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Austrian experts meet to discuss bee death phenomenon

Xinhua, June 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Representatives from the Austrian science, agriculture, environmental protection, crop protection, and beekeeping industries held a round table discussion on the bee death phenomenon in Vienna on Thursday.

Helmut Burtscher from the environmental agency Global 2000, who convened the discussion into why bee numbers are dropping so considerably, said at a press conference after the meeting that it was agreed to be a "multi-factor phenomenon."

President of the European Professional Beekeepers Association (EPBA) Walter Haefeker agreed, saying "it does not make sense to identify one culprit in such a complex system."

He added however that no one concerned is innocent either, from beekepers and a lack of knowledge of combating harmful pests, to the agricultural industry and not only confined to their use of pesticides, as well as a loss of habitat and flower diversity, and lack of adequate nesting possibilities.

Additionally it is difficult to discern what weight each of the factors has in the phenomenon, Burtscher said, something a number of domestic and EU projects are attempting to determine.

The number of bee colonies has been able to be kept relatively constant, the attendees also agreed, though only because of the efforts of beekeepers, which are also becoming more and more difficult each year, highlighted by the past winter season in which between 20 and 50 percent of bee numbers were lost across the country.

They are also under increased pressure to keep the bee population stable in light of the dropping wild bee populations, Haefeker said, and called for the establishment of more nesting sites for wild bees. Endit