site.btaBeekeepers Warn of Alarmingly High Bee Mortality

Beekeepers warned that an alarmingly high mortality rate has been observed in bees in Bulgaria since the beginning of spring at a BTA-hosted press conference on Tuesday.

Mihail Mihailov, chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Beekeepers and United Bulgarian Beekeepers Union, said that the first information about a high proportion of dead bee colonies came from North and Northeast Bulgaria, where the mortality rate reached 90%. Mihailov added that the trend is towards an even greater decline in the number of bee colonies. As the main factors for the loss of bee colonies in 2025, he pointed to the lowered immunity of bees, the wrong policy of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food regarding the support of beekeepers with beehives of up to 20, chaos in the activities of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency regarding the reporting and control of preventive examinations carried out by private veterinarians, indiscriminate import of foreign-bred queens into the country and the deterioration of the gene pool of bees.

To improve the situation in the sector, the industry proposes several measures. Among them are a ban on the unregulated import of plant protection products used by farmers in the treatment of entomophilous crops (plants that are pollinated by insects - ed.), as well as a ban on the unregulated import of veterinary drugs to combat diseases of the brood and bees. Beekeepers also want to restore preventive examinations by veterinary services. The industry also said that at a hearing at the Ministry of Agriculture, they would propose the creation of a beekeeping directorate to manage and be directly responsible for the state of the sector.

Representatives of the beekeeping industry expressed their concerns about the future of bees and said the problem posed serious risks not only to the sector but also to biodiversity and crop pollination. They said it was a national problem and required an urgent and coordinated response.