- Italy seek Nations League consistency as Germany continue rebuild
- From boom to budgeting as reality bites for Saudi football
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- England 96-1 after Salman's century lifts Pakistan to 556
- Hollywood star Idris Elba champions African cinema in Ghana
- Djokovic rolls Cobolli to make Shanghai Masters last 16
- Milan's Hernandez receives two-game suspension after referee rant
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
- England strike twice as Pakistan reach 397-6 at lunch in first Test
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Kenya's deputy president faces impeachment vote
- N. Korean soldiers 'highly likely' killed in Ukraine: Seoul
- 'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
- US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost guns' regulation case
- 'Small' oil leaks detected in Samoa after NZ navy shipwreck
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- At Istanbul church, blessed spring offers hope to Christians and Muslims
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- Myanmar to send rep to regional summit for first time in three years
- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
RBGPF | -0.46% | 60.52 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.04% | 24.58 | $ | |
AZN | -0.21% | 76.71 | $ | |
SCS | -0.47% | 12.89 | $ | |
NGG | 0.18% | 65.6 | $ | |
GSK | -1.07% | 38.22 | $ | |
BTI | -0.09% | 35.17 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.1% | 24.815 | $ | |
RIO | -4.66% | 66.52 | $ | |
RELX | 0.8% | 46.41 | $ | |
BP | -3.59% | 31.99 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
BCC | 0.39% | 141.82 | $ | |
JRI | 0.11% | 13.195 | $ | |
BCE | -0.6% | 33.33 | $ | |
VOD | -0.42% | 9.649 | $ |
Sweet success: Jordan's beekeepers busy as honey demand soars
Jordan's key tourism industry may have been hammered by Covid, but the pandemic gave a boost to another sector, keeping its beekeepers busy as demand for honey has soared.
The country's 4,000 apiarists have ramped up output of the sweet and sticky golden substance long praised for its anti-inflammatory and other health benefits.
Even if there is no scientific consensus that honey helps fight Covid, many of those infected have used it to soothe symptoms such as sore throats.
"The Covid period in particular had a great, positive impact on us," said beekeeper Mutasim Hammad, 48, who retired 12 years ago from the public security directorate and turned his hobby into his main job.
"There was good demand for honey, and people got to know it," added Hammad, dressed in a white protective suit while checking on his 80 bee hive boxes on a property in Irbid 90 kilometres (60 miles) north of Amman.
"People have become more aware of the value of honey and are turning to the guaranteed locally produced honey," said Hammad, who sells about 400 kilograms (880 pounds) a year.
The kingdom of Jordan prides itself on its 19 different types of honey, including citrus, eucalyptus and maple varieties, depending on which plants the bees pollinate.
"We have about 2,500 flowering plants," said Mohammad Rababaa, head of the Jordan Beekeeping Association.
"This diversity distinguishes Jordanian honey and means that the therapeutic and nutritional value of this honey is expected to be better than other types."
Rababaa said the slightly bitter maple honey variety, for example, boasts "very high phenolic compounds and antioxidants compared to other types, which indicates that it has a higher value".
- Ecosystem service -
Rababaa also said that, since the Covid pandemic, "demand for locally produced honey has clearly increased".
He said the sector has a much bigger workforce than Jordan's official count of about 1,400 beekeepers.
"The reality is that the number of beekeepers is more than 4,000," said the professor of Natural Resources and Environment at the Jordan University of Science and Technology.
They produce about 700 to 800 tonnes annually, or about 70 percent of Jordan's annual domestic needs, he said.
"We are very close to self-sufficiency," said Rababaa, adding that "imports must be stopped".
A fellow enthusiast, Mohammad Khatib, 49, also pointed to the pandemic and lockdown periods, saying it "helped me and gave me enough time to learn about bees and take good care of them".
A French language professor at Al-Bayt University, he now works about 15 bee boxes in his garden, which he said earns him a nice side income.
"People are looking for reliable honey" and some customers place their orders a year in advance, he said.
Jordanian honey sells for 15 to 30 dinars ($21 to $42) per kilogram, depending on the type.
Rababaa said the economic benefit "is not limited to honey as it also produces pollen, royal jelly, wax, propolis and bee venom, which is included in many therapeutic compounds".
Crucially, healthy populations of bees and other insects provide an almost immeasurable ecosystem service by pollinating plants.
While the beekeeping sector generates about $28 million a year, Rababaa said, "the indirect value of crop pollination exceeds $100 million".
Ch.Havering--AMWN