CHANDIGARH: The third largest producer of honey in the country, Punjab is witnessing the death of bees in large numbers due to the spraying of pesticides in cotton, pearl millet (Bajra), paddy, and summer moong crops.
In Punjab and Haryana, at least 50 percent of the bees have died ahead of the approaching season leaving the farmers staring at losses.
Talking to The New Indian Express, Progressive Bee Keepers Association Adviser Narpinder Singh Dhaliwal who is also a leading beekeeper in Moga said that there are 4,000 beekeepers in Punjab with each keeper having between 300 to 400 colonies (Boxes) and each colony has 20,000 bees that are at least 60 lakh bees per beekeeper.
"As the bees have died this time due to large scale spraying of pesticides in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the mortality rate of bees is between 25 to 90 percent per bee keeper depending upon his situation, thus on an average, it is 50 percent. While every year the bee mortality rate is between 10 to 15 percent. Besides Punjab and Haryana, this time in Kota, Alwar, and other districts of Rajasthan the mortality rate of bees remains high following the spraying of pesticides on bajra crop. Bees collect nectar from sunflowers and pollen from paddy and bajra. As per the data with National Bee Board, Punjab produces 18,600 metric tonnes of honey every year and it is at third position in the country below Uttar Pradesh which produces around 25,000 MT and West Bengal 20,000 MT,’’ he says.
"We know that bees are dying in US and Europe due to use of pesticides. Sometimes pesticides are directly toxic to the bees in other cases they can basically reduce their immunity to diseases so they are adversely affected. So when bees die you can be sure there is wider impact on other beneficial insects or other animals, ‘’ says Mark Davis, Director of Agriculture and Regulatory Outreach at the Centre for Pesticide and Suicide Prevention which is at the University of Edinburgh in UK.
While experts at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), suspect that incidents of bee deaths were caused by insecticides and pesticides being used in bee flora of summer moong and paddy in both Punjab and Haryana and in sunflowers in Haryana and pearl millet (bajra) in Rajasthan, as pesticides were used on kharif crops after pest attacks due to exceptional rise in temperature this summer.
Balraj Singh, project coordinator of All India Coordinated Research Project on Honey Bees and Pollinators, which works under the ICAR said, "This time various kharif crops were infested with pests. As in bajra two major insects seed-eating, hoopers and ball worms infected the crop at a large scale thus the farmers in Haryana and Rajasthan resorted to pesticide spraying to stop the unexceptional pest attack on their crops thus the mortality rate in bees is high this time, so was the case in Punjab with kharif crops and paddy. The beekeepers and farmers should work in coordination so both can benefit. As farmers depend upon pesticides to save crops and beekeepers should plan bee box migration accordingly,’’ But Singh says that the scale of bee mortality is not so high as the beekeepers claim.
President of Progressive Bee Keepers Association Jatinder Sohi said that due to high humidity levels the crops got damaged thus sprays were used and it resulted in the mortality of bees, which was exceptionally high this time.