RIYADH — For hundreds of years now, the Asir region has been famous for producing the highest quality of honey. The beekeepers rely on its climatic diversity and the existence of hundreds of trees and shrubs from whose flowers bees extract nectar to produce honey of high nutritional value. Acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem, May 20 every year is celebrated as World Bee Day with an aim to enhance global measures aimed at protecting them. In this regard, the Asir region assumes significance as an important producer of natural honey, as the profession of beekeeping and producing honey is considered to be one of the most prominent agricultural occupations in the region since ancient times. According to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the peaks of the Sarawat Mountains in southwestern Saudi Arabia, are a distinctive place for beekeeping during the summer season, due to rainfall and moderate weather. This results in the thick growth of a diverse variety of trees with blossoming flowers. With the advent of winter season, beekeepers in the Asir region move their beehives from the mountain peaks to the Tihama plains, to achieve an environmental balance and protect their bees from the change in weather. In addition, they provide the bees with a suitable environment for producing larger quantities of honey, due to the availability of certain species of honey plants and trees, for which the region is well-known, like the Sidr, Sumra, Talh, Salm, Darm, Sharm, and Shouka, due to the different nature of these trees and the diverse environment between mountains and plains. The beekeeping profession and honey production is being accorded a lot of attention by the government with the launch of many projects to train beekeepers. An example of this is the project entitled "Studies to build and boost the national capabilities by training the Saudi youth to take up beekeeping as a profession, to produce honey and hive products." The objective is to spread and consolidate the culture of beekeeping, within the programs for developing human capabilities, in line with the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, so as to keep pace with the requirements for development and the labor market needs. Realizing the importance of beekeeping and producing honey in creating an environmental balance and achieving self-sufficiency in honey products, King Khalid University in the Asir region has set up a special unit for research on bees and honey production, which will also help create job opportunities for the Saudi youth due to the distinctive fertile environment of the region, The move seek to invigorate the scientific role of the university in this aspect, the unit has armed the beekeepers with the modern scientific means and methods to raise the quality of the profession of beekeeping and honey production. The Bees and Honey Production Research Unit started its actual work by launching a number of programs and initiatives, including the "Distinctive Trademark" Project simultaneously with the thriving beekeeping industry in the Kingdom. At the same time, this was the beginning of professional marketing of bee products and the region's uniqueness in having rare types of high quality, which is met by widespread cheating in honey. This is deemed among the most prominent challenges facing beekeepers and the national marketers. Through the unit, the university innovated the "Distinctive Trademark" Project, in addition to the "project for determining the criteria and standards of honey in Asir Region", whose objective is to design a map for honey plants in Asir. As is known, bees extract nectar from blossoming plants and trees, and turn nectar to honey. The aim of the map is also to determine the criteria for beeswax and bee toxin in various parts of the Asir region.
