Thousands of dead bees in three counties: Is illegal crop treatment to blame?

Međimurje, Varaždin and Vukovar-Srijem counties were hit by a bee plague this year. Hundreds of bee colonies have died and now beekeepers must get new ones. Vukovar beekeepers, who had hundreds of hives destroyed in just a few days, suspect that illegal crop treatment is to blame for the disaster.

The thousands of bees that died in early June will forever remain in the memory of Vukovar beekeepers. However, they had to immediately start rehabilitating the hives.

“Now we have to disinfect all the hives, which means we have to throw the wax and honey out of the hives,” says Ivan Dumendžić, a beekeeper from Vukovar.

“I saved as much as I could, most of them were completely destroyed. The colony where the queen was inside survived, but it was left without any gatherers,” said Zlatko Tomašić, a beekeeper from Vukovar.

Although it is not yet known who is to blame for the bee die-off in that county, an insecticide used by an unscrupulous farmer has been discovered.

“Everyone was surprised that it was Fipronil, an insecticide that was banned in Croatia 12 years ago. What surprised and horrified everyone was that someone used such an extremely strong insecticide,” emphasizes Dumendžić.

Donation of bees and financial assistance

The Vukovar beekeepers were immediately helped by other beekeepers, donating bees to them. The competent ministry also approved financial assistance that they will receive in the fall.

“Some 100,000 euros have been planned for these beekeepers. 185 euros is the maximum amount that they will be able to receive proportionally, depending on the number of applicants, per bee colony,” emphasized Zdravko Tušek, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

“This help means a lot to us because we have to buy 200 kg of hourly bases, we have to buy 200 communities, or 100 communities, selected queens. All this is an investment,” Dumendžić emphasized.

“It's a big help, but it's not a solution for things like this. Such things should not happen and we should continuously work on the education of farmers,” says Tomašić.

“I call on all farmers, all farmers to be responsible and to comply with all instructions and of course not to use prohibited means on the territory of the EU and certainly not those that are illegally imported from third countries,” said Tušek.

While mitigating the situation in their apiaries, Vukovar beekeepers are now starting preparations for the next season. And they hope that this year's situation will not be repeated.

Source: HRT