site.btaConstruction and Pesticide Spraying Among Reasons for Decline in Bee Numbers

Construction and pesticide spraying are among the reasons for the decline in bee numbers, said Save the Bees Foundation co-founder Georgi Pchelin and Iva Georgieva from the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation. On the occasion of World Bee Day, BTA asked them about the importance of these insects, the danger and causes of their extinction, and how we can prevent it. 

Bees are important because they help keep the ecosystem the way it is, Pchelin said. They are the world's most abundant pollinators. Pollination helps propagate almost all species of plants, he explained.

Today, 87.5% of flowering plants need help from others to pollinate, Georgieva pointed out. In some places it is small birds and mammals, she added, but in Europe we mainly rely on insects and a large proportion of these are bees and wild bees.

The danger of extinction

Cutting down huge numbers of vegetation and timber for the construction of yet another city means that a mini ecosystem and all the living things there are being destroyed, Pchelin noted. He pointed out that most bee species are wild and they pollinate independently of humans and hives, adding that it is very important not to destroy a large part of nature. 

The unregulated pesticide spraying is another major problem. He said there are pesticides that farmers use despite them being banned. 

In Bulgaria, the situation is not very "rosy" either, Pchelin noted. He said that there is a lack of control by institutions and nobody does anything when there are hundreds of hives with dead bees. He specified that there can be up to 80,000 bees in one hive and added that beekeepers and registered bee colonies are becoming fewer on an annual basis.

The climate change is another important factor. “When we talk about birds or insects, people think that they fly and can migrate, but this is not the case,” Georgieva explained.

Opportunities to help

According to Pchelin, people can help the bees by planting honey bee plants - flowers, shrubs and trees such as acacia and lime. By pouring water or water with honey or sugar into a container we provide food and water for the bees. He also urged people not to spray vegetation and soil with poisonous and harmful chemicals for bees.