(exclusive) tens of millions of honeybees died suddenly in Puli, and beenut farmers fled everywhere for three years in a row, angering the government for inaction (2019).

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Another bee catastrophe in Nantou Puli! Bee farmers recently found a large number of sudden death of bees, the ground was littered with corpses, the death was constantly twitching and beating, similar to the symptoms of pesticide poisoning last year. Bee farmers suspect that the culprit is the betel nut orchard, which is in full bloom, caused by wanton spraying pesticides. "didn't the government say that it would start to regulate it? Why is it more serious than last year? " Bee farmers estimate that their losses are more than 70%, and they all want to cry without tears.

When we came to the scene of the incident, there were dead bees all around the hive, which had been piled up into a thick layer, with almost no place to stay. The lower layer is the blackened corpse, the upper layer is the bright yellow bees that just died this morning, and there are many dying bees staggering all over the floor, while at the door of the hive, bees are constantly dragging poisoned companions out.

The reporter visited four beehives yesterday (14). There were tens of millions of dead bees, but the visible bee damage was only the tip of the iceberg. There are also many bee farmers who are unwilling to report or make public, for fear of affecting the purchase of bee products, they can only swallow big losses in silence. Bee farmers are also worried that they will not be able to compete with the betel nut industry. "because the betel nut area is large, the Jingzi association is bigger than the beekeeping association." Can only blame the government for being unfair, why honey products should be strictly tested, but betel nuts can be sprayed wantonly without control.

Every August betel nut spray, bee farmers file, etc.

"look! There are no bees in this box! Close to nothing! " Bee farmer Haji lifted the lid of the hive and pulled up the piece of the hive, leaving only a few bees crawling. Has been dead for three days, box after box opened, the number of bees has greatly reduced, "there is only less than 1/3 left!"

Haji's bees have suffered pesticide poisoning tragedies for three years in a row, the worst this year. He observed that the two betel nut orchards nearby were only 700 meters away from his beehive. As soon as the betel nut blooming season arrived in August, the spray truck came. As soon as he started spraying, his bees suffered immediately, and the next day he was poisoned and died.

Haji has about 120 boxes of bees. Based on an average of more than 20, 000 bees in a box, with a loss of 70%, at least 1.7 million bees have died in three days. Next, the betel nut blooms for two months, and the pesticide is sprayed once every ten and a half months. Haji's bees are doomed.

This year, litchi and longan did not blossom due to bad weather, and the honey harvest in Taiwan has been greatly underharvested. Unexpectedly, the tragedy of large-scale death caused by pesticide poisoning repeated in the summer, forcing bee farmers to suffer even worse.

When the lid of the box is opened, the number of bees is greatly reduced. (photo / Cai Jiashan)

A large number of bees died at the door of the beehive (Photo / Cai Jiashan) pesticides seem to be more toxic than last year, and bees die after rain

The reporter came to another beehive in Puli, and the tragedy was also staged. Bee farmer A Wen's hive was opened, and the bees, which were supposed to be full of seven nests and overcrowded bees, are now dissatisfied with even four nests. His wife, Ah Hua, remembers that on the same day last year, they were also cleaning up the mess of bee poisoning.

Ah Hua said angrily, "this time is more serious than last year!" Even if it rains, the bees will still die! " She said that she had been poisoned by bees for several years in a row. in the past, as long as it rained and the pesticides sprayed by crops were diluted and washed away, the death of bees would be reduced, but this year there has been a typhoon and heavy rain, and bees still die in large numbers every day.

Although there are also towel gourd, green pepper, and passion orchards nearby, and they may also be suspected of bee pesticide poisoning, bee farmers observe that "every year is the most serious blooming season!" Although they are afraid of pesticides, bee farmers also know that betel nuts have a demand for medicine, so they only ask sprayers to avoid pesticides that kill bees. "they want to live, and we also want to live!" Ah Hua has heard that betel nut drugs may have a smuggling problem recently, and he suspects that they are using more toxic pesticides than in the past.

It has been raining for days, and the bodies of bees are stuck in the mud. (photo / Cai Jiashan)

Arvin's beehive had more than 200 boxes and lost more than 70% in just a few days. he looked dignified and found that a queen bee had been carried out, dying, and could not help sighing. These days, he dared not even feed the sugar water, so he fed the bees powdered sugar instead, because the bees were so weak that they might be stuck and drowned, and other bees might be poisoned if they drank the sugar water that soaked the dead bees.

In the next two months, bee farmers not only have no income, but also continue to pay for food costs: sugar and pollen, and have to bear the psychological pressure of watching bees die every day. If the damage is too severe and the bee can not come back, they will have to spend more money on bees. The affected bee farmers each lost hundreds of thousands of yuan.