Instead, central planners determined what would be produced and where it would be shipped. In recent years, the collective farms were divided into smaller holdings, and private land ownership is being slowly re-established. As a result, farmers in different regions produce many crops including fruits, vegetables and forest products. This agricultural diversity results in many varieties of honey. This range includes many specialty honeys, such as one produced from oak trees, that has a dark, rich flavor, to other honey that comes from bees that pollinate acacia and lime trees.
Bulgarian beekeepers fall into two general groups.
Most producers manage a small number of hives, though there are a few large producers. A typical small producer is more than 65 years old, and usually a retired white-collar professional such as a schoolteacher or bookkeeper. Most of these smaller producers have been beekeepers since their youth. Many recount how their first hive was given to them as a wedding present or how they helped their parents with their own bee management. These producers live in smaller rural communities and have hives at their homes or in the neighboring countryside.