Bulgarian Bee-keepers would receive subsidies worth 3.555 million leva under the National Bee-Keeping Programme, Bulgaria's State Agriculture Fund (SAF) announced on January 29.

SAF was accredited as a paying agency by the EU, which would refund half the money, mediapool.bg said. The funding applications will be accepted between January 30 and May 15 2008 at the regional paying agencies where the planned investment was located.

Funded will be the prevention of bee diseases and equipping laboratories to analyse the bee honey. However, laboratories working for bee honey enterprises will not be eligible.

Subsidies will be granted to renew bee hives and bee families, mediapool.bg said.

The National Bee-Keeping Programme will grant a total of 11.149 million leva by 2010. Its aim is to increase the production efficiency, the quality and the competitiveness of Bulgarian bee honey and bee products and to ensure higher levels of employment and higher incomes for Bulgarian bee-keepers.