SORAN, Kurdistan Region – It's been a disappointing honey harvest season for the Kurdistan Region's beekeepers.
Jabar is a beekeeper with 200 hives at the foot of Mount Halgurd, Erbil province.
He collected 400 kilograms of honey last year – but this year, his honey yield has halved.
Jabar blames the poor return on bad weather which limited growth of flowers that bees collect nectar from.
"This year, bee [product] is very bad due to strong winds and three unexpected rains when it was time for flowers to grow," Jabar explained.
Arif has 2,000 hives in Haji Omaran, Erbil province. He collected 12 tons of honey last year. This year, he has only collected 1.5 tons.
"Honey [sale] has been poor for the last two years. Last year, there was about 500 tons of honey [from across the Kurdistan Region] - but this year we did a comparison, and there is a total of 100 tons of honey," Arif said.
In warmer areas, honey production has fared much better.
Hogir, a beekeeper in Duhok province, owns 150 hives. He has sold about one ton of honey, up from 750 kilograms last year – but he's an exception to this year's rule, with much of Duhok suffering honey production losses.
"Honey production is down in Duhok province this year, including in the Slevana valley and Zakho," Hogir said.
At hives in Halabja, the lack of flowers means bees are eating their own honey.
"This is what is happening in mountainous areas. I put my bees there, and the bees ate all the honey they had produced," said beekeeper Dana Aziz.
Kurdistan Region honey sells for anything between 30,000-150,000 Iraqi dinars ($25.10-125.70) per kilo, depending on its type and purity.
Translation by Karwan Faidhi Dri
