Bees and Climate: The Last Buzz?

Down arrow

From The Author

Car

This summer me and my father traveled 7000km in our soviet Vaz2106 car. We visited all 10 regions of Armenia and talked to 100 beekeepers.


I was aiming to find out if there’s a decrease in the number of honey bee colonies in Armenia and what are the causes for the decline.


We all know what a vital and irreplaceable role bees play in ecosystems, agriculture, and human livelihoods in general. I talked about this in more detail in the previous publication.


With this publication, I will present the results of a research and survey conducted among 100 beekeepers from all regions of Armenia.

Asatur from Ujan

Asatur from Ujan (Aragatsotn), honey seller on the road to Aparan have lost 20 hives in 2021.

There is a declining tendency of the number of bee colonies in the last five years. 69 out of 100 surveyed beekeepers said that they had lost hives during the mentioned period. There were losses especially in Ararat, Shirak, Gegharkunik, partly in Armavir and Lori regions.


In addition to the declining numbers, many beekeepers notice that the quality of insects has also declined, becoming more passive and less productive.

Beekeepers have noticed a decline of honey bee colonies in the last five years.

Honey bee colonies in the last five years

Decline causes

International scientific papers single out several main reasons for the decline of honey bee colonies: common diseases among bees, pesticides used in horticulture, climate change, etc

Severe weather and diseases are the main obstacles for beekeepers.

Diseases

Varroosis is a common disease among bees in Armenia caused by varroa destructor mite which is the constant unwanted guest of bees and beekeepers. It is spread all over the world (except Australia) and no country has been able to get rid of Varroa destructors. The main way to save the bee family from this disease is to treat it regularly.


The beekeepers who participated in the survey identified other diseases as well. In particular, foulbrood was found in 18 beekeepers’ hives, diarrhea in 6, fungus in 7 and other diseases in 5.


The beekeepers of Armenia have a low level of trust in beekeeping treatment products, that is apicultural treatments. 26 of them confidently state that the reason for the losses is the products sold in the local market. It forces many beekeepers to import these products from Russia.

Alexan Eghiazaryan who implements innovative approaches in beekeeping recommends using only licensed treatment products (Aghavnadzor, Kotayk).

Bee-eater birds

According to the results of the survey, another reason affecting the number of beehives is the attacks of predators: bee-eaters, wasps, moths and beetles, and sometimes bears.


The European bee-eater bird, the so-called "messenger of climate change", eats about 1333.39 ± 759.8 bees per year. About 42% of its diet is honey bees.


If you are a beekeeper and these beautiful and colorful birds approach the hives, especially in cloudy weather or after rain, and as you say, "nibble the bees", then keep in mind that there is a scientifically proven method that helps to fight against bee-eaters to some extent.


In Armenia, in addition to the buzzing of bees, sometimes the sounds of wild birds come from the hives: those are played by beekeepers to drive the bee-eaters away. Furthermore, they fight against bee-eaters by connecting electric wires to wooden poles. However, according to scientific experience, both of these methods are almost useless. The most effective way to protect the hives from birds of prey is to fence off the hives, tie up the roof, and put water inside. Thus, the bees will not fly far away from hives in order to drink water, and the bee-eater will be unable to approach the hives.


Some beekeepers kill birds with weapons, but the green bee-eater is registered in the Red Book of Armenia (The list of endangered animals, birds and fungus of Armenia). Thus, it is forbidden to harm the bird.

A question to beekeepers: Have you noticed if the number of bee-eater birds has increased in the last 5 years?

Queen bee

29 out of 100 surveyed beekeepers cite the inefficiency of the queen bee as the reason for the decrease in the amount of hives.


Beekeepers are worried about the circumstances that queen bees lay fewer eggs and often leave the hives.

Arman from Ujan proudly shows his old, dead queen bees that he keeps in matchboxes. From left to right: biter, super.

Pesticides

Beekeeping and horticulture, in practice, are often opposed. The pesticides used to produce crops are poisonous to bees. Despite talking about the damage caused by spraying, many beekeepers do not blame their fellow villagers for gardening.


The harmful effects of pesticides are more common in Ararat, Armavir, Shirak and partly Aragatsotn regions, where horticulture is more developed.


Despite the presence of external factors, ten of the surveyed beekeepers believe that, nevertheless, the quality and quantity of hives is conditioned by the skills and care of the beekeeper (human factor).

A question to the beekeepers:

Do you use pesticides in your backyard?

Climate change

Climate change not only directly affects the work of bees, but also exacerbates problems that are already common: diseases, mites, food and pollen quality, etc.


Bees work at a slower pace when temperature increases above 30 °C. Bees work most diligently at 18-25 °C. By the way, in some regions of Armenia the air temperature in summer exceeds the threshold of 40 °C.

The average annual air temperature has risen

Average deviation of air temperature from norm of 1961-1990

"We usually take our beehives out of the winter house between April 4-6, when the outside temperature is around 14-15 °C, but recently we started taking them out in March. The bee even wakes up in the apiary and feels that the temperature is rising," says Melania, a beekeeper in the village of Keti, Shirak region. The point is that in their region the bee develops and grows until July, but due to the hot temperature, the fruit flower quickly expires, the trees start to sprout, and the undeveloped bee does not have time to do its job.

According to Abgar, a beekeeper in the village of Khachardzan in Tavush, what is depicted in the pictures shows unusual behavior by bees։ they came out of the hive in the evening to cool off․

Less or more rainfall directly affects the productivity of bees. The water and moisture needed for the normal growth of agricultural crops are decreasing. When talking about 2021, all beekeepers mention the word "drought", noting that such a dry year has not happened for a long time.


The village of Artavan, where the beekeeper Karine lives, is one of the highland settlements of Vayots Dzor, located at 1880 meters above sea level.


"Back then, even our tomatoes did not turn red, and there was a lot of snow. I remember we were making tunnels in a thick layer of snow so that we could cross with tractors. "There has been no such thing for the last 20 years, and the tomatoes are turning red," says Karine.

Average deviation of atmospheric precipitations from norm of 1961-1990

The best explanation for greenhouse gases is given by the NASA children's project “ClimateKids: "Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat. They let sunlight pass through the atmosphere, but they prevent the heat that the sunlight brings from leaving the atmosphere". All the gases shown in the graph, together with the heat of the sun, produce a greenhouse effect, which is one of the main components of climate change.


According to a study on North American bees, the higher the amount of CO2 is, the lower the amount of protein in pollen, which is considered an essential food for insects.

Greenhouse gas emissions have also increased

The beekeeper’s social issues

Armenak, a beekeeper from the village of Shikahogh in the Syunik region, which became a bordering settlement after the war, talks about his problems taking care of bees.

The rate of bee work, the quality and quantity of their consumed food and produced honey are directly proportional to the social status of the beekeeper.


One bee colony costs 40,000 drams (approx.: 84 USD) on average this year, the decline of each bee family can cause serious financial and agricultural problems for the beekeeper. Agricultural insurance operates only on lands to protect several types of crops, and agricultural loans are provided to very few.


Many beekeepers say they do not intentionally increase the number of hives because they can not sell the honey. Beekeepers of all regions state that there are almost no places for selling (procuring) the received honey. It turns out that the beekeeper works all year without insurance, suffers a lot of losses, and in the end does not receive the expected income.


Sometimes municipalities or private organizations donate hives to villagers, but in practice there are very few examples of that. Along with all this, the war in 2020 directly affected not only the beekeepers living in the bordering areas, but almost everyone: many did not have time to deal with bees because of their involvement in the war.

Krashen, Shirak

The beekeeping community is not diverse. Many of them are adult men, who then pass on the occupation, mainly by inheritance to their children. Only 9 out of 100 surveyed beekeepers were women.

Kaitserouhi has 42 bee colonies (Kakavadzor, Aragatsotn).

Posible solutions

Meeting and talking with 100 beekeepers was difficult and enjoyable at the same time, the roads were tiring, but the energy received from them during the conversations was enough to feel delighted all day. With such warm and positive energy, beekeepers try to constantly adapt to new difficulties and unpredictable climatic influences in their work "depending on the weather".


Before looking for pure honey, one must first understand that it is not easy to make. Helping forces are sometimes needed for this time-consuming task: vehicles for moving the hives, permanent procurement points for the produced honey, insurance guarantees, etc.


The beekeeping sector also needs systemic and financial support, operating beekeeping associations, reliable and accessible sources of information and systematic monitoring.

Alexan Yeghiazaryan explains why the wooden hives should be replaced by the polyurethane ones.

And if you’re not a beekeeper but you want to help bees and other pollinators then plant as many trees and flowers as possible, especially nectar producing ones.


And never let the buzz of bees fade!

Aralez, Ararat.