Anyone who has visited Kyrgyzstan won’t be surprised by this news: Kyrgyzstan, officially, has some of the best honey in the world. 

The Kyrgyz Union of Beekeepers took home five medals – three gold and two silver – at the biannual International Apicultural Congress held this month in Kyiv. Representatives from over 100 countries participated in the event, dubbed Apimondia. 
At the Union of Beekeepers in Bishkek, the phones were ringing off the hook this weekend as chairman Kazim Karaketov feasted his eyes on the awards. 
“We had no idea what a diamond we held in our hands. Only the global community could evaluate the true worth of our honey,” Karaketov told EurasiaNet.org.
Among Kyrgyzstan’s gold medal winners was the creamy white honey from the high-altitude region of At-Bashi in Naryn Province. A wax figure of a beekeeper wearing a kalpak, the felt Kyrgyz national hat, won a gold in the “beeswax model” category, beating an Indian entry; Kyrgyzstan also beat Slovakia for a gold in a category that considered display cases for selling honey. 
Dark honey from Issyk-Ata in Chui Province and beeswax candles took silver medals in their respective categories.
Karaketov said that while choosing what to present at Apimondia, the union looked for products that had won praise at local contests. His sole regret: Kyrgyzstan presented only five products because it costs 180 euros to enter each. “Everything comes down to finances. We took a risk, but we should have risked more!” Financing problems had kept the union from participating in the past.
But buoyed by the victory, the union has ambitious plans for the next congress, scheduled for South Korea in 2015. Karaketov hopes to find sponsors to help the union send as many products in various categories as possible. “I dream that one day we will have an opportunity to host Apimondia in Kyrgyzstan,” he said. “It will benefit the country and our honey industry.”