Numerous bee colonies have died due to careless or excessive use of pesticides in the fields.
The conclusion made by a special commission of the
National Food Safety Agency suggests that in Tomai, Gaidar and Baurci villages bee
pests were provoked by poisonous substances, used for processing not rapeseed,
but a number of other crops.
“In each of the above villages, farmers used different
types of chemicals. Laboratory studies have shown that out of 25 types of
pesticides, at least 2-3 species were used for processing crops. It is
difficult to say what kind of pesticide led to the death of bee colonies. The
study of one sample costs 1131 lei, and local authorities pay for researches of
three samples only” – noted the chairman of the commission, Andrei Сurсa.
About 20 beekeepers in Gaidar village were left
without bees in just a few days. Nicolae Ciolac says that he suffered huge
losses. He is outraged by the fact that farmers who treated their fields with
pesticides are still not punished by authorities. Fifty-four beekeepers from Tomai,
Gaidar and Baurci villages, which have lost up to 80% of bee colonies in May of
this year, said that if the authorities do not take action, they will be forced
to abandon the breeding of bees.
Farmers who use chemicals to process crops and forest
plantations, without warning beekeepers, risk being punished with fines of up
to 20 conventional units.
