Anzer honey, which is produced in the Anzer Plateau of the Ikizdere district of Rize at an altitude of 2300-3000 and is good for many diseases, will be sold for $1200 per kilogram this year.
In order to produce Anzer honey, a hundred families place approximately 2,500 beehives on the plateau according to the rate of sun exposure in June every year.
While weather conditions are decisive in annual honey production, Caucasian bee is preferred due to its production quality and suitability for weather conditions.
Beekeepers, who lock their hives by placing them in cages so that the bears do not harm them, collect honey in August and September, depending on the weather conditions and the abundance of blooms.
Honey collected from beekeepers united under the umbrella of Anzer Ballikoy Agricultural Development Cooperative, is registered, sealed and offered to the market after pollen analysis is performed at Hacettepe University Faculty of Science, Biology Department.
Cooperative President Osman Civelek told Anadolu Agency (AA) that 2 tons of honey was produced and offered for sale in 2020.
Emphasizing that the yield has increased due to the good weather conditions in the plateau this year, Civelek said, “As a cooperative, we sent 2 tons of 400 kilograms of honey to Hacettepe University Faculty of Science Biology Department for analysis this year. We will label and sell it after the results of the analysis come.”
Noting that they formed a price policy by taking into account the economic balances, Civelek said, “We have not made a price increase in the last two years. We have increased a certain amount due to the increase in economic inputs. With the decision of the cooperative, we made the kilogram price of Anzer honey $1200. We determined the half kilogram price as $600. With a slight increase in pollen prices, we determined 400 grams of pollen as ₺600, 200 grams of pollen as ₺300 and 10 grams of pollen as ₺150.”
Stating that it seems difficult to meet the entire demand, Civelek continued his words as follows:
“Due to the epidemic, the demands of the public have been intense in recent years. It is known that honey is a source of healing, especially pollen was consumed heavily by patients. There are 500 kilograms of orders from the previous period. It has increased to a thousand kilograms with new orders. We will deliver one thousand kilograms of honey from the analysis immediately. We will give the remaining honey in order of urgency. All 2,400 kilograms of honey may not be suitable for the analysis. If we have two tons of honey that meets the criteria, we will be comfortable. If it drops below two tons, we may have a hard time meeting our customers’ demands.”
Civelek pointed out that imitations of Anzer honey are on the market, and therefore they change the packaging every year, and asked the consumers not to prefer products that do not have the cooperative’s label, wet seal and barcode.
Source: AA / Translated by Irem Yildiz