90% Bee Mortality Rate - The Sector Calls for Urgent Regulation of Banned Pesticides

The sector has warned about the mass die-off of bee colonies. In Northern Bulgaria, the bee mortality rate has reached 90%, with the main causes being banned pesticides used for field treatment and a lack of control. Beekeepers are calling for an urgent response from the authorities and the creation of a specialised "Beekeeping" Directorate within the Ministry of Agriculture. Proposals for improving the sector's condition were presented today, May 13, to the Ministry.

Stefan Stefanov has been a beekeeper for 15 years. According to him, the situation is not improving—the mortality rate is alarming, and the main reason remains the indiscriminate and uncontrolled spraying by farmers with cheap and banned pesticides, such as neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been banned throughout Europe since 2013.

Stefan Stefanov, Beekeeper: "I personally know people from Gorna Oryahovitsa who had 200 hives and are left with 20. Here in the Varna region, they had 100 hives and are now left with only 5 or 6. A close acquaintance of mine had 20 hives—none left. Studies were conducted on the wax, honey, and carcasses, and substances were found that shouldn’t be in honey, which come from the spraying."

The chairman of the "Union of Bulgarian Beekeepers" said that they regularly give reports of uncontrolled spraying in the fields.

Mikhail Mihailov, chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Beekeepers and the United Bulgarian Beekeepers' Union: "The problem is with the control; the problem is that it is not being enforced. This is what we are saying: the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency, which is directly responsible, says that they lack administrative capacity and personnel. This is their excuse, but it is an excuse that does not satisfy us."

Even when legal pesticides are used, the notification system does not function in a coordinated manner.

Assoc. Prof. Julian Stanchev, "United Bulgarian Beekeepers" Association: "We receive a message, but we don’t know who sends it. In the past, the mayor would receive a letter, but now they no longer do. We are left to file a complaint and then go to court only after we discover poisoning. In Pleven, six court cases have been filed, but in none of them has the polluter been punished."

As alternatives to chemicals, beekeepers suggest better field management, as well as the practice adopted in other European countries—separating fields with flowering plants. They also welcome the introduction of Trichogramma in Bulgaria, which involves breeding flies in laboratory conditions for plant protection.