Sweden faces impending honey shortage

After two bad harvests in a row for Swedish bee keepers, there is now an impending honey shortage in Sweden and producers are hoping for support from consumers.

Low temperatures and plenty of rain have meant honey production has been at low levels around Sweden in the past couple of years, though the Baltic islands of Gotland and Oland have fared better due to having more hours of sunshine, Swedish Television reported on Tuesday.

Overall, the bad weather meant that bees was unable to produce the same amount of honey as they normally do and now beekeepers' honey stocks are nearly empty.

"We've generally seen between 30 and 40 percent reduction in harvests," said Simon Hojeberg, a board member of a trade organization for beekeepers who are pinning their hopes to consumers buying as much Swedish honey as possible this summer.

"One should not forget that the bees used to produce honey do a lot of good when it comes to pollination. So the simplest way to support local biodiversity is by buying locally-produced honey," said Hojeberg. Endit