The insular Councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, will bring to the plenary session of the Cabildo this month the Strategic Plan for Beekeeping in Tenerife. The document includes a program of measures and actions, which has been agreed with the beekeeping sector to guarantee the future and sustainability of this traditional activity on the Island.
Parrilla points out that “after a series of meetings with the Beekeeping Board, which began last July, we have completed the drafting of this ambitious strategy that responds to the change in the model in which we have been working since the beginning of the mandate.” The island manager highlights “the proactivity and receptivity of the thirteen beekeeping associations on the island of Tenerife.”
The program contemplates eleven major objectives that seek to solve the health problems of the sector, promote professionalization, conserve pollinator populations and their habitats, and promote research. The insular strategy, which is aligned with the national and European ones for the protection of pollinating species, includes a decalogue of solutions to the structural problems of the sector.
“Active listening is essential for the development and enrichment of the agricultural subsectors, which is why we count and will always count on all the groups,” Parrilla asserts.
beekeeping transhumance
The Cabildo will defend beekeeping transhumance and the maintenance of beehives in protected natural spaces. In addition, it undertakes to organize fairs and congresses, together with the sector; to multiply business training and entrepreneurship actions and to promote honey from Tenerife in all gastronomic events.
The packaging and laboratory fees of the Casa de la Miel will remain suspended, as well as the costs of the wax. These measures, assures Javier Parrilla, “contribute to the increase in honey with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), which has 204 operators, 199 beekeepers and 5,832 hives.”
To preserve the health of the hives, the Cabildo will develop a control and monitoring program in the farms on the Island, professionalized or not. In addition, it undertakes to maintain aid for the feeding of bees with a view to improving the nutritional status of pollinators. The island manager assures that they are working with the Spanish Association of Beekeeping Veterinarians (Avespa) so that Tenerife will host the World Congress of Beekeeping Health (Apimondia) in 2024. Given the structural challenge posed by the reduced dimensions of beekeeping farms, it is proposed that the Cabildo advises on the locations and plantations of flora of beekeeping interest. Likewise, a map of the space of the sector will be created, both public and privately owned.
Strategies for the reintegration of nature will also be established and the planting of flora will be promoted with the aim of preventing changes in the use of the territory from continuing to displace this activity. Finally, the Cabildo will urge the Government of the Canary Islands to request to modify the European Program of Specific Options for Canary Islands (Poseican) to be applied in professionalized livestock farms, which will allow the generation of a greater volume of industry and commercial response capacity.
Luxury presentations in ‘the month of wine’
The Cabildo, through the Tenerife Rural Foundation, continues with the extensive program to promote the island’s wines during the month of November. The highlight will be on Wednesday, the 30th, with the delivery of the San Andrés 2022 prize. The presentation, on the afternoon of that day, by the well-known master of wine (MW) Pedro Ballesteros, who will sensorially tour Tenerife and its landscapes, heights and microclimates, stands out. through a single grape variety, the listán negro (the mother grape of the Island). Also noteworthy were the presentations, on the 23rd, by Pedro Balda, on the ecological management of the vineyard, and by Jorge Zerolo, regarding the management of vine plant material in Canarian viticulture. On Saturday the 26th, there will be a tasting led by the sommelier Sergio Santos, who will compare the wines of Tenerife with those of islands such as the Balearic Islands.
