JUMLA, Jan 6: Bee farming in Jumla is under threat due to reasons that remain unknown to the locals. According to experts who are in Jumla for the last three months conducting research on the disease, the changing climate and the lack of open space for their colonies might have triggered the decline in the growth of the honey bees. 

“They are not getting proper environment. It used to be colder here. These days, the climate seems to have changed. Similarly, their space for flight and herding has shrunk,” said Tirtha Kumar Shrestha, chief of National Bee Development Center. “Bees are not getting herbs. Humans have destroyed things they need to survive and thrive.”

The team led by Shrestha has attributed the temperature ‘disbalance’ to climate change. The days are getting hotter than before in Jumla and other high hilly regions. In winter, days are not that cold and in summer temperatures are hotter than in the past. 

“Bees here thrived in cold temperature. But these days, we are experiencing extreme weathers in all seasons. It has not been how it should have been. Like, it’s too cold sometimes when you don’t expect it and too hot sometimes again when it is not expected. There have not been proper studies focused on climate change, but this has affected the agricultural sector in many ways,” elaborated Shrestha.

In the last decade, herb collection by individual and companies is going on unabated. Even the government has not taken note of it. According to locals, there are even foreign companies who are taking interest in collecting herbs from the hills. “Things are going unnoticed. We do not think most of the companies involved in herbs collection don’t have the required permissions,” said a local in Jumla. “Some people are involved in the collection of herbs at the individual as selling them in the market fetches them good money.”

Shrestha stated that beekeepers are worried about the change. Bees are not giving returns as they did in the past. “The quality and quantity of the honey that honeybees here yielded in the past are not the same as it was in the past. Farmers know that there is something wrong but just have not figured it out what it is,” he said. “But our study has safely concluded  that it because of great disturbances in their  habitats.”

Farmers in Jumla have been involved in commercial bee farming for many years now. The types of bees they have farmed require cold weather. If these bees fail to survive amid rising temperatures, the farmers have to rethink over their businesses. According to Shrestha, it is not easy to counter the diseases until and unless the root causes are identified and addressed.

“They are falling ill due to ‘unsuitable’ weather pattern, and it’s something that cannot be addressed easily. We have to make great efforts to bring back the environmental balance. Climate change is a global issue and in the Himalayas, severe effects have been seen,” said Shrestha.

Of late, bees of the local farmers have been falling ill. Traditional treatment methods have not been working. According to Shrestha, bees have been deprived of nutrition. “If they are not getting enough juice from flowers or fruits as in the past, they must be fed artificial nutrients but farmers have failed to do so. They are only following their own traditional treatment methods for curing the bees,” he said.

After their bees started showing worrisome signs, local farmers had urged the district CDO Bishu Poudel to do something about it. Following the concern, the team of expert had landed in Jumla for investigating the issue.

Shrestha stated that the farmers lack some important knowledge about bee farming. While saying that these knowledge is being shared with the farmers, he said addressing issues related to climate and other environmental issues is not in their hands alone. 

Another member in the expert group Shahadev Humagain said that the beehives are not clean either. That is also one of the reasons of bees falling ill. “There are a few things farmers can do for keeping the bees healthy. We have not been able to train our farmers properly. The government can bring some package to train them,” he suggested.

Due to the unknown disease, many farmers have lost their bees. And since there is no insurance, their loss cannot be covered.  Taking about climate change Humagain also stated that the bee species which thrive in cold may no more do that well the in mountain region as they did in the past. 

Honey from those parts is considered special due to the species and their habitat. Costumers pay a high price for the product. Jumla sells honey worth over 30 million rupees annually as per the government record. 

“This year, the production has been so low that it won’t be sufficient for the bees themselves,” said a local farmer Narayan Chaulagain. “Our bee hives are simply shrinking and disappearing before our eyes. Our bees are falling ill and dying. We are extremely worried,” he said.

 
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