The measure is part of the Beekeepers Support Program, which has been promoted by the council through an investment of approximately €15,000, totalling the value of the two deliveries in 2024 and 2025.

The mayor, José Francisco Rolo, said that the contribution fosters an important economic activity, with significance and history in the municipality, similar to the support given to Serra da Estrela sheep.

Quoted in a statement from the municipality, sent to Lusa news agency, the mayor stressed that the decision contributes “not only to stimulating honey production, but also to reinforcing the role that bees have in maintaining biodiversity and pollinating crops, especially in rural areas.”

According to the council, the decision is due to the fact that the Government “did not include the beekeeping sector in the support allocated after the summer fires” and to “climate change, which has been increasingly affecting the normal regeneration of flora.”

The delivery of the food has been taking place daily since the beginning of December to beekeepers residing in and operating in Oliveira do Hospital, who collect the product in the courtyards of the city hall, located in the Industrial Zone of this municipality in the interior of Cuiabá.

An official source from the municipality told the Lusa news agency that the distribution is done according to the number of beehives of the beekeepers, who were informed of the initiative currently in effect.

The program, which delivered approximately 12 tons of food between 2024 and 2025, will remain in operation until the registered beekeepers have collected their allocated product.

The council also noted that it has been developing awareness campaigns to report sightings and combat the Asian hornet through the installation of traps and the destruction of nests.

The objective is to "reduce the impact of this invasive species on the health, well-being, and safety of the population, as well as on beekeeping, given its high destructive power for beehives," it added.