Currently, approximately 1,500 tons of honey are produced annually in the Karabakh and East Zangezur economic regions.
Modern.az reports that Badraddin Hasratov, Chairman of the Public Union "Azerbaijan Beekeepers Association", stated this.
According to him, more than 200,000 bee colonies are expected to be relocated to the liberated territories this year.
Furthermore, the Chairman of the Association noted that currently, the share of local honey in the domestic market is 80%: "The remaining share belongs to imported honey, which is relatively cheaper and, in this regard, considered a serious competitor for local production. Sometimes, honey syrup imported from abroad is sold in the market under the name of honey. Overall, local farmers face difficulties with sales. In addition to importing honey, Azerbaijan also exports this product in small quantities to Gulf countries. There is a need to promote our product to increase export volumes. Our honey is not ordinary honey; it can be sold at a high price as a "premium" category product".
The Chairman of the Association also drew attention to the issues concerning beekeepers: "Currently, our main problems are bee diseases, the lack of specialists in beekeeping, and a specialized bee disease laboratory in the country. Furthermore, there is a risk of disease spread from bee colonies imported from Uzbekistan in the future".
In 2025, 4,757 tons of honey, 122.9 tons of wax, 7.5 tons of propolis, 14.9 tons of pollen, and 254 kg of royal jelly were obtained from 545.1 thousand bee colonies in 29,456 farms engaged in beekeeping in Azerbaijan.
The average selling price per 1 kilogram of honey was 28.5 manats, wax - 17.7 manats, propolis - 135.3 manats, pollen - 154.6 manats, and the average selling price per 1 gram of royal jelly was 6.8 manats for producers.
Compared to 2024, the number of bee colonies decreased by 5.9%, the average number of bee colonies per farm engaged in beekeeping decreased by 2.1%, honey production by 7.9%, wax production by 6.9%, propolis production by 12.2%, pollen production by 11.2%, while royal jelly production increased by 6.2%. (Report)
