The Fifth Baha International Honey Festival will open in Baljurashi today.
Ahmad Al-Khazim, chairman of the organizing committee, said that 50 exhibitors from within the Kingdom and abroad will display their products in the five-day event. The Beekeepers Cooperative Society is organizing the festival in cooperation with Abdullah Bughshan Chair for Bee Research at King Saud University.
Al-Khazim said the festival aims at enhancing the level of knowledge among beekeepers about the industry and help them market their products by making them aware of various marketing and packaging techniques. “It will also provide opportunities to exchange expertise and ideas among beekeepers and traders from within the Kingdom and abroad,” he said.
Al-Khazim said there has been tremendous response from exhibitors to take part in the festival. “We had received applications from over 110 exhibitors from various parts of the Kingdom and abroad. Of them, we short-listed only 50, in line with specific norms and conditions regarding the quality of products and the country of their origin,” he said.
Beekeepers taking part in the festival include those from Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt, Oman, Qatar, Sudan and Ethiopia. “The Turkish Beekeepers Federation will be the guest of honor for this year’s festival. The federation’s board members, as well as heads of various beekeepers’ societies will participate in the festival,” he said.
According to Al-Khazim, all kinds of honey, especially Sidr, Samra, Saif and Talha will be on display at the festival. Apart from this, modern tools of apiculture will also be showcased.
The fifth national meet of beekeepers and those concerned with honey industry will also be held on the sidelines of the festival. The meet titled “Bee food and pastures: Their development and safeguarding,” will discuss the problem of scarce bee pastures and the poor maintenance of existing pastures. Several experts and academics will enlighten beekeepers on the latest developments in the industry. Around 250-300 participants from across the Kingdom and over 50 international participants will attend the festival.
A large number of beekeepers are already displaying their products at the month-long Taif honey festival that was opened by Taif Gov. Fahd bin Muammar last month.
