Researchers in Campeche are collecting the data to document a massive bee poisoning that has killed millions. That is why we leave you here some data to gauge the importance of bees for the planet.
Just to start the engines, it must be said that we are talking about the largest pollinators on the planet and they are facing an apocalyptic scenario, at least in Mexico.
They are one of the largest pollinators on the planet.
Pollinators are animals that feed on the nectar or pollen of flowers and during their visits they transport pollen from one flower to another by “accident”. This allows the reproduction of plants and the production of fruits.
Some pollinators such as bees, birds and bats they affect 35% of world agricultural production, which in turn increases the production of 87 of the main food crops in the world.
To make it clearer: 75% of the crops around the world that produce fruit or seeds for human use as food depend on pollinators.
About 1 in 3 foods we need depend on pollination. Bees can pollinate up to 70 types of crops and just one hive, with an average of 50,000 bees, can pollinate 4,000 square meters of fruit trees.
You have to take a look at this painting made by the College of the Southern Border. It is a table that shows the main crops in Campeche, their production value and the percentage of dependence on pollination.
For example, watermelon crops are 95% dependent on pollination.
They are food producers
We already mentioned that thanks to them, as pollinators, the production of food that humanity needs to survive is achieved. But also bees are producers of quality food such as honey, royal jelly and pollen.
During her entire life (50 days on average) a baja can produce approximately 5 grams of honey, but she works too hard to do so.
It is estimated that each worker bee travels approximately 40 kilometers and visits more than 7,000 flowers. If we want a kilo of honey, we need at least 200 bees and more than a million visits to flowers.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, between 2016 and 2020 Mexico exported 29 thousand 449 annual tons of honey mainly to the United States, Germany, Belgium, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.
And it’s not all. They are also producers of inputs for the manufacture of beeswax, propolis and bee venom.
Beekeeping produces jobs
Beekeeping is the breeding and care of bees for the production of honey, royal jelly, propolis, wax, and pollen.
The export of Mexican honey comes mainly from the southeast of the country, from states such as Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo and Chiapas. Until 2021 there were 43 thousand registered beekeepers in the country.
According to College of the Southern Borderan average beekeeper in the Yucatan Peninsula dedicates 75 days of family work per year and 90 days of support labor are paid.
Now that there was a massive poisoning of bees in Campeche, experts calculate a loss of 13 thousand 200 days of rural work considering only 80 affected beekeepers. There is loss of direct and indirect jobs. And all in a period of 48 hours.
Its threat hits the tower to biodiversity
Bee populations have declined around the world in recent decades due to the habitat loss, intensive agricultural practices, changes in weather patterns, and excessive use of agrochemicals such as pesticides.
According to experts, the almost 2 thousand species of bees that exist in Mexico are found in serious risk of extinction.
