Pljevljak Radoslav Bele Zečević claims that he is the first and only master of beekeeping in Montenegro, but there is no job for him in the profession despite his education.
After graduating from the Faculty of Biotechnology in Podgorica, Zečević obtained a master's degree in beekeeping at the faculty in Novi Sad in December last year, on the topic of raising queen bees.
Despite the fact that he is the most educated beekeeper in Montenegro, the twenty-six-year-old young man cannot find employment in the profession and has been on the records of the Employment Agency for almost a year.
His efforts to get a job in the profession were in vain, he says, although with knowledge, as he claims, he could significantly help the improvement of beekeeping.
"Until now, the state has not listened and does not want to recognize my knowledge, which I confirmed not only with my master's degree but also with fifteen years of practical work in beekeeping. "I submitted my CV to the Ministry of Agriculture more than half a year ago and I have not received any response to this day," says Zečević for "Vijesti".
In parallel with his studies, Bele worked on his oven and represented the city and the country in numerous competitions in the countries of the region.
He points out that one of his favorite awards is the championship cup for the quality of honey that he won in Novi Sad, in a competition of 150 samples, when the honey of the Zečević farm won the championship title.
He says that he has demonstrated a high level of knowledge and abilities in his work, which he is ready to pass on to future generations.
“What I don't know - I'm ready to learn. No one in the world has yet fully researched bees, and that is why it is necessary to learn about them every day," points out Zečević, who has been beekeeping since the age of ten.
Even the youngest Montenegrin professional beekeeper, there are about 250 bee colonies and about 350 breeding units for breeding selected queens in the oil farm.
In addition to honey and queens, it also produces perga, propolis, royal jelly, and swarms. He says that he is the record holder in Montenegro for the production of royal jelly.
"Beekeeping in Montenegro is on an upward trajectory because the Beekeepers' Association has made great efforts in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, but unfortunately there is still a great deal of ignorance and that is why we have problems with the loss of bee colonies and the low yield of bee products. We have to pay a lot of attention to the selection of queen bees because, apart from hard work, every success in beekeeping depends on it. In European countries, queen selection has been done for dozens of years and that is why they achieve excellent results. With us, it's just at the beginning".
He assessed that a special problem is that in Montenegro there is not yet a single qualified lecturer with a license.
"Montenegro should have its own licensed lecturers so that they do not bring people from the region to educate our beekeepers. I believe that in Montenegro we have the potential to find several such people. I hope that this problem will be solved soon and that we will have qualified people who will be able to teach beekeepers. Lecturers who come from the region beekeeping in different ways compared to Montenegro due to specific beekeeping and work techniques. Often, these lectures are not useful for our beekeepers because the preparation for the main pasture in Montenegro is significantly different from other countries in the region due to the specific plant species and the geographical terrain on which beekeepers".
Zečević owns an oil mill in the villages of Židovići and Odžići in Pljevlja, and moves bees to Danilovgrad and Žabljak.
Apart from him, his entire family was hired to work in the apiary.
"There is no yield of honey without, as we beekeepers say, wheels, that is, the migration of bee colonies".
He says that this year's beekeeping season was tiring and difficult for beekeepers in Montenegro and the region, and that only certain locations brought solid yields of honey, but that he is satisfied with the yields of honey and other bee products.
Zečević points out that global climate changes are affecting beekeepers all over the world, because yields are also lower, but they still manage to cope with these phenomena and make the profession profitable with the help of modern beekeeping techniques.
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