There are over 600,000 beekeepers and 17 million hives in the Europe. European beekeepers have been working to implement stricter measures on honey imported from Ukraine and China. The standards met by European beekeepers are much higher in both hygiene and quality. Not only has the dramatic climate changes affected beekeepers honey production but major price discrepancies contributed significantly to the overall spike in the number of honey imports that were brought into the European Union. The average retail price of Chinese honey was 1.24€/kg in 2019, while the average production costs alone, for European-made honey, was 3.90€/kg. More beekeepers are having to step down from their work as they cannot compete with the drop in retail price. EU Beekeepers are working to implement changes in the labeling and testing measures such as making a more clear label distinguishing the pure EU honey from the Non-EU Honey along with measures for composition. A standardized label is in the making to help protect authentic beekeepers for years to come. Read more