ECONOMY er-national

Pesticides in Thrace threatening bee populations

ISTANBUL - Daily News with wires | 7/24/2011 12:00:00 AM |

The usage of pesticide on crops in Thrace poses a grave threat to honeybees in the area, according to a leading Turkish academic on the subject.

The usage of pesticide on crops in Thrace poses a grave threat to honeybees in the area, according to a leading Turkish academic on the subject.

The Tekirdağ region west of Istanbul provides one-third of Turkey’s sunflower production but pesticides used to protect the crop have become a serious threat to honeybees whose lives depend on pollen from the plants, said Professor Muhsin Doğaroğlu, a retired professor from Trakya University whose focus is apiculture.

The type of pesticide used on sunflowers has been banned by the Agriculture Ministry, Doğaroğlu said, but added that the effects of its past use would continue to be felt for years to come.

“This pesticide affects the bees’ nervous systems,” he said. “It causes bees to lose their ability to smell and find their direction.”

Because of the pesticide, beekeepers have stopped coming to Thrace, the academic also said.

“The mass bee deaths in the region may have other reasons too,” he said. “However, we know that the pesticide used to protect sunflowers has become a threat to bees. Traveler bees coming to the region is very important for the pollination of sunflowers. We have to find an urgent solution.”

Beekeeper Yunus Doğancı, who comes to Hayrabolu in Tekirdağ from the northwestern province of Balıkesir, said the death of bees was continuing.

“This has become our greatest fear,” said the beekeeper. “During winter, we feed our bees, strengthening them. Then we come to Thrace to collect sunflower honey. Last year, we suffered many deaths and this year is the same. Other beekeepers are having the same problem. When bees return from the sunflower to the hive, they cannot even find the way, dying in the open.”

Metin Yüksel, another beekeeper, said he came with 150 hives and will stay in the area for around six weeks. “In the past, the sunflowers here would strengthen our bees, so they had a nice time in the winter,” Yüksel said. “But now the pesticide is resulting in deaths. We come here with strong bees but go back with weaker ones.”

The rapidly decreasing numbers of honeybees worldwide has hit global headlines in recent years. While the deaths have been linked to the increasing use of pesticides, no conclusive evidence has yet been found for the bees’ disappearance.