Flood, heat and then frost: goodbye honey, and bees to be saved and fed ‘by hand’

Alarm from Veneto, beekeepers ask for a state of emergency: spring production will “miss”

VENICE- First the heat, then the frost. And now Bees to be saved ‘by hand’. From 25 to five degrees in a few days “and the acacia will not transform into honey this year either. If the acacia is a symbol of this spring for beekeeping, it is not the only one that will not become honey. In fact, spring honey will be completely missing: the major climate change that overwhelmed the Veneto first in a grip of heat and then with cold and wind, has put beekeeping in serious crisis“. So much so that, for these reasons, the regional beekeepers association of Veneto calls for a state of emergency to the Region and together with Unaapi launches an SOS to the Ministry of Agriculture. The blow of the crazy weather was felt in Vicenza: it had yet to recover from the flood at the end of February when many companies had lost entire families of bees, which ended up under water. The regional beekeepers association of Veneto brings together 3,000 members who manage around 35,000 hives and to save the bees it calls on the Region for the state of emergency necessary also to help the companies that make a living from this activity.

BEES TO FEED: THE COLD DOES NOT LET THEM OUT OF THE HIVE

At the moment, beekeepers must feed them in order for their bees to survive. In fact, the cold does not lead the fundamental pollinators to leave the hive to look for nourishment on their own. Plants with these low temperatures also do not produce nectar. Rain and snow are added to this already sad situation. But how do you feed a bee? They are called emergency feeding, they are based on candied fruit and fructose, they are administered in an attempt to keep the colonies alive, “but they are expensive and do not provide all the nutrients present in the nectar. In this cold weather the queens stop laying eggs and therefore there will be a shortage of bees in the coming months. Furthermore, the risk is the death of the extended brood that the hot temperatures had induced to raise.”

CLIMATE, PRICES, UNFAIR COMPETITION… A SCOURGED SECTOR

The beekeeping sector, recall the ‘insiders’ of the Veneto has been negatively affected by several seasons of climate change and extreme events; from the economic crisis and the increase in prices which have affected both beekeeping companies and other livestock and production sectors; and from competition from imported honey which are often not honey. Beekeeping companies “are in a situation of serious difficulty and there is the risk that many will not survive in the coming years, thus depriving the territory of an important fundamental safeguard for pollination and contributing to the increase in unemployment, especially among those who they specialize in a sector destined to disappear if it is not adequately supported.”
Many beekeeping companies depend not only on honey, but also on other hive products (pollen, propolis, royal jelly) and on the production of nuclei and queens, “and even in these cases there is a significant negative impact. Also considering the expansion of the populations of Vespa velutina and Vespa orientalis, together with the serious problems of alteration of the honey market, the relevant institutions need to intervene”. The regional beekeepers association of Veneto, with its president Gerardo Meridio, then appeals to the Region to “support this sector with its own tools, especially the companies that make a living from this activity. I will ask for a meeting with President Zaia and the Regional Councilor to address this dramatic situation.” At a national level, together with Unaapi, the ministry was involved “also for other regions that are in the same situation”.