Bees, let's keep talking about it
After so much talk about bees, queens and beehives some years ago, the all-Italian film "Le meraviglie" and the fear of some Italian beekeepers for the profitable but also very aggressive German bee, now seems to have dropped the silence on the yellow black friends.
But are the bees better? What are the latest updates on this?
As we know, bees play a fundamental role in nature but also in agriculture, carrying out the indispensable pollination process .
According to estimates by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), of the 100 species of crops that supply 90% of food products worldwide, 71 are pollinated by bees (more recent data and research communicated by Efsa - European Food Safety Authority).
Furthermore , bees are considered bio-indicators : their presence or absence is indicative of the level of environmental pollution. In an unhealthy and polluted area the bees do not stop but rather flee. Instead, they are present in quantities where the ecological conditions are good.
Also read From the bees the powerful natural antibiotic >>
The health of bees
In short, bees do not seem to be doing so well, not for one reason only, but for multiple concurrent factors. This seems to be the conclusion reached today and there are countless associations and initiatives that study and try to propose solutions.
As illustrated in an Efsa video, what threatens bees is not limited to the local or national sphere, but represents an international drama.
What revolves around it are factors such as the use of pesticides, the presence of pests and viruses in intensive agriculture, GMOs, the most aggressive pests and species and climate and environmental changes, more information and links to research are found on the EFSA website.
For years there have been disorders and numerical declines in the bee colonies, which is also reflected in what all their products are, from honey, to wax, to propolis, for example.
The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, for example, offers us a picture that clarifies the situation of bees in Italy and which are the most serious threats for them.
In June, the conference on the health of bees
As announced by the Ansa agency, on 26 June 2017 an event organized by Efsa and the European Parliament will be held in Brussels entitled "Towards a European partnership on bees" in conjunction with the "Week on bees and pollination.
The goal is to bring together beekeepers, farmers, trade associations, scientists to improve and standardize the collection and sharing of data on bee health, establishing an EU partnership dedicated to the topic.
Pollinating drones from Japan
And between protest demonstrations, activists and Green Peace, Japan peeps out with the idea of and the creation of the first pollinating drones .
These are small flying objects with four unidentified propellers that fly from flower to flower taking pollen with their hairy 'belly' - made with bristles and a kind of gel - just like bees and butterflies do. (source: Ansa)
Curiosities : don't miss “Il tempo delle api”, a documentary film on beekeeping in Italy, an international preview at the “Cinemambiente” exhibition in Turin.
It is a film by Rossella Anitori and Darel Di Gregorio filmed in three years in a farmhouse near Rome, which tells the story of two young beekeepers who accept the challenge and try to raise bees in a natural way.
