Cement honey – ever heard of it? Anyone who is a beekeeper probably has. Because the 8,000 beekeepers and their 80,000 colonies are struggling with problems with the forest honey harvest this year due to the heat-rain combination. And that has an impact on the yield and the price. An indication that shows how important a ‘heat protection plan’ is.
‘Cement honey’ is the name of a form of forest honey that beekeepers are struggling with this year. It crystallizes in the beehive and is then difficult to remove from the honeycomb. The reason for this is the triple sugar melezitose, which is produced by tree aphids when the weather changes frequently. The “cement honey” cannot be thrown out of the honeycombs. “A beekeeper can partially dissolve the honey by squeezing the honeycomb. “However, only small quantities can be obtained in this way,” explains Susanne Wimmer from the Upper Austrian Beekeeping Center.
Honeycombs become a danger
Furthermore, unlike discarded honeycombs, these honeycombs cannot be put back into the hive. If bees eat ‘cement honey’, they get diarrhea or even die. Beekeepers therefore increasingly have to buy new honeycomb material for their hives.
“Not natural anymore”: price halved
One way to dissolve all the honey is to heat the honeycomb. “Then it is no longer considered natural,” beekeeper Anna Ollmann laments. The honey may only be sold for half the price.
There is still no heat protection plan in Upper Austria
But it is not only beekeepers who suffer from the heat; small children, the elderly or chronically ill people are particularly affected by the temperatures. After 2023 was the warmest year in more than 2,050 years, the federal government has revised the National Heat Protection Plan. The states of Vienna, Styria and Vorarlberg also have heat emergency plans. In Upper Austria, the state website only contains ‘tips on how to behave in hot weather’.
“Not done enough yet”
In response to a request from the Greens in the state parliament to expand heat protection measures, the responsible deputy governor Christine Haberlander (ÖVP) recently mentioned “raising awareness, informing and providing tips specifically for vulnerable groups” and the free AGES heat hotline. . Not enough for Green Climate Protection spokeswoman Anne-Sophie Bauer: She calls for an “effective heat protection plan for Upper Austria”.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
