Beekeeping in Switzerland

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Mountain occupancy in the Sernftal

The beekeeping in Switzerland has around 19,500 beekeepers with about 195,000 bee colonies , which means an average of 10 colonies per beekeeper. With an average of 4.7 colonies per square kilometer , Switzerland is one of the countries with the highest bee densities in the world. Due to the extensive geographical distribution of the apiaries, pollination of the cultivated and wild plants is guaranteed in Switzerland - in contrast to other countries.

overview

Numerous loot systems and modes of operation are used. In addition, four honeybee subspecies are native to Switzerland.

The cantons of Bern , Zurich , Lucerne , Aargau , St. Gallen and Valais have the most beekeepers in absolute terms. The beekeepers of these six cantons together represent almost 60 percent of all Swiss beekeepers.

Only 3,622 of all farms (5.4 percent) still keep beekeeping. The canton's front runner is Basel-Stadt , where 17 percent of the farms keep bees, followed by Baselland (11 percent), Lucerne (9 percent), Thurgau and Bern (8 percent each).

Subspecies

The originally native honey bee is the dark bee (Apis mellifera mellifera). Since the Second World War this has been displaced in large parts of Switzerland by the import of southern subspecies of the honeybees . Its range has now been reduced so much that it is considered endangered. The Association of Swiss Mellifera Bee Friends (VSMB) is committed to the conservation and breeding of dark bees .

Today, on the northern side of the Alps in Switzerland, bees are mainly kept with the Carnica bee , in Ticino with the Ligustica bee .

In 2017 the beekeepers imported a total of around 14.5 tons of honey bees; In 2012 it was 5.5 tons.

Bee density

The average bee density in Switzerland is 4.7 colonies per square kilometer. In Europe only Portugal , Hungary and Greece have a higher population density with 7 to 10 peoples per square kilometer. In non-European countries such as the USA , Argentina and China - which are also among the largest honey producers in the world - the population densities are much lower at 0.3 to 0.7 colonies. In contrast, the average company sizes are significantly larger.

The highest density of bees can be found in the canton of Basel-Stadt with 25.4 colonies per square kilometer, the lowest in the canton of Uri with 1.1 colonies. Above all, the poorly vegetated and sparsely populated mountain cantons of Uri, Graubünden , Valais, Ticino and Central Switzerland have a low density of bees. The cantons of Western Switzerland ( Vaud , Neuchâtel and Jura ) have a below-average density.

Company size

The average farm size (number of colonies per beekeeper) is 10 colonies. With 7 peoples in the cantons of Basel-Stadt, Appenzell Innerrhoden , Uri and Bern, the differences are very large compared to Ticino with 19 peoples.

The difference in farm size between the north and south of the Alps is due to the southern climate and the range of traditional costumes. The distribution of the Swiss box in the apiary is more widespread on the north side of the Alps than in southern Switzerland. Keeping colonies of bees in Swiss boxes is more labor and capital intensive compared to magazine beekeeping, which leads to smaller farm sizes on the north side of the Alps.

Prey systems

Depending on the estimate, 50 to 80 percent of the bee colonies are kept in apiaries with Swiss boxes, an aftertreatment hive in warm construction. Another 30 to 50 percent of the bee colonies are kept in magazine hives .

Traditional plants

The most important foraging plants of Swiss honey bees are dandelions , fruit trees , rape , robinia (acacia), chestnuts , linden and various conifers and deciduous trees and, in the mountains, the alpine rose .

honey

Yield

In accordance with the traditional plants, forest, rapeseed and dandelion honey is predominantly produced on the north side of the Alps, as well as alpine rose honey in the mountain regions. Chestnut, lime blossom and acacia honey come from Ticino.

The honey harvest in Switzerland is very low with just under 11 kg of honey per colony in an international comparison. In Europe only Austria and Poland have similarly low yields, while Hungary, Germany and Denmark have the highest honey harvests with 35 to 40  kg . A comparison with Hungary shows that the low honey yield is probably due to the local climate in the Swiss mountain valleys, which with 40 kg per colony and 6.5 colonies per square kilometer has an even higher bee density than Switzerland.

Designations

According to Swiss food legislation, the origin of the honey can be declared in three stages with the costume designation, if it comes mainly from certain flowers, plants or from a defined region:

  • "Blossom honey", "honeydew honey" or "forest honey"
  • "Spring blossom honey", "mountain blossom honey" or "alpine blossom honey" is even more specific
  • Pure varietal honeys such as acacia, alpine rose, chestnut, linden blossom, dandelion, rape and fir

Consumer preferences

Two thirds of the Swiss buy their honey directly from beekeepers, in markets and in village shops. Only a third buy the honey in the supermarket. 90 percent of Swiss consumers are willing to pay a higher price for Swiss honey.

For creamy honey, the selling price per 500 grams is around CHF 1 higher to compensate the beekeeper for his extra work.

According to a consumer survey in spring 2015, blossom honey (with a 65 percent market share) is the most popular variety in German-speaking Switzerland, followed by forest honey (40 percent), acacia honey and linden blossom honey (3 percent each), chestnut honey (2 percent) (multiple answers possible).

According to the same consumer survey, 33 percent of German-speaking Swiss want liquid honey, 46 percent like honey creamy, and 13 percent love crystallized honey.

Beekeeping organizations

Language regions

The Swiss beekeepers are organized in three linguistic regional beekeeping associations and are united under the umbrella of apisuisse . Around 90 percent of the 19,500 Swiss beekeepers are affiliated with one or more of these organizations.

Association Members Non-members total proportion of
Bees Switzerland 14,000 1,000 15,000 77 percent
SAR 3,000 800 3'800 20 percent
STA 500 200 700 3 percent
Total 17,500 2,000 19,500 100 percent

There are also various associations that represent the subspecies or pursue special beekeeping interests.

Subspecies

Other beekeeping organizations

  • Working group for natural beekeeping (AGNI)
  • Swiss Apitherapy Association (SAV)
  • Swiss Pollen Beekeeping Association (SPIV)
  • Varroa Hyperthermia Switzerland
  • Association of Swiss Wandering Beekeepers (VSWI)

Education and training

Basic training

Most of the 19,000 Swiss beekeepers have completed the two-year basic beekeeping course, which lasts 18 half-days, spread over two years. In the peak year of 2013, 1,000 young beekeepers completed the basic course in German-speaking Switzerland alone.

further education

Since November 2014, experienced Swiss beekeepers have been able to complete a course to become a beekeeper with a federal certificate , which is carried out in the agricultural training and advice centers Plantahof GR and Zollikofen BE. Each course counts 24 beekeepers from all over Switzerland who complete 27 days of training over three years. The course is run by BienenSchweiz on behalf of the apisuisse umbrella organization for all of Switzerland.

Research and science

The Center for Bee Research (ZBF) is part of Agroscope in Liebefeld-Bern and works within the framework of federal agricultural research for the needs of beekeeping and beekeeping. It develops current scientific and technical principles and conveys them to beekeeping practice and other interested groups.

The Institute for Bee Health (IBH) at the University of Bern was founded in 2013 and conducts basic and applied research on the subject of bee health.

Web links

Commons : Beekeeping in Switzerland  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Agroscope: Beekeeping in Switzerland. In: www.agroscope.admin.ch. Retrieved September 26, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Beekeeper Association speaks of dangerous imports In: srf.ch , August 2, 2018, accessed on August 2, 2018.
  3. ↑ Raphael S. von Büren et al .: High-resolution maps of Swiss apiaries and their applicability to study spatial distribution of bacterial honey bee brood diseases . In: PeerJ . January 31, 2019, ISSN  2167-8359 , p. e6393 , doi : 10.7717 / peerj.6393 ( peerj.com [accessed May 9, 2019]).
  4. ↑ Peter Fluri, Peter Schenk, Rainer Frick: Beekeeping in Switzerland. (PDF; 550 KB) Center for Bee Research, February 2004, accessed on September 26, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Guide prices for honey. Calendar of the Swiss beekeeper, 2016, p. 67.
  6. ↑ Anja Ebener: The Swiss love their honey. Schweizerische Bienen-Zeitung, 06/2015, pp. 9 to 11.
  7. ^ Hans-Ulrich Thomas, Peter Gallmann: Beekeeping in Switzerland. (PDF; 3.09 MB) In: mellifera.ch magazine - special edition. mellifera.ch Verein Schweizerischer Mellifera Bienenfreunde VSMB, August 2012, pp. 21-25 , accessed on September 26, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Working group on bee support: Concept for bee support in Switzerland. Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG, Bern 2008, p. 19.
  9. ^ Agroscope: Bees. In: www.agroscope.admin.ch. Retrieved September 26, 2016 .
  10. ^ Institute for Bee Health - University of Bern. Retrieved September 26, 2016 .