From the time of Kievan Rus and the formation of the Moscow state, honey and wax were the most important products of the internal and foreign trade country. The ancient chronicler Nestor narrated that beekeeping products from Russia were highly valued and in great demand in Asia and Europe. Foreigners paid for these goods in gold and silver.
Honey taxes replenished the treasury, and the rulers of Russia attached great importance to beekeeping. It is known that in the oldest legal monument Kiev state- "Russkaya Pravda" - provided for the protection of property on the side. For the destruction or theft of bees, large fines were applied: from 3 to 12 hryvnias, and in the principality of Lithuania - even the death penalty.
Huge profit from beekeeping at minimal cost
The vast expanses of our country, both before and now, allow the state to receive huge profits from beekeeping with minimal costs... Today Russia produces an average of 70 thousand tons of honey per year and is one of the ten leading "honey powers". But the existing potential makes it possible to multiply this indicator. Unlike most developed countries Russia fully meets its needs for honey through its own production and is a net exporter of this product.
The forbs of Siberia, the flowering meadows of the Don region, Bashkiria, Altai are inexhaustible reserves of honey - a healthy natural product, and in fact = the country's gold reserve. Its quality is incomparable with that counterfeit, which in last years in huge quantities is supplied to the Russian markets and strangles bona fide domestic honey producers.
Inspiring optimism Presidential decree Russian Federation dated May 7, 2018 No. 204 "On national goals and strategic objectives for the development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024". In this document, the President of the Russian Federation set before the government the task of significantly increasing the production and export of agricultural products. Russian honey is already present on the world market and has every chance to strengthen its position in this market. Consequently, the Presidential Decree directly applies to both domestic beekeeping and its products.
However, today beekeepers have to think more about survival than expanding their apiaries. The work of a beekeeper is hard and sometimes backbreaking work, which not all enthusiasts can do. In addition, this is a risky business, since there is a possibility of losing the results of many years of hard work overnight.
As a result of uncontrolled use in agriculture pesticides and other agrochemicals, a new problem has been added to the numerous problems of beekeeping - the growing scale of the poisoning of bees. Moreover, the mass death of bees occurs in the most honey-bearing regions of Russia. In May-June 2018 alone, more than 2,000 bee families died for this reason in the Volgograd region. In the Samara region there are more than 1500 bee families. The geography of bee poisoning is extensive. This is the Rostov region, Krasnodar region, Kuban, Bashkiria, Altai. And this is far from full list... The season is just beginning.
Why bees are poisoned
The loss of bees is due to both a lack of proper control over the use of pesticides and a lack of dialogue between farmers and beekeepers. In the struggle for high yields, farmers place high hopes on chemicals, using them without measure and in violation of established rules.
Beekeepers are not notified of the planned activities for the treatment of crops with pesticides. Often in violation of the instructions for the prevention of pesticide poisoning of bees, they are carried out in sanitary zone, within which up to 5 km from the nearest apiary, such work is prohibited.
Now in the country there is no single state structure that would be engaged in control over safe use plant protection products. This function is distributed among several federal services, the powers of which are limited to narrow specialization.
Until 2011, this control was fully carried out by the Rosselkhoznadzor. Later, his functions were transferred to other oversight agencies, but there is still no clarity as to which of them and what should be controlled.
In most regions, there are no laboratories where it is possible to study the death of bees and determine the cause of their death. Due to the complexity and ignorance of the procedures, the registration of materials by beekeepers for filing claims in court is performed incorrectly. As a result of this, law enforcement and judicial authorities refuse to initiate proceedings against poisoners and to satisfy claims of beekeepers. Placing high hopes on chemicals in the struggle for crops, farmers do not take into account or do not know that bees pollinating fields increase the yield by up to 30%, which brings farmers a net income, freeing them from additional expenses on equipment, fuel and mineral fertilizers.
In Russia, the work of bees on pollination is not appreciated. But by transferring pollen and fertilizing flowers, bees not only increase the productivity of food and other agricultural crops, but also improve the quality of fruits and seeds. And this has already started to increase the yield for the next year.
It is pertinent to recall that global food security is associated with the protection of bees today. It is estimated that bees account for 30% of the contents of humanity's food basket. Moreover, these are the most valuable foods rich in vitamins and minerals; fruits, vegetables, nuts. Bees play an invaluable role in maintaining biological diversity on our planet. This fully applies to Russia as well.
Wild pollinators also take part in the process of pollination of flowering plants: bumblebees, butterflies, beetles and other types of insects. But they cannot replace honey bees. Honeybees have a significant advantage over wild pollinators. They live in large families, collect a large amount of pollen in the reserve, for which they need to visit a huge number of flowers. Honeybees do 80-90% of pollination work in the fields, while wild insect pollinators do only 10-20%. But both those and others are more and more in need of protection.
In the US and EU
Farmers in the US, EU and other countries have long appreciated the benefits of bee pollination. They conclude paid contracts with beekeepers, take out apiaries in close proximity to flowering fields and thereby significantly increase the yield.
The mass death of bees has already led to sad consequences. In many countries, there is an increasing shortage of bees for full pollination of crops. This problem has become global, and its solution already requires energetic collective efforts. In December 2017, the UN General Assembly proclaimed May 20 as the International Day for the Protection of Bees.
It is time for Russia to seriously think about the protection of bees and beekeeping. So far we have nothing to brag about here.
In connection with the current situation, the ROO "Society of beekeepers of the capital" calls on Russian beekeepers to unite to fight mass poisoning of bees and intends to actively attract the attention of the general public and the authorities to the problem of bee poisoning.
Please send your thoughts, comments and suggestions to email: [email protected]
Margarita Bukina, board member of the Association of Beekeepers of the Capital.
V recent times beekeepers often ask questions, why do bees disappear from them? In order to understand the reasons for the mass death of bees, I had a chance to review a lot of materials: magazines, films and simply - a video about it, to communicate with many people.
No, I already had, like all experienced beekeepers, my own opinion. But I wanted to understand this issue thoroughly. Because, today, no one is insured against the loss of an entire apiary, regardless of the number of families on it and the length of service.
I will not frighten you, dear readers, until "today" I was also skeptical about the bee Armageddon. My article is written more in an informational style and does not spread panic. But at the same time, collected on the basis of the latest issues of the magazine "Apiary" and the film "The Silence of the Bees".
In it you will find out why the main culprit of all troubles is the beekeeper himself (this is not only my opinion), if we discard the ecological components of the decay of bee colonies (collapse or rally).
In the previous article (written a year ago), I still did not have a sufficiently complete picture of this issue. Therefore, there are guesses in it: mine and some other beekeepers.
This article caused a mixed reaction from beekeepers. Therefore, thanks to everyone who left comments on it and shared it on social networks.
Now I will not write about guesses. I will write about the facts that I read in the magazine. According to the official people in beekeeping, in the economically developed countries of the world, they conducted a study of the problem in order to find out the reasons for the death of bees.
Factors that influence the collapse of bee colonies
Foreign scientists have conducted research in the following areas:
- The presence of pathogens in the nests, as well as on the bees themselves. Also their interaction with each other.
- The presence, both in bee products and on the bees themselves, of traces of pesticides, which affect their orientation and lead to their death.
- The influence of pollen from genetically modified plants on the development of bee larvae.
- How does the full or partial replacement of natural feed (honey) in the fall affect sugar syrup?
- How does the decrease in the diversity of honey plants as a result of growing monocultures in one area affect?
- The use of antibiotics for the treatment and prevention of diseases of bee colonies, which disrupt the intestinal microflora and lower the immunity of the bees themselves.
- Influence at nervous system bees sources of various electromagnetic radiation, namely, satellite navigation systems (GPS) and mobile communications.
- Influence of inbreeding on the development of bee colonies.
Here it is necessary to give an explanation, not everyone knows what inbreeding is - it is too close crossing of bees (within the same apiary or even a whole breed).
Quoted from Wikipedia.
Inbreeding(eng. inbreeding, from in- "inside" and breeding- "breeding") - crossing of closely related forms within the same population of organisms (animals or plants).
Research results
Research studies different countries came to the conclusion that the cause of the mass death of bees (collapse or autumn gathering) is not one of the investigated factors.
This is a whole complex of factors that reduce the immunity of bee colonies.!!!
So draw your own conclusions!
My conclusions about the causes of the mass death of bees
Let's take a closer look at each factor and think a little, look for the “main culprit of family breakdown”, if scientists have not found out a single specific reason.
1. The presence of ticks and various viruses in the nests on bees - remains only on the conscience of the beekeeper. This is how and with what he treats his charges against ticks and diseases, how often. How does it control the degree of clinging of families ...
2. Pesticides. In fact, the beekeeper cannot completely influence this factor. Today in Ukraine, and in most of the countries of the post-Soviet space, all this lies only on the conscience of the agricultural sector. enterprises that treat fields, gardens and other land with insecticides of long-term decomposition.
3. Pollen of genetically modified plants. Here, too, the beekeeper has nothing to do with it. In fact, no one asks him what to grow in the fields, unless, of course, he is the owner of these fields.
4. Replacing honey in autumn with sugar syrup - lies only on the conscience of the beekeeper. Although, in some regions, due to insufficient food supply, beekeepers do not have special choice... But, everyone should know that it reduces the bees' immunity.
5. Cultivation of monocultures in one locality. This is a moot point. If the beekeeper knows about this, then. If you stand at your own peril and risk (in anticipation of a good honey collection), then you should know that this also reduces the immunity of his wards.
6. Antibiotics in the treatment of bees. Here only the beekeeper is to blame. Thoughtless use of antibiotics reduces the immunity of all living organisms. Today all over the world there is a fierce struggle against this.
In many countries of the world, beekeeping products with residual antibiotics (traces) are prohibited. Fortunately, today they produce the latest drugs to treat bees on a different basis.
7. Mobile communications and GPS navigation. In fact, the beekeeper here does not have the slightest chance of somehow influencing the progress. All that remains is to take your apiary away, to remote places where civilization has not yet reached.
8. Inbreeding. If we judge about each individual apiary, then only the beekeeper is to blame. You need to take this into account and, as often as possible, (buy purebred queens or change with other apiaries; change the best families or buy tribal).
If we ignore the factors that the beekeeper has no influence on (pesticides, pollen of genetically modified plants, the prevalence of monocultures in one locality, mobile communications and GPS), then one can easily guess who is the main culprit in the death of bees today.
It's a shame, but today, scientists see in this only the beekeeper himself. His methods of keeping bees.
And whether they will see in the future, it is not known? !!
Why bees die
I am often asked about the reasons for the death of bees.
A simple example.
The beekeeper, on 15 August, pumped out the honey. He fed his wards, like everyone else, on time, with sugar syrup. I waited until the last sowing came out and it got colder to + 5˚С (in my area, the end of October).
I treated the bees for ticks with bipin (like everyone else - once for the whole season, 2 treatments with an interval of 7 days).
Why did the bees die before the New Year?
Another example.
“As always, I fed my charges in the fall with sugar syrup. It was an ordinary autumn, and nothing foreshadowed trouble ...
But one fine day I did not hear the familiar hum of bees in the apiary. Tearing off the hives one by one, I found them all empty. Oh God, I had 30 families ... "
What should I answer to these beekeepers?
I feel sorry for these beekeepers and their families, but they did not tell:
- nor about multiple or other methods of dealing with it;
- nor about the control over the nesting of families;
- nor about use for the prevention of disease;
- nor about the strict write-off of old cells;
- not transferring families to clean, disinfected hives every spring;
- nor about breeding work, aimed primarily at breeding purebred families, as well as at the maximum possible exclusion of their closely related crossbreeding.
It may sound cruel, but these are the reasons for the mass death of bees, if we exclude environmental factors.
In one of the prophecies attributed to Vanga, the death of bees around the world was scheduled for 2004. But they started to disappear in 2006. According to some very unhappy forecasts, bees will cease to exist by 2035.More than a third of bee colonies die in the United States each winter. Although earlier, as a rule, only one tenth could not withstand the cold. In Europe, 20% of bees disappear every year. Their populations are sharply reduced in Latin America and Asia. Since 1961, the number of bee colonies in the world has halved, and the number of bees per hectare has fallen by about 90%, while the production of agricultural products dependent on bee activity has quadrupled.
What is their death fraught with and is it so terrible for humanity?
There is still no definite answer. There are many theories on this score, and many of them are quite viable. The great scientist Albert Einstein once said that the disappearance of bees would be followed by the end of civilization and all life on earth. Even if a brilliant scientist exaggerated (for example, rye, wheat and rice are pollinated by the wind), nevertheless, thanks to pollination by insects, crops grow that provide a third of the total food resources of the world. At the same time, about 90% of pollination is carried out by bees - butterflies and other insects cannot "process" large areas.
The position of A. Einstein is also adhered to by an international group of researchers led by Chris Reading. Their opponents are biologists of the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, on the contrary, believe that these rumors are greatly exaggerated.
However, even people far from biology in general outline understand the essential role of bees in ensuring the ecological well-being of our planet. This role is no less important in global agriculture. That is why experts are sounding the alarm louder and louder. Their fears are based on a simple and obvious logic: there will be no bees - there will be no pollination of plants, plants will die - humanity will die.
Bees pollinate 115 crops: fruit trees, citrus fruits, onions, broccoli, zucchini, beans, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes, horse beans, coffee, cocoa, avocados, coconuts and others. But the production of these crops is one of the fastest growing segments of the global food industry. That is, the bee plague can significantly aggravate the already existing food crisis.
The problem of mass extinction of bees sharply exacerbated in the USA in 2006, and in 2007, dozens of states lost from 30 to 70% of winged workers! The Americans gave the bee epidemic a special name - Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD for short: "collapse of bee colonies." Currently, those regions of the United States where there are not enough "own" bees are forced to attract them from other parts of the country. In particular, California is actively using the services of commercial beekeeping - a huge bee "landing" is brought here every February. Otherwise, California almond groves (and they provide up to 80% of the world almond crop) will simply remain without pollination.
From the shores of America, an inexplicable bee infection spread to Europe. Now this disaster is engulfed in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, as well as a number of countries in Eastern Europe. The listed countries annually lose more than 30% of bees, in some regions the losses reach 50-80%! Since 2007, cases of bee pestilence have been recorded in Russia and Ukraine. And although in Eastern Europe this attack is still far from American and Western European proportions, there are no guarantees that we will be able to get by with "little blood". The situation was recognized so serious that now the governments of developed countries, leading scientific centers, UN, international environmental and agricultural organizations.
Versions of the death of bees
Today, several main versions are being considered, explaining the reasons for the extinction of bees.
Second version– exposure to electromagnetic radiation and cellular communications: Scientists believe that mobile communication interferes with the bees' own navigation, and they cannot return home. This conclusion was reached by scientists from the University of Koblenz-Landau (Germany). For a long time they have been studying the violation of the spatial orientation of bees near power lines. The new data convinced the researchers that the radiation of cell phones and transmitting-receiving devices disrupts the bee's orientation system, it cannot find its way back to the hive and dies. Perhaps the density of coverage of large areas of the United States and Europe with mobile networks or the signal strength has exceeded a certain critical threshold for honey insects, which leads to disturbances in the orientation of bees in space. For their part, the specialists of the Institute of Beekeeping named after Prokopovich of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine do not agree with the conclusions of German researchers - Ukrainian scientists are inclined towards the "pesticide" version.
Fourth version - decreased immunity of bees: it's all to blame human greed... Unscrupulous beekeepers pump out all the honey obtained to the last drop, not leaving the bees to feed a single gram of medicinal delicacy. And the bees have to feed on sugar syrup, which the beekeepers "kindly" provide in return. No nutrients does not contain sugar, and therefore the body's defenses are significantly weakened. Bees easily pick up any diseases and die quickly. New, still poorly studied types of pathogenic microbes and viruses that destroy the immunity of insects may also be to blame for the mass death of bees (stress also has an extremely negative effect on the immune defense of bees). Separate studies have shown that bees are killed by a certain virus, which rebuilds their body so that it begins to secrete proteins needed by the virus, and not by the bees.
The issue of the extinction of bees worries scientists around the world, and millions of dollars are allocated to study this problem. It is known that the case has already been sent for consideration to the UN. At the same time, the exact cause of the mass death of bees is still unknown. One way or another, the disappearance of bees will provoke irreversible changes, the consequences of which can be catastrophic.
We treat one thing, cripple the other ...
And what do the beekeepers themselves think about this? A beekeeper with 46 years of experience, chairman of the Reni district society of beekeepers Viktor Ivanov agreed to comment on the situation.
I am convinced that mobile communication has absolutely nothing to do with it, - says Viktor Viktorovich. - At the same time, it would be wrong to single out any one reason for the mass death of bees. In fact, there are many factors to consider. Among them, of course, is the use of pesticides in agriculture in developed countries. Now the fields are being sprayed with a new generation of potent drugs. These chemicals destroy the bees' immunity and also "erase" their memory. As a result, the bees lose their ability to navigate the terrain and, flying out of the hive, cannot find their way home and die.
Varroatosis is also a negative factor. Rather, the methods of dealing with it. Today, these methods, again, are to use chemicals... Among them, bipin is considered very effective. Yes, it kills varroa mites, but it often kills along with bees. Everyone knows how modern medicine is built: one is treated, and the other is crippled. It is the same in beekeeping. To combat varroatosis, drugs are used that are laid in hives for a whole month. But "medicinal" substances accumulate on the walls of the hives, on the combs, and so on. Large bee colonies more or less tolerate treatment with preparations against varroa mites, but small colonies often do not withstand this. Bees are gentle and sensitive creatures; they react painfully to unpleasant odors and other foreign influences from the outside. They end up just leaving their hives. An autumn gathering of bees occurs - a phenomenon in which a bee colony uncontrollably leaves the nest prepared for wintering and ceases to exist.
According to V. Ivanov, there is one way out of this situation - the creation of drugs that will not have a harmful effect on bees. This applies to both pesticides and means of combating bee diseases. In the meantime, Ukraine is not threatened by massive sea-winged workers. This is a rare case when our poverty is for the good: most of the domestic agricultural enterprises simply do not have the funds to purchase expensive pesticides.
Viktor Viktorovich can talk about bees for hours. An experienced beekeeper reported: if in Soviet time in the district society of beekeepers, there were 120 members, but now there are no more than forty. Of these, there are six to seven serious beekeepers. Why? The answer is simple: beekeeping is a lot of work, and people don't want to work now. Everyone wants to "cut the dough quickly" ...
V. Ivanov likes to repeat: Karl Marx wrote off the socialist society from the bee family. "A bee family is such a developed and perfect social organism that if people followed it at least 50%, then we would not have any problems," the beekeeper says.
30.07.2017 2
Many countries in America, Asia and Europe have faced the problem of mass death of bees in the last half century. Scientists began to talk about the threat of the death of humanity. Let's look at the reasons for the extinction of bees, and what are the consequences of this?
Causes of death of bees
For the first time, the extinction of bees in excess of natural death was noticed in the twentieth century after the First World War. The process accelerated in the last decades of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The beginning of this process is associated with the massive use of pesticides and other pesticides in agriculture.
In the twenty-first century, the decline in the number and types of worker bees is gaining rampant proportions. For example, in the United States, in 2012 alone, half of the bee colonies died. In Russia in 2007-2008, the number of winged workers decreased by forty percent.
Among the reasons leading to their death, it is impossible to single out two or three that can be solved quickly and efficiently. Consider the main factors affecting the life and reproduction of beneficial insects:
Why are bees dying out? As you can see, there is no single reason for the rapid decline in the number of winged workers. In addition to death from disease and chemicals, there have been sudden disappearances of entire bee colonies, the so-called collapse. In America in 2012, the collapse of the bees dropped by fifty percent.
One of the reasons for leaving the hives can be stress caused by transporting apiaries over long distances to pollinate agricultural land. After departure, the bee swarm is doomed to die within the next few days, because domestic bees cannot exist outside the hive.
In Russia, after wintering in 2016-2017, a significant death of bee colonies was recorded. Usually, after wintering, mortality in apiaries ranges from ten to forty percent. Over the past winter, in some areas, all bees have died from beekeepers.
In Estonia, during the winter of 2012-2013, the number of bees decreased by twenty-five percent, and in some apiaries the death rate was one hundred percent. The cause of such a massive death can be both severe frosts and late spring, as well as the defeat of "foulbrood".
The consequences of the extinction of bee colonies
Bees are needed for more than just sweets. useful product... The workers fulfill their main mission by pollinating the lion's share of agricultural plants and orchards. Without pollination by bees, not only will the amount of food go down.
Many plants cannot reproduce without pollination, and gradually disappear from the surface of the Earth. First, there will be a reduction in the yield of buckwheat and other crops. Gardens without pollination will cease to delight us with fruit. Famous interesting fact that in China in some provinces where bees are absent, orchards are manually pollinated. But this method is not able to replace the pollination of gardens by bees.
What foods can disappear from our diet? In addition to honey, which people have been eating and treating for millennia, there will be no fruits, watermelons, grapes, and, surprisingly, coffee. Without some herbs, for example, alfalfa, which is pollinated by bees, it is impossible to properly feed the dairy population: cows, goats.
Following the bees, many animals that feed on plant foods will die out. The disappearance of elements of the food chain will lead to massive hunger. Many have heard the statement of the genius physicist Einstein that after the death of the last bee, humanity will not live more than four years and will die of hunger. Bulgarian healer Vanga also predicted the death of bees and cultivated plants serving as food for people and animals.
And how many people know that without bees we will lose such a natural product as cotton. After all, its pollination is impossible without bees, and we will not only have clothes made of light cotton, cambric. But prices for synthetic fabrics will also rise significantly.
In addition, the reduction of plants, flowers and grasses, for the reproduction of which requires pollination by insects, will accelerate. Some argue that pollination is carried out not only by bees, but also by wasps and other insects. But in terms of the number of pollinated plants, no one can compare with nectar gatherers.
British scientists predict the complete disappearance of bees in the world by 2035. This is the most pessimistic forecast, because today many specialists are looking for a way out of this situation. Optimists say wheat and rice, corn and soybeans will remain. Pigs and chickens will survive from animals whose meat is used for food. The yield of potatoes, tomatoes and carrots without pollination will decrease, but only slightly.
Due to the reduction in the number of products and their species diversity humanity will begin to attack various diseases... After all, the maximum number useful vitamins and minerals human body gets from products, cultivation of which is impossible without pollination.
Video: the extinction of bees threatens the death of all mankind.
What do scientists suggest?
Restricting the use of pesticides in agriculture, prohibiting the use of antibiotics in the treatment of bees is not enough to restore populations.
The pesticides used to treat the fields against weeds do not kill the bees, but make them vulnerable to mites. Well, scientists from Germany have a lot of evidence that radio signals from cellular networks affect the death of bees. They disrupt the orientation system of the bees, and they cannot find their way home to the hive and die.
In countries where the largest reduction in bees has been recorded (USA, Canada, China, Australia, some European countries), genetically modified plants are massively grown. Of course, bees do not pass them. At the same time, the source of their genetic infection is not only pollen and nectar of GM plants, but also feeding from sugar produced from GM beets. When young bees consume GMOs, in adulthood, they experience the destruction of internal organs and a decrease in immunity.
The world changes - the bee changes and disappears. Now it is generally known: in comparison with the USA, the situation with bees in Great Britain is still better: in recent years, the population of bees here has decreased by about a third. And the threat of complete disappearance of the honey bee in this country is predicted in the next decade.
Dead bees are not buzzing ... Their mass death, about which ecologists in a number of countries are already sounding the alarm, can lead to the disappearance of many plants, including agricultural crops. After all, almost 80% of them are pollinated by honey bees. Therefore, humanity is expected big problems... Although attempts are being made to somehow get out of this situation. Let's say, “breeding ideas” are in the air. So, some scientists propose to deduce the new kind bees resistant to any disease by crossing common honey bees with aggressive Africanized bees that have strong immunity.
Scientists, meanwhile, paint such a picture of saving the planet in the event of the disappearance of bees, people massively go to fields, meadows and carry out artificial pollination of plants. But where the bee flew, a person cannot reach. For everyone has their own destiny. While there is time to stop the Great Chaos and Human Madness in relation to ecology. Already bees, as we see, give alarming "SOS!" About this.
