The decline of the European bee has been highlighted by the threat. varroa exterminatora parasitic mite of Asian origin Multiple experts, who said it could destroy a hive in a few years and develop “resistance to the acaricides currently available in Spain,” warned the Efe agency.
Perspective similar to a tick, but smaller in sizeThis insect clings to the bees’ body to deplete their fat reserves and causes them a disease called varroasis or varroosis, which deforms their wings, abdomen or legs, reduces their weight and facilitates the transmission of various viruses.
To combat this, Fungicide active principles such as amitraz are used, but overuse has resulted in it appearing in commercial honey in “amounts greater than the maximum limit”. For consumption – 200 mg/kilo – the residual permitted by law is for consumption,” said Marisol Juan Borrás, research support technician and honey pollen analysis specialist at the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
It creates resistance to fungicides.
Examination of different honeys, almost all Spanish, shows that “treatment becomes less and less effectivebecause the parasite develops resistance to amitraz, and although the consumer may not realize it because the color, taste, and other properties of honey appear to be the same, in reality it “ingests a dose of pesticide that exceeds the set maximum limit”, meaning “perhaps not to be sold”.
This resistance of mites is “worrying”According to microbiologist and pesticide expert Sara Hernández Rodríguez, because today “no other synthetic acaricides other than tau fluvalinate, coumaphos or amitraz are effective for dealing with the effects of varroazis”.
The microbiologist stated that the problem lies in the “continuous and inappropriate use of the treatment by some manufacturers feeling that the product is ineffective,” adding that in this case, the solution would be to replace amitraz with tau fluvalinate. The first is “it has been used for many years”.
Varroasis contributes to other problems for bees, such as pesticide abuse.extreme weather events that “not be mixed with acaricides” in crops and “affect them during the flowering season” or endangering not only these pollinators but also honey production and its own beekeeping trade.
Lack of rain and lack of pollen
Elvira García, a beekeeper and producer of homemade and organic honey from the Montes de Toledo region, battles this excess herbicide and lists the challenges of a trade that requires “hard work in steep conditions and terrain and access as hard as sierra.” which are added “Lack of heat, rain, and moisture that translates into a change in flowering and the amount of honey produced by the bees.”
Pollen available this season, “scarceful due to scorching summer and little rainfall”, According to the beekeeper, he proposes a campaign “soaked in uncertainty” for next spring.
Luis Navarro, professor of biology at the University of Vigo and participating in the pollinator defense project LIFE4Pollinators, recalled that according to various scientific studies: “An abnormal rise in temperatures and flying in search of water wastes the honey bee’s energy” this causes them to “lose their efficiency in foraging and pollinator function”.
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