Heather saves thousands of beekeepers in BiH, daily yields up to four kilograms

This year's season for beekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina could be saved by heather, a medicinal plant that has been intensively producing nectar for several days in almost all parts of BiH, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP).

Although this year has been declared by many beekeeping experts as one of the most difficult for thousands of beekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last ten years, because there has been practically no nectar in nature from spring until now, the honey plant heather has been giving daily yields between two and three kilograms per hive for several days, and in some parts of BiH the daily intake of nectar from heather reaches up to four kilograms per bee colony.

The abundant secretion of nectar from heather, estimates Nezir Tanović, a professor at the Agro-Mediterranean Faculty in Mostar, could, depending on weather conditions, last for the next 15 to 20 days, which would mean for beekeepers that they will end the year far better than they could have imagined.

- Beekeepers are very satisfied, all indications are that heather will save their season – Tanović told the Patria agency.

Heather is a wild medicinal plant that grows in all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and its honey has an extremely pleasant taste. It is also sought after for the medicinal properties attributed to this honey.

Anton Boras from Vitina near Ljubuški, a beekeeper with the largest number of hives in Herzegovina, told Patria that this year was difficult for all beekeepers in BiH, but if heather continues to produce nectar with the intensity it has been since mid-August, the season could still end in the black.

- Our 700 productive hives have been recording very good yields for several days. We are satisfied with how the bees are working and we hope that the year, which had a lot of bad days, will still end well for us – said Boras, writes NAP.