Planting unsuitable plants in fields, gardens and cities, often mowed lawns and prolonged waves of extreme temperatures may weaken beehives in the Czech Republic in the future. This was stated in a press release by Mendel University.
Bees’ livelihoods are declining due to frequently mowed lawns and the planting of ornamental trees, such as sakura, which have no nectar at all.
“In recent years, Czech farmers have also more often chosen crops that produce less nectar than the original ones. An exception is not rape, for which varieties currently grown are in many places completely insignificant in terms of providing nectar and pollen. In addition, rape is related to its Excessive chemistry, bee colonies weaken due to this and have problems with the creation of the subsequent winter condition and resistance to viruses, “said Antonín Přidal from the Department of Zoology, Fisheries, Hydrobiology and Beekeeping, Faculty of Agriculture, Mendel University in Brno.
After this winter, beekeepers had to deal with significant deaths. The population of mites, according to Přidal, peaked in 2019 and contributed to the spread of dangerous bee viruses. Experts estimate that about a fifth of the hives have died.
“The problem is the transmission of viruses by the bee mite mite. Viruses have recently increased virulence and damage is becoming more and more frequent. Even timely suppression by natural substances such as organic acids may not provide a solution, as has been the case so far,” said Pridal.
The death of bee colonies was also dealt with by the beekeeping department of Mendel University, which lost more than half of the colonies during the winter and spring.
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