Interesting facts about honey
For 1 kg of honey, the bees need to fly around 150,000 “kilometers”.
For 1 kg of honey, the bees need to collect around 2-3 kg of flower nectar or honeydew
For 1 kg of honey, around 2 million flowers need to be visited
For 1 kg of honey, around 150,000 trips out of the hive are necessary
Honey has a water content of around 17-20% and also consists of sugar (fructose, glucose, cane sugar...), ferments and minerals. Honey also contains pollen and small traces of wax particles.
Quality honey from Austria - supply and demand
Awareness of quality honey from Austria is increasing.
However, the amount produced by local beekeepers is significantly lower than demand.
The annual honey consumption per capita in Austria is around 1.2 kg. This corresponds to a total requirement of around 10,000 tonnes. However, only around 5,500 tonnes of honey are produced in Austria, a large part is imported (Austria is the 15th largest honey importer in the world).
Honey production in the EU was around 208,000 tonnes in 2018. This makes the EU the second largest honey producer in the world, but it can only supply itself with around 60% of its supply.
By far the largest honey producer is China, the largest producers in the EU are Romania, Spain, Germany, Hungary and Italy.
Honey is one of the most commonly counterfeited foods. The import of low-quality honey (e.g. diluted with rice syrup) or its mixing with high-quality honey puts European producers under enormous pressure. While production costs in the EU are rising, "honey" from China, for example, is being offered and imported at extremely low prices. It should also be noted that the quality standard of honey production in the EU differs from many other regions.
In order to improve the situation for domestic beekeepers, transparent labeling of the countries of origin on honey labels is required at EU level. In addition, new methods are being developed to clearly identify fake honey. The existing financial support of the beekeeping sector by the EU, the federal government and the states is certainly helpful, which has had a positive effect on the number of beekeepers and bee colonies in Austria and across the EU, which has been increasing for years.
Source: LK OÖ