Longan honey fails again this year! Abnormal weather means flowers bloom but no nectar flows; pesticide use on citrus and lychee sends beekeepers wandering with their bees

Longan honey's unique flavor is loved by consumers. Last year (2019), longan and lychee harvests were poor, causing the annual May honey appraisal to be canceled for the first time ever. This year, longan flowers bloomed profusely, and beekeepers were full of joy expecting a good harvest. Unexpectedly, the cold air masses brought by weather fronts in March and April caused longan trees to bloom but produce little nectar, drastically reducing honey output.

Seeing the poor honey conditions in the south, most beekeepers migrated to central Taiwan to place their hives. However, too many bee colonies led to a decline in average honey collection per hive. In addition, longan bloomed early, overlapping with the pesticide application period for citrus and lychee, and some bee poisoning incidents were reported. Beekeepers could only continue wandering with their colonies, seeking the next safe place with flowing nectar.

Beekeepers roam all of Taiwan; abnormal climate causes longan to bloom without nectar

According to statistics from the beekeeping association, there are more than 1,000 beekeeping households across Taiwan, mainly distributed in central and southern Taiwan. Every year at the spring equinox when lychee flowers bloom, beekeepers across the island become like nomads, moving their bees along the lychee and longan flowering seasons. The first wave starts in Kaohsiung and Tainan, then the second wave in Chiayi, and finally in April they arrive in Taichung and Nantou, ending the annual great migration.

The largest longan honey production areas in the south are in Kaohsiung, extending from Alian and Neimen to Nanhua and Yujing, with another area in Dongshan. All are considered "first-tier battlegrounds" in the eyes of beekeepers. Alian is famous for its "Dagangshan" brand, while Neimen has the largest longan planting area. Due to badland terrain and lack of water sources unsuitable for farming, longan is generally grown extensively over a vast area.

Wang Qifa, a beekeeper from the Alian production and marketing group, said that this year longan flowers bloomed two weeks early, almost overlapping with lychee, and then encountered low-temperature interference, with daytime temperatures below 28 degrees, causing longan to bloom but not produce nectar: "This year's longan honey is not as expected. The longan flowering was not ideal. Only ten to twenty percent of longan flowers bloomed at Dagangshan, and then rain knocked the flowers off, resulting in only twenty to thirty percent of honey harvested this year. Very unsatisfactory."

Neimen has the largest beekeeping production and marketing group in Kaohsiung. Beekeeper Yue Shengji said he had hoped this year would make up for last year's poor harvest, but the climate interfered: "The south wind that should have blown didn't blow. In March and April there were still cool northerly winds. Without enough temperature, the longan trees' nectar production was also insufficient. When heavy rain knocked down the flowers, we could only go collect some mixed wildflower honey instead."

Southern bees move north; beekeepers crowd into central Taiwan to collect honey; temperatures drop after Qingming, reducing honey production

Trapped by low temperatures and unsatisfactory longan honey production, Chen Baocun, leader of the beekeeping production and marketing group at the Gangshan Farmers' Association, moved his hives to central Taiwan where flowering conditions were better, first going to Zhuqi in Chiayi and then Zhongliao in Nantou. Unexpectedly, the honey conditions there were also below expectations: "This year I did harvest some lychee honey, and only collected a little longan honey. Although it's not ideal, it's still a bit better than last year's miserable situation when lychee and longan were almost zero." With the unique optimism of a beekeeper, he tried to comfort himself this way.

Puli's major beekeeper Lai Chaoxian just joined group certification this year. He runs a beekeeping tourism factory.