbrella organization in 1880 when the "German Central Bee Association" was founded, from 1907, with the association assembly between the hiking assembly, the central association and the Reichsverein for the German Beekeeping Association in Frankfurt / Main Germany comprehensive German Beekeeping Association emerged . In the Third Reich this association was formed into the “Reichsfachgruppe Beekeeper” and with this “Gleichschaltung” there were no more elections in the associations because the leaders were appointed and appointed by the Nazi regime. Associations became "local specialist groups". After the war, the German Beekeeping Association was re-established in Lippstadt in West Germany in 1949. In 1959 there was a state “ordered” union of all allotment gardeners, settlers and small animal breeders' associations in the GDR to form the central association of allotment gardeners, settlers and small animal breeders , in which beekeepers formed their own specialty. With the turnaround and the reunification of Germany , this organization disintegrated and the beekeeping associations of the former GDR founded their own regional associations at the federal state level.

Beekeeping Association

The associations belonging to the German Beekeeping Association have a hierarchical structure. The lowest level is formed by local associations with individual beekeepers as members. Above this is a district beekeeping association, which is a member of the respective regional beekeeping association. There are 19 regional associations that are largely identical to the federal states. The umbrella organization represents the interests of the more than 120,000 beekeepers belonging to it and monitors the quality of the honey that the beekeepers can bottle under the “Real German Honey” brand.

There are also other beekeeping organizations in which beekeepers have come together based on the breed of bees they keep ( Buckfast beekeeping community) or on the basis of ecological beekeeping.

education

Apprenticeship as a professional beekeeper in the GDR 1970: Beekeeping instructor and apprentices at the apiary of VEG Kalkreuth in the Grossenhain district

The apprenticeship to become a beekeeper (journeyman) under the designation Tierwirt , specializing in beekeeping, is carried out by state-approved training companies. Currently 42 private companies and twelve bee institutes or other state institutions are recognized. The largest training company is the Celle Bee Institute with eight training positions. The training normally lasts three years, or two years if certain requirements are recognized. According to Section 45 (2) BBiG , a so-called “side entry” is possible for the journeyman's examination. Four and a half years of beekeeping experience with at least 25 or 50 colonies must be proven to the responsible Chamber of Agriculture . Further training to become a master beekeeper is possible.

The hobby beekeeper is usually instructed by a beekeeping association. This provides young beekeepers with a "beekeeper sponsor" who provides practical support in the early days. In addition, the regional beekeeping associations offer annual training courses.

Beekeepers are recommended to join a beekeeping association. There is insurance coverage in the area of ​​legal protection and liability through the association and the umbrella association. The liability insurance (2006 about one euro per colony and year) is due to possible damage claims by third parties, such as for bee stings, is important.

Educational institutions

Many associations and their beekeepers as well as professional beekeepers and public institutions (including in some cases adult education centers, nature conservation organizations, etc.) have set themselves the goal of introducing bees and beekeeping to all interested parties (including children and young people) and starting aids through courses and so-called 'taster courses' to offer. Here is a small selection of places where you have the opportunity to learn beekeeping without obligation:

statistics

Number of beekeepers in the DIB

Regional association 1991 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
to bathe 8,722 7,054 7,075 7.102 7,192 7,260 7,362 7,604 7,712 8,040 8,472 8,820 9,739
Bavaria 27,225 22,784 22,716 ? 22,454 22,773 23,249 23,761 24,370 25,589 26,679 27,821 29,117
Berlin 587 485 488 527 564 591 679 743 834 978 1,115 1,198 1,334
Brandenburg 2,396 1,588 1,585 1,717 1,802 1,846 1,852 1,940 2,046 2.147 2,335 2,512 2,640
Hamburg 448 328 327 335 444 497 515 541 586 738 797 830 912
Hanover 6,450 5,350 5,343 5,391 5,452 5.511 5,682 5,670 6.101 6,467 6,732 7.213 7,688
Hesse 7,887 7,042 6,963 6,932 6,954 7.172 7,387 7,608 7,932 8,433 8,893 9,266 9,669
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 1.925 1,495 1,461 1,479 1.405 1,431 1,442 1,438 1,455 1,501 1,509 1,595 1,675
Nassau 577 437 434 439 442 459 460 458 493 522 549 567 594
Rhineland 6,434 5,288 5,311 5,419 5,595 5,746 6,078 6,368 6,801 7,371 7,966 8,376 9,245
Rhineland-Palatinate 2,030 1,491 1,545 1,526 1,518 1,537 1,621 1,551 1,524 1,837 1.941 2,077 2,190
Saarland 1,553 1,261 1,202 1,178 1,130 1,255 1,273 1,371 1,389 1,559 1,669 1,765 1,833
Saxony 3.114 2,825 2,806 2,908 2,292 3,101 3,236 3,392 3,565 3,723 3,918 4,094 4,271
Saxony-Anhalt 2,478 1,257 1,269 1,270 1,275 1,322 1,351 1,454 1,535 1,604 1,667 1,851 1,975
Schleswig-Holstein 3,374 2,626 2,471 2,447 2,435 2,536 2,534 2,650 2,724 2,736 2,953 2,980 3,097
Thuringia 2,650 1.923 1,779 1,798 1,840 1.929 2,021 2,063 2.141 2,299 2,443 2,557 2,680
Weser-Ems 2,476 2,500 2,647 2,664 2,732 2,799 2,929 3,003 3,200 3,444 3,667 3,859 4.163
Westphalia-Lippe 6,746 5,647 5,735 5,835 5,932 6,145 6,383 6,578 6,929 7,409 7,830 8,372 8,622
Württemberg 10,496 8,866 8,935 9.206 9,300 9,501 10,035 10,285 10,748 11.003 12,235 12,461 13,056
Germany 97,568 80,247 80.092 58,173 + ? 80,758 83,411 86,089 88,478 92.085 97,400 103,370 108.214 114,500

Number of bee colonies

The number of bee colonies in Germany was in 1900 : 2,605,350, 1913 : 2,311,277, 1921 : 1,930,382, 1922 : 1,831,005.

Regional association 1991 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
to bathe 112.014 69,788 67,295 64,915 62,837 62.169 62,289 62,256 63.283 64,242 67,589 70.504 73,390 75,558 76,991
Bavaria 350,463 198,569 187.428 165.640 162,922 162.116 163,543 155.120 158,586 166,516 164,879 176,646 187,549 189,664 197.282
Berlin 4,074 2,414 2,464 2,527 2,804 2,984 3,410 3,490 4,407 4,661 5,397 6,346 7,086 7,078 7,635
Brandenburg 22,697 15,725 15,361 16,582 17.003 17,153 18,346 18,764 19,426 20,643 22,374 24,800 26,063 24,791 26,980
Hamburg 3,237 2,065 2.123 2,238 3,010 3,358 3,389 3,378 3,452 3,793 4.116 4,615 5.118 5,315 5,324
Hanover 59,995 46.161 44,898 43,945 43,131 42,377 43,748 43,428 43,925 47.174 48,665 52,289 54,089 55,511 58,512
Hesse 76,290 51,588 48,954 48.197 46.274 47,479 48,240 48,533 48,657 49,538 52,429 53,813 56.005 59.194 61.194
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 23,000 16,251 15,600 15,157 15,050 15,010 14,731 15,510 15,551 16,495 14,961 16,826 18,043 17,665 17,878
Nassau 4,883 3,294 3,192 3,005 3,041 3,060 3,061 2,988 3,349 3,666 3,718 3,839 4,206 4,320 4,571
Rhineland 50,561 37,709 36,897 35,755 36,053 35,622 37.283 37,269 41,713 46,099 50.273 54,745 60,378 66,190 71,485
Rhineland-Palatinate 16,158 11,246 10,477 9,966 9,962 10,216 10,280 10.110 10,598 11,163 11,965 12,483 13,122 12,290 12,928
Saarland 4,100 8,461 8,303 7,036 7,350 7,539 7,539 7,291 7,608 8,365 8,468 9,272 9,501 9,710 10,408
Saxony 28,660 25,741 24,735 24,245 24,651 26,510 28,170 28,019 28,695 31,186 31,905 34.210 36,179 35,726 36,081
Saxony-Anhalt 36,993 10,462 10,015 9,932 9,543 9,785 9,825 9,920 10,232 11,412 11,782 13,681 14,931 15,637 16,058
Schleswig-Holstein 35,254 23,476 23,127 21,114 20,823 21,202 21,176 20,941 20,886 21,216 22.093 23,986 25,904 27,029 28,847
Thuringia 20,150 15,147 13,876 14,122 13,744 14,855 15,803 15,419 15,435 17.306 18,388 19,330 21,722 22,492 23,114
Weser-Ems 23,022 22,023 21,818 21,128 21,043 21,138 20,932 20,392 20,947 22,697 23,884 25,634 27,400 28,612 29,967
Westphalia-Lippe 51,077 38,466 37,572 36,665 36,254 37,908 39,411 39,090 40,767 44,797 48.507 51,931 54,324 57.903 62,729
Württemberg 131,067 83,654 81.509 79,654 78,467 78.716 80,425 80.254 81,420 83,641 87,794 91,650 97.192 100,553 103.028
Germany 1,055,686 682.240 655.644 621.823 613,962 619.197 631,601 622.172 638.937 674.610 699.187 745.835 792.202 815.238 851.012

Honey yield in kg

Regional association 2011 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
to bathe 2,865,294 1,075,811 1,798,776 1,486,958 1,642,743 4,183,230
Bavaria 7,281,484 4,821,014 3,963,081 5,358,568 4,822,436 6,449,810
Berlin 143.220 176.280 179,449 145.719 184.034 145.263
Brandenburg 660.456 621.632 660.576 760.716 770.560 547.323
Hamburg 135,560 107.012 130,859 152.292 161,525 112,596
Hanover 1,329,939 1,089,340 1,424,655 1,158,227 1,113,756 1,152,096
Hesse 2,436,120 1,848,966 1,510,909 2,196,775 1,474,476 2,111,389
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 500,854 435,428 560.830 508,674 587,900 611.477
Nassau 128,562 110,517 131,976 130.130 89,449 119.030
Rhineland 1,790,000 692.436 1,774,812 1,985,784 1,560,233 1,853,605
Rhineland-Palatinate 411.200 243,754 279.075 251.265 254.855 328.050
Saarland 209.244 144,552 167,300 170.207 171,532 185.270
Saxony 983.133 938.040 925,600 1,033,722 1,148,772 1,314,383
Saxony-Anhalt 393,000 330.494 435.938 400,588 424.111 559.913
Schleswig-Holstein 823.746 622.403 842.275 795.348 923.461 878.146
Thuringia 749.062 579.121 496.163 737.359 605.029 803.714
Weser-Ems 575.630 439,887 612.819 724,641 538.314 548,000
Westphalia-Lippe 1,261,152 815.340 1,343,910 1,552,224 1,298,275 1,205,993
Württemberg 2,292,113 1,709,820 1,212,795 1,668,086 1,741,350 2,526,992
Germany 24,969,769 16,801,847 18,451,789 21.217.283 19,512,811 25,636,280

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ German beekeeping at a glance on deutscherimkerbund.de, accessed on May 2, 2018.
  2. ↑ Figures, data, facts on deutscherimkerbund.de, as of December 31, 2016, accessed on May 2, 2018.
  3. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 3/2009, p. 123
  4. ↑ This follows from income tax law. Beekeeping with fewer than 30 bee colonies is viewed as a hobby and is not subject to tax liability (cf. § 13a Paragraph 6 EStG in conjunction with No. 2 of Annex 1a ).
  5. ↑ German beekeeping at a glance on deutscherimkerbund.de, as of December 31, 2016, accessed on June 15, 2017.
  6. ↑ statista.com , Most important supplier countries for honey imports to Germany by import volume in 2014 (last accessed on June 23, 2015)
  7. ↑ Keeping bees, but how? Legal Regulations . Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, as of June 24, 2019.
  8. ↑ Jens Radtke: Bees are committed. Leaflet, German Beekeeping Association, edition 1/2019. PDF
  9. ↑ Werner Gekeler: Apiaries, popular and current. Part 1: Planning beekeeping buildings. General German beekeeping newspaper 10/2001: 10-11.
  10. ↑ a b Operational requirements for beekeeping, basic decisions . LWG Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture.
  11. ↑ Werner Gekeler: Apiaries, popular and current. Part 4: Choosing the location. Allgemeine Deutsche Beekeeperzeitung 1/2002: 10-13.
  12. ↑ 200th anniversary of the association at imker-straelen.de, accessed on January 19, 2020.
  13. ^ History of the DIB at deutscherimkerbund.de, accessed on January 19, 2020.
  14. ↑ Vocational training to become an animal farmer, specializing in beekeeping , Celle bee institute
  15. ↑ teaching apiary "World of Bees". Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Program for the training of new beekeepers - Beekeeping Association Kleinostheim eV . Accessed on January 22, 2019 .
  17. ↑ professional beekeeping Kremerskothen: peoples figures in Germany, accessed on April 15, 2013

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