The beautiful Tavira is one of the exceptions to the catastrophic urbanism of the Algarve, designed to say the least for the sake of mass tourism, which has towns like Portimão and Albufeira among its greatest exponents. There are more oases like the center of Faro, the port of Olhão and some areas of historic Lagos. But Tavira, with its charming squares, its stately bridge and its bustling boardwalk appears as the region’s tasteful counterpoint. Although you could find meadows with vegetation, in the surroundings the land is usually arid. In this region, known as the Algarvean Leeward, it is not uncommon to see maguey trees reminiscent of Mexican tequila.
The Sotavento del Algarve is one of the zero zones of the drought that is ravaging Portugal, which is added to last year and has caused there to be practically no flowers in the Tavira field, because the plants are all dry, as he explained to the news agency Lusa the president of Melgarbe, Manuel Francisco, leading the bees to self-destruction. This is perhaps the most extreme portrait of the serious situation suffered by this sector throughout the country, until going through “the worst crisis in 40 years”, with estimated losses of over 80%, as denounced last Monday by the president of the National Federation of Beekeepers, Manuel Gonçalves.
Perhaps he exaggerates the figures, as sometimes happens in these cases, but the truth is that the problem has been manifesting itself harshly since last year. And the place where Gonçalves made his tremendous statements is symptomatic. It was in Mirandela, in the north of the country, on the occasion of the presentation of the Beeland program, which, with a budget of one million euros, is part of the Recovery and Resilience Program of Portugal.
The project’s objectives are the preservation of bees and the recovery of the status of honey in Portugal. It happens that with the fall in production in recent times, there are many beekeepers who do not meet the minimum requirements for the nine protected designations of origin of this product that exist in the country, the majority in the north, but spread throughout the geography and the Azores.
According to the president of the National Federation of Beekeepers, Portugal has lost some 200,000 of the more than 700,000 hives it had in recent years. In 2018, when the number of hives was similar to that figure, some 11,000 beekeepers were registered, a figure that must have decreased. The fundamental reason is the decline in the bee population.
The practical explanation is offered in Tavira by Manuel Francisco. He explains that the insect “does not have nectar outside the hive because everything is dry, there is no reproduction and the population eliminates itself, because the life cycle ends. We arrived at the foot of the hives and we found that they do not have bees due to the impossibility of the queen to reproduce new specimens to replace and reach the number necessary for the hive to function”. He points out that this year they intended to recover what was lost in 2022, but they are finding that the situation is getting worse.
According to the president of the National Federation, a normal hive produced nine kilos a year and at this time “does not exceed two and a half”. Thus, he speaks of a catastrophe in the sector. There are beekeepers who have decided not to remove honey to ensure the survival of the hive, which would be at risk if they remove the product.
As was the case last year, when, for example, Alentejo producers raised the alarm, beekeepers denounce that they do not have government aid and demand support.
At this moment the whole territory is in a situation of drought, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere. In a quarter it is weak, and moderate in 40%, but there is 35% in which the lack of water is severe or extreme, while a strong heat wave is coming for the next week.
