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Post Kerala deluge, crores of Kanniyakumari bees disappear
The recent floods in Kerala have spelled doom for domesticated beehives as scores of honey bees have disappeared in Kanniyakumari district causing a loss of several crores of rupees for beekeepers besides triggering a possible impact on pollination in the region.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Marthandam in Kanniyakumari district has more than 50,000 beekeepers and they supply honey to 500 traders to sell in the market. YMCA and Marthandam Beekeepers Co-operative society are the largest honey sellers as the latter boasts a membership of 1,373 persons apart from providing jobs to 10,000 people.
Though the number of beehives maintained varies, the approximate loss incurred by the beekeepers would run into at least Rs 100 crore, said beekeepers from Marthandam.
Environmental activist KK Davidson told DT Next, that at least 10 lakh domesticated beehives were washed away in the downpour followed by floods in Kanniyakumari district. “Hundreds of bees build the hives by collecting honey and several crores of domesticated bees were completely washed away in the flood,” he said.
Price of honey might increase: Activists
With the Kerala floods affecting several thousand beehives in Kanniyakumari district, activists have warned that there might be a sharp increase in the price of honey.
Speaking to DT Next, environmental activist KK Davidson said Kanniyakumari is one of the most important markets for honey.
Stating that there will be a sharp rise in the price of honey sold in the market this year, Davidson said, “It will cost several lakhs for the beekeepers to rebuild the lost hives.”
Manoj Kumar, a beekeeper from Marthandam in Kanniyakumari, said that they spend at least Rs 2,000 to setup a beehive and honey is collected only during three months of a year. “During the remaining period, we feed them with sugar syrup to keep the bees intact,” he said. According to him, the floods have had a drastic impact on beekeepers “In the flood, the beehives were completely washed away. Although the Queen bee has the capacity to lay around 30,000 eggs in a reproductive cycle, it will take at least four years for them to get back the lost honeybees,” said Manoj Kumar.
However, officials from the Forest Department said they are not sure about the exact loss of honey bees and a proper study had to be done to ascertain the damage.
“Wild bees have the capacity to escape from the floods but the domesticated bees do not have survival instincts. Hence, they might have been washed away. However, the loss to the environment could be less as the domesticated bees do not have a great role in pollination,” said a forest official, requesting anonymity.
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