Japan abuzz with proliferation of beekeepers

TOKYO >>

A noticeable increase in professional beekeepers has been causing a buzz in Japan, with the central and local governments providing support for increased production of honeybees essential for growing many fruits and vegetables.

The number of hobbyist beekeepers is also increasing.

Beekeepers keep hives to raise honeybees from eggs laid by queen bees. The honeybees are eventually sold to farmers, who release them in their fields and greenhouses to pollinate their crops.

Beekeepers also collect honey, but production has been flat. In 2016, about 2,800 tons of honey were produced, which is only about 5 percent of the amount available in Japan’s domestic market. Most is imported from China and elsewhere.

“Being able to raise honeybees in winter is one of Okinawa’s strengths. The number of beehive shipments and the number of beekeepers are growing right before our eyes,” said Tomohiro Tokiwa at a special center for honeybee shipments in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, in mid-February. Tokiwa, 68, is chairman of the prefecture’s beekeeping cooperative.

That day, about 20 members of the cooperative and others were packing about 280 beehives, which contained about 8,000 honeybees, in containers for shipment.

“They’ll probably be used for cherry trees in the Tohoku region and for strawberries and other greenhouse crops in the north Kanto region,” Tokiwa said.

Farmers purchase the bees through agricultural cooperatives, seed companies and other entities, and use them to pollinate pumpkins, eggplants, watermelons and other crops.

According to the livestock division of the Okinawa prefectural government, there were 164 beekeepers in the prefecture last year who had 11,484 beehives. Both numbers are at least three times what the level was in 2009.

This growth came about after unseasonable weather and damage from mites led to poor honeybee reproduction in 2007 and 2008. To ensure a stable supply of honeybees, the central government asked prefectures to take steps toward increasing production. The government focused on Okinawa, where queen bees can lay eggs even in winter. Many farmers there turned into beekeepers.

In recent years, the number of beekeepers nationwide has been increasing in recent years. According to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, there were 9,499 beekeepers in 1985. Due to aging, a lack of people to carry on the trade and other factors, this figure had dropped to 4,790 people in 2005, about a 50 percent decrease.

However, the numbers have since recovered, reaching 9,325 people last year.

There has also been an increase in people who pursue beekeeping as a hobby. A revision to the Beekeeping Promotion Law that went into force in 2013 requires even hobbyist beekeepers to register with the authorities.

Yuya Saito, 70, an administrative scrivener from Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, started his beekeeping hobby in 2012.

A longtime animal lover, Saito noticed many honeybees in the area when he was cleaning up his home and surrounding area after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

“My interest in the local natural environment has increased since I started beekeeping. Collecting honey in late summer is a joy,” he said.

However, a new problem has cropped up — so-called bee plants have been decreasing due to development and other factors. Bee plants include Chinese milk vetch, rape, mandarin orange and other flowers from which honeybees collect nectar.

In 1985, there were about 914,289 acres of such bee plants nationwide, but by 2016 the figure had decreased by more than two-thirds to about 296,526 acres.

With the number of beekeepers increasing, bees are facing much more competition for nectar. Insufficient nectar has a negative effect on their reproduction.

That’s why about $22 million was allotted in the national budget for fiscal 2017 for projects to vitalize production centers, which included aid for planting bee plants.

“A stable supply of honeybees is necessary for promoting beekeeping, which can help increase income in local areas and vitalize communities. Even if it takes time to solve the problems, we will continue our support,” a member of the agriculture ministry’s Livestock Production and Feed Division said.