Solutions required

Heuriger Sommer turns forest honey into “cement honey”

Bees produce forest honey from the excrement of tree lice. Heat and rain cause the honey to crystallize in the honeycombs.

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Have you ever heard of cement honey? If you're a beekeeper, you probably have. Because the 8,000 beekeepers and their 80,000 colonies are struggling with problems in the forest honey harvest this year due to the combination of heat and rain. And that has an impact on yield and price. An indication of how important a "heat protection plan" is.

"Cement honey" is the name of a form of forest honey that beekeepers are struggling with this year. It crystallizes in the hive and is then difficult to remove from the combs. The reason for this is the triple sugar melezitose, which is produced by tree lice when the weather changes frequently. The "cement honey" cannot be extracted from the combs. "A beekeeper can partially extract the honey by squeezing the combs. However, only small quantities can be extracted in this way," explains Susanne Wimmer from the Upper Austrian Beekeeping Center.

When it is very hot and then rains, aphids produce the triple sugar melezitose. The problem is not only affecting Austria at the moment.

Susanne Wimmer, Leiterin des Labors des oberösterreichischen Imkereizentrums

Honeycombs become a danger
In addition, unlike extracted combs, these combs cannot be put back into the hive. If bees eat "cement honey", they fall ill with diarrhea or even die. Beekeepers therefore have to buy more new honeycomb material for their hives.

"No longer natural": price halved
One way to extract all the honey is to heat the combs. "But then it is no longer considered natural," beekeeper Anna Ollmann regrets. The honey can only be sold at half price.

Upper Austria still lacks a heat protection plan
But it's not just beekeepers who are suffering from the heat - young children, the elderly and chronically ill people in particular are suffering from the temperatures. After 2023 was the hottest year in more than 2050 years, the federal government has revised the National Heat Protection Plan. The federal states of Vienna, Styria and Vorarlberg also have heat emergency plans. In Upper Austria, there are only "tips on what to do in hot weather" on the state website.

"Still too little done"
In response to a question from the Greens in the state parliament about the expansion of heat protection measures, the responsible deputy governor Christine Haberlander (ÖVP) recently mentioned "raising awareness, providing information, giving tips especially for vulnerable groups" and the free AGES heat hotline. For Green Party climate protection spokesperson Anne-Sophie Bauer, this is not enough: she is calling for an "effective heat protection plan for Upper Austria".