Country

Montenegro

Montenegro is small enough to cross in a day, but its bees can forage in an astonishing variety of landscapes. The country's new Atlas of Honey Plants documents 130 major melliferous species after more than two years of research, while scientists estimate that around 550 plant species are visited by bees in a country containing roughly 3,600 vascular plant species and subspecies. Mountain districts such as Kolašin, Berane and Pljevlja remain strongly associated with family beekeeping. Many beekeepers move their colonies seasonally, following forage rather than keeping them in one fixed location. Montenegro is also building something HC should pay attention to: an official apiary cadaster that records where managed hives are located. That could eventually give Atlas much more precise information than ordinary country-level statistics. At the human level, beekeeping projects are actively encouraging young Montenegrins to stay in rural communities and build livelihoods around bees.