Feeling the buzz in Montenegro

Milica believes beekeeping is a serious opportunity for development, even though it is only a hobby providing for family and friends for now. “First of all, this is a great way to spend my free time: to spend some time in nature and observe these incredible small creatures, but also, this is a great opportunity to make money – and I won’t give up,” Milica says.

She admits that people find it unusual for a young woman to be engaged in beekeeping. “Sometimes they make jokes when I look for books and magazines about beekeeping, because they often think of it as a hobby for older, retired people, but eventually everyone is interested in learning more about my hobby,” Milica adds. She spends a lot of time in Podgorica due to her studies, but whenever she can, she comes back to Kolašin. Milica says that in the future she can imagine herself living in this town which she perceived as a holdback while she was a high school student.

The Beekeepers’ Association has been promoting beekeeping for 20 years, and they see the past year as the most successful in these efforts. Bogoljub Bulatović is the President of the Association and he explains that until five years ago it was functioning as a traditional community of beekeepers but that then they decided to take action and bring more people, with a specific focus on young people, into beekeeping.  “There is a great demand for bee products, while the current production in Montenegro doesn’t meet the needs of the market and we wanted to use this opportunity to keep our young people here so they don’t move to bigger cities,” says Bogoljub.

As part of their new mission, the association launched a project with the help of the European Union and UNDP. As part of the project, the association has provided beginners with complete beekeeping accessories, modern literature and detailed training on beekeeping. Since the beginning of the project the membership of the association has increased by 25%. Bogoljub explains that in addition to the tools and knowledge young people have gained, the entire local community benefits from the project because beekeeping improves fruit yield, and thus the agricultural sector more widely. “It’s likely there will be many more, but if only two people decide to devote themselves seriously to beekeeping, the landscape of the Kolašin area will change significantly”, says Bogoljub.

Montenegro is home to half of all European plant species and represents enormous potential for beekeeping. “That’s why I recommend everyone who is at least a little bit interested in nature to think about similar ventures”, says Bogoljub.