On November 9, 2024, an evaluation of the beekeeping situation was conducted in Kolesjan - by the FSRD experts, under the ValueNet project (GIZ/SRD) and funded by the British Embassy - a visit a region characterized by two types of pastures offering potential for two honey harvests: from meadows and forest honey.

The assessment revealed the following:

• Beekeepers predominantly use synthetic treatments for controlling bee diseases. They lack knowledge about organic preparations that do not leave residues in honey.
• There is a lack of modern techniques for bee management, which is evident in the low annual honey production.
• Beekeepers do not produce other beekeeping products such as royal jelly, pollen, propolis, or queen bees, resulting in missed income opportunities for their families.

The area demonstrates significant potential for increasing the number of bee colonies and improving productivity.
Conclusions:

1. Disease control challenges: The inability to control bee diseases due to a lack of knowledge about effective treatments caused significant losses during the 2023-2024 winter.
2. Lack of beekeeper organization: Uncoordinated efforts among beekeepers lead to high colony losses during winters. Synchronized control and treatment of diseases could mitigate such losses.
3. Knowledge gaps: Beekeepers lack understanding of bee diseases and their control using modern techniques.
4. Focus on a single product: Beekeepers focus solely on honey production, neglecting the potential income from other products like royal jelly, pollen, propolis, and selected queen bees due to limited knowledge about production techniques.
5. Food safety concerns: Honey production conditions in the area, including extraction and packaging facilities, do not meet food safety standards.

Recommendations

1. Modern disease control:
• Introduce advanced techniques for monitoring and managing diseases affecting bees in the region.
2. Timely treatments with safe preparations:
• Use treatments that do not leave harmful residues in honey to ensure healthy bees and safe products.
3. Technical assistance for beekeeping:
• Provide targeted training in the following areas:
• Modern beekeeping techniques
• Bee diseases and their control methods
• Production of selected queen bees
• Modern techniques for producing royal jelly
• Disease control through sampling in each bee park during spring and autumn. Treatments should be prescribed to each beekeeper based on analysis results.
4. Bee welfare and food safety:
• Establish a pilot bee park with anti-Varroa hives where beekeepers will be able to implement all the recommendations and serve as a demonstration site for the entire community of beekeepers in Kukës area.