Honey harvest drops as bees get affected by environment. Honey production during harvest season sees a drop this year as bees struggle with the climate change.
Kurian Joe
Bee farms in Bangalore have seen a decrease by as much as 50 per cent in honey production this year. The changing environmental patterns are to be blamed partially, say the city’s bee keepers.
“Our production of honey has gone down. The collection per box has reduced by three to four kilograms. There has been a drastic decrease in the number of bees to make honey ,”says Mr. Vijay .C, bee keeper.
“A normal harvest gives about 45-65 kilograms of honey per box every year. This time during the first harvest the maximum collection was 40 kilograms and the second time it was 38 kilograms,”says Mr. Manjunath K C, bee keeper.
Honey harvesting is a seasonal activity and is usually done during October to December and March to May. The change in agricultural crops due to climate, market, resources affects the regular cycle of the bees.
Mr. Prasanna Kumar, Wildlife warden said, “The bees lose their immunity due to pesticides in flowers and crops. This leads to their death.”
Honey bees have a magnetic structure in their abdomens which helps them with orientation and navigation. “Another thing that affects bees are cellular towers as it interferes with the magnetic field of the bees,” he added.
Bees help in nature conservation, stability, floral diversity and evolution. Their characteristics help in preservation of the environment and are responsible for the pollination of many agricultural crops.
“In the last few years there have been delays in the monsoon from the regular June period. Shift of the monsoon causes delay in blooming of flowers and starves bees,” says K.R Shivanna, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment.
The changes in climate and use of pesticides on crops have affected the bees’ normal patterns.
“Awareness can be created by giving a tag to bees as a state insect” says Mr.Prassana
