TEHRAN- More than 15,000 tons of honey and bee products are produced in Fars province every year, and this province ranks third in the country in terms of honey production, a provincial official announced.

Reza Fozouni, the deputy head of the province’s agriculture department, reiterated that Fars, with more than 8,000 active beekeepers and the production of 15,000 tons of honey and bee products, ranks third in the country in this field.

According to the census conducted on the bee colonies of Fars last year, approximately 1,100,000 bee colonies were identified in the province and 7,270 tons of honey were harvested from the hives, the official added.

Last month, the managing director of the beekeeping industry development support fund said this fund provides 170 billion rials (about $440,760) of low-interest facilities to beekeepers with the aim of helping the country's beekeeping industry.

Based on the data released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Iran is the third-largest producer of honey in the world.

The chairman of the Animal Science Research Institute has said that the amount of honey production in the country should be increased by three to four kilograms per colony.

Mokhtar Mohajer said, “According to the Seventh National Development Plan, the amount of honey production should be increased by at least three to four kilograms per colony according to the diversity of plants and the area of pastures that we have in the country”.

He announced that 8,300 kilograms of royal jelly, 406 tons of pollen, 2,536 tons of beeswax, 247 tons of propolis, and 3,917 grams of bee venom are produced annually in the country.

MA