Compensation in beekeeping: damage to bee colonies in spring–summer 2024

The Autonomous Province of Trento has decided to extend the compensation for damage suffered during the 2024 beekeeping season to include bee colonies as well. 

The decision to introduce this new compensation scheme for 2026 was taken after considering various concrete factors, based on an analysis of the actual situation and expert opinions. The administration has acknowledged that the 2024 beekeeping season in Trentino was extremely difficult due to a mild winter, followed by a very rainy spring, which compromised the flowering of plants such as dandelion and acacia, virtually eliminating honey production and forcing beekeepers to feed their bees artificially on an extremely frequent basis. This situation has led to a sharp drop in income and an increase in operating costs.

This specific aid will compensate for losses incurred in relation to the rearing of bee nuclei only, i.e. new colonies created for internal replacement within the apiary or intended for sale. The colonies eligible for the calculation are those duly declared in the beekeeping census as at 31 December 2023 (excluding apiaries outside the province that are recorded as permanent). 

The grant ranges from €25.00 to €39.50 per colony, calculated on the basis of whether the beekeeper has taken out insurance policies for the 2024 honey production season and is a member of Section One of the APIA. The maximum amount payable is set at €25,000 per beneficiary (including any compensation already received for the same disaster), whilst the minimum amount payable is €100.

The compensation covers apiaries located within the province of Trento. Apiaries situated outside the province are eligible only if they are registered in the Beekeeping Database (BDA) as ‘NOMADIC’. Apiary sites outside Trentino registered as “STATIONARY” are therefore strictly excluded, even if the beekeeper who owns them has their registered office in the province.

It is also mandatory to have completed the beekeeping census for the period from 1 November 2025 to 31 December 2025, declaring the presence of at least one hive. Failure to meet the deadlines for this census will render the application ineligible.

Each beneficiary may submit only one application for aid.

The digital signature affixed to the application must belong exclusively to the company’s legal representative or to a person who has been expressly authorised to do so.

The maximum grant amount is €25,000 per beneficiary. This calculation must also take into account any funds already received under the previous resolution (No. 638 of 9 May 2025). Theminimum amount that may be paid out for each application is €100.

This grant cannot be combined with other public aid granted for exactly the same purposes or losses.

The grantfalls under the‘de minimis’ agricultural state aidscheme. This means that a single enterprise may not receive more than €50,000 in total under this scheme over a three-year period.

The Province has allocated a total budget of €100,000. Should this funding prove insufficient to cover the total amount of all applications deemed eligible, the grant awarded to each beneficiary will be reduced proportionally.

The beneficiary is obliged to grant staff from the Agriculture Service unrestricted access to their premises and documentation, so as to enable the checks required by the regulations to be carried out.

The scheme is aimed at individual agricultural businesses and companies engaged in beekeeping. The activity must be registered as ‘ordinary’, which is why purely family-run operations are excluded. Apiaries must be located within the province of Trento; those outside the province are also permitted, but only if they have been officially registered as ‘nomadic’.

Applications must be submitted online via the provincial agricultural information system SRTrento at the following address https://srt.infotn.it, which can also be accessed via the portal https://a4g.provincia.tn.it/, from 27 May 2026 until 1.00 pm on 30 June 2026

in accordance with the procedures set out inthe APPAG Paying Agency’s Manual of Control and Sanction Procedures.

Access to the SR Trento members’ area is restricted to registered users only; therefore, each user must first register in accordance with the procedures set out in the guidance on the SRTrento website’s home page.

Applications submitted must be signed using a digital signature.

For any assistance with accessing and registering on the portal, please contact the following email address helpdesk.srtrento@provincia.tn.it.

In order to be eligible for the grant, applicants must meet the following criteria at the time of submitting their application:

• The beekeeping business must have its registered office in the province of Trento.
• Hold a VAT number and an active certified email address (PEC).
• Have a company file duly opened and kept up to date with APPAG, which must have been validated at least once during the year in which the application is submitted.
• Be duly registered in the Beekeeping Database (BDA) for ordinary activities.
• Have completed the beekeeping census during the period from 1 November to 31 December 2023.
• Have declared, in the aforementioned census, the presence of nuclei and a total of at least 40 units (including both hives and nuclei).
• Have a valid digital signature available for signing documents.

The opening date for the submission of applications is set for 27 May 2026.

The deadline for the call for applications, however, is strictly 13:00 on 30 June 2026;

applications submitted after this deadline will not be considered admissible.