site.btaBee Health in Bulgaria Is Unsatisfactory, Beekeepers Say

Bee Health in Bulgaria Is Unsatisfactory, Beekeepers Say

Sofia, September 12 (BTA) - Experts and scientists of Sofia's Beekeepers Union are concerned that bee health in Bulgaria is not good. They told a BTA-hosted news conference on Friday that the regulations should be changed to ensure control of certain plant protection chemicals and to ban aerial spraying.

Bees died in large numbers from American foulbrood due to poor care for bee colonies and the failure of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency to provide screening, said Engineer Mihail Mihailov, President of Sofia's Beekeepers Union.

Heavy rain in the spring swept away many beehives and the weather had a negative impact on the yields of honey and bee products. This year's honey output will be below average but more honeydew will be produced. The linden honey output will be below average because the trees blossomed during a rainy spell, said Mihailov. Honey output ranges between 6,000 and 12,000 kg, and this year's output will become known next May.

"This summer we managed to halt a bill providing for the relocation of bee colonies outside population centres because it would have strongly reduced their number," he said.

Mihailov raised with Agriculture Minister Dessislava Taneva the issue of extending a moratorium on three pesticides toxic to bees after its expiry in November. The government should urgently send an opinion to Brussels or face huge losses. Pesticides are the number one cause of colony collapse disorder, and recent studies have put fungicides in the same category, Mihailov stressed.

The Sofia Honey Festival will bring together producers from all over the country as usual on September 14-19 in the square at the central public baths. Thirty leading foreign experts will arrive for the event.