Cuban Beekeeper Denounces Loss of ‘Tons of Honey’
HAVANA TIMES – Beekeeper Yoandy Verea’s worst nightmare has come true. After months of intense work, the lack of fuel caused the loss of tons of honey in his fields in the municipality of Perico in Matanzas, according to his posts on the social network Facebook.
“I am a beekeeper contracted by apiculture, represented by the Ramon Rodriguez Milian Credit and Services Cooperative,” he explains in a short text accompanied by a photo of himself. “Currently we have been without fuel for several months and the hives in the field are full of honey,” he says.
“What agricultural institution in this country is interested in losing such production?” asks Verea. “Several tons of honey that our country so badly needs has already been lost,” and he adds that it is bureaucracy that “has us blocked.”
Verea published the same complaint three times and received many words of support, including several commentators who urged him not to wait for state transportation and to market the honey on his own, but that option is extremely complicated.
Any private beekeeper who has more than 25 hives is not only obliged to join a cooperative, but must deliver most of their honey to the State and keep only that destined for their own domestic consumption. The Provincial Beekeeping Company collects the honey and sends it to CubaExport, which is in charge of exporting it as a monopoly.
With about 3,000 beekeepers throughout the country and some 180,000 hives in operation, 90% of the honey produced in Cuban fields is exported to Europe, mainly to Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, while the rest goes to the national market and the tourism sector.
In the case of Verea, the lack of fuel for the vehicles that carry the honey from the fields is due to the serious economic problems of the Cooperative. With the start of the ’Ordering Task’ — a national economic restructuring — the entity “lost a good part of the state budget it received,” an employee who preferred anonymity explained to 14ymedio.
“The Cooperative is destroyed, many office workers left for their homes because they have not been paid for more than three months,” explains the worker. “There is no money to pay salaries and they also cut most of the fuel allowance we had, so there is no way to move anything.”
“If Yoandy dares to sell that honey on his own, the least that will happen to him is that they will give him a very high fine, but things can get worse. The only thing he can do is wait and report all the instances of what is happening, but that is happening here in Perico to all producers of honey, food and even milk,” he details.
In the informal Cuban market, a 750 milliliter bottle of honey now costs between 80 and 100 pesos, while in state stores a 250 ml container can cost more than 90, but the product is scarce and is currently only available in stores sell in freely convertible currency at a cost of more than three dollars.
In recent months, there has also been an increase in complaints from producers who see their crops being lost in the fields due to lack of transport or the mismanagement of the state-owned company Acopio, an intermediary on many occasions between the farmers and the points of sale.
I am Melvin from trinidad and Tobago I will like to come to Cuba and buy bee semen and train Cuban beekeepers to do artificial insemination on bees.
At “ginni McCann ” – do u even know how ignorant u sound? How dumb is it to criticize other governments. I’m pretty sure they are aware of all the alternatives. Btw, the opposite of socialism isn’t democracy, is capitalism. And fyi, ur racist GOP isn’t trying to spread democracy within the us, God forbid the blacks, etc vote ur greedy Capitalist asses to the curb. Just STFU, U daft deb.
One of the characteristics of honey is that it keeps for a long, long time without refrigeration. As a former beekeeper and someone who uses honey every day, I can tell you that honey lasts for well more than a year. It’s like lard and maple syrup in that respect. So that honey in the fields in Cuba isn’t going to spoil. There’s plenty of time to take it where it needs to go. Socialism doesn’t have anything to do with the problem. My suggestion to the Cuban beekeepers is to consider the bees when looking to a solution to the honey marketing problem. After all, honey bees are the epitome of socialism.
Fuel isn’t necessary to move honey out of fields. It can be done with horses or oxen. It could even be done with people carrying it. Or the hives could be placed where it is easier to tend them. I don’t think socialism is the problem because honey is produced efficiently in other socialist countries. The problem could be that the beekeepers aren’t organized enough or aren’t militant enough. If the cooperatives don’t have enough clout to solve the problems the members aren’t doing their job.
Poor thinking and management = loss to all involved. Socialism does not work with honey or anything else. When will the Cuban people see democracy? It is a shame that they have had to endure misery of all sorts for the past 60 years. For those who have escaped to come to the USA they have no thoughts to endure the past again. Here’s hoping that they register to vote as Republicans.
In the Canadian Honey Market we only have the Black Bear that Steals the Honey & a 12 Gauge is used to solve this theft. I have 2 friends Beekeepers doing OK aabout 80 thous pounds per year at 2$ per pound & a problem of where to store their Cash. I have purchased a lot of Great Honey from Cuba the cash & dash way.
Typical Castro-style socialism. Top down management of this sort almost always fails.