20 percent of the 1.2 million bee colonies were destroyed and another 20 percent weakened this winter, Péter Bross, president of the National Hungarian Beekeeping Association, told Inforádio.
According to Péter Bross, the lack of rainfall adversely affected the bee pastures. Although April was bad because of the cool, windy weather, good weather could come in the next two weeks, he added. The president of the National Hungarian Beekeeping Association also said that the approximately 20,000 domestic beekeepers had wintered about 1.2 million bee colonies, of which nearly 20 percent were killed and another 20 percent weakened, so roughly 6-700 thousand bee colonies are waiting for the honey season.
There may be several reasons for the weakening, but it is primarily either the professional deficiency of the beekeeper or some negative environmental impact, for example, of poisoning due to spraying – in the case of large-scale sweet corn and sunflowers. “Although the number of dead bee colonies is restored by beekeepers during the year, it involves extra work and financial outlay” Peter Bross said. According to Jobbik’s politician János Bencze, climate change and human activity are indeed the cause of the enormous devastation. “The use of a lot of chemicals in the bee population is causing serious damage worldwide. That is why serious research is being done to stop this trend.”
According to János Bencze, the state should compensate the damages suffered by Hungarian beekeepers. “The Hungarian beekeeping society would need the pollination work to be valued financially, because in the long run it means the survival of the beekeeping profession.”
Inforadio
pixabay
