Beekeepers have held protests in several cities in Europe to highlight the use of bee-killers and the excessive import of Chinese honey which has driven the industry to the brink of bankruptcy.
The Association of European Bees, registered in Hungary, points out that the activities of multinational companies in Europe is killing the industry, but without bees there will be nothing to pollinate flowers in Europe.
The Association, founded mainly by beekeepers from ten European countries, aims to keep bees and beekeepers alive, and the January demonstrations call attention to this goal.
The protests highlight that “the common interest of honey consumers and beekeepers is ultimately to protect bees so they do their job in nature. Failure to do so will result in serious environmental and economic damage”, adding that “all plants and animals that rely on the presence of insects are endangered by the collapse of the natural insect flora. The balance of nature in this area is maintained by the honey bees.”
The Association sees that the situation of apiaries, in spite of their environmental and economic benefits, is getting worse and worse. On the one hand, multinational companies are using more and more chemicals that are killing bees in agriculture; on the other hand “Europe is flooded with cheap sugar counterfeits from Chinese laboratories that still get to the people as honey”.
However, if beekeepers are destroyed by bee mortality and material deprivation, “there will be no bees to pollinate the plants”. It's an issue we should all take note of and work together to preserve bees and their honey crops.
Photo credit: Pesti Srácok