Pesticides, hornets, climate change, the bees are not at the party. This year, the harvest promises to be mediocre in Aveyron, as everywhere. Blame it on a rainy spring.
Years pass and are not alike. In any case at the climatic level, because on the harvest side, the production of honey has been at half mast in recent years. In Aveyron, beekeepers are once again seeing brood that is not very full and have to adapt.
Last year there was drought in the summer, but the spring was good. This year, it’s the opposite. On the side of Vaureilles, Gisèle Onno can only note once again that her hives are not very stocked. “The spring was so rainy that they couldn’t go out. They went out a bit at the start, stored up reserves which they then consumed in the second part. I didn’t harvest in the spring But, summer should be better, there are lots of flowers, brambles, chestnut trees and lime trees in bloom.”
A well-watered spring resulted in an average drop of 30% in the harvest for the thousand beekeepers in Aveyron. In southern Aveyron, many are also affected by the box tree moth. The butterflies deposit an odor on the flowers and the bees do not go there any more. Not to mention the onset of drought which handicaps the bees and the flora.
Beekeepers (and therefore bees) are a bit like the meteorologists of life. They are at the forefront of any phenomenon that occurs. When talking with a beekeeper, you always learn exciting things.
Gisèle Onno was an executive in the banking sector. Since 2020, she has been making frames… so that bees can lay eggs and deposit honey. She explains to us why the rain is a disruptive element.
“With the rain, the bees do not come out, because they are guided by the sun. This is also the time when they are numerous, go from 10,000 to 40,000 in the summer. If they do not come out, they must consume the reserves which are made. When it rains, the nectar is soggy, becomes too wet, the pollen has been washed away. Even if it starts to get sunny, the quality is lower.”
Same observation on the side of Druelle (Aveyron) near Rodez. Christophe Lacroix has been a beekeeper for 15 years. He is part of the association The Zhappy 12. “They have trouble. It’s difficult. There is little nectar, it does not go up in the plants, in the flowers. When there is not enough water, there is no nectar Conversely, too much water washes the flowers and the nectar is too wet and less good.We have had almost daily thunderstorms for more than a month.We had good flowering in May, but the harvests will not be not good.”
Fortunately, beekeeping is a complement for Christophe Lacroix who works at Bosch. But, it has gone from 25 hives to a dozen currently.
With climate change, temperatures rise and fall very quickly. This complicates the life of bees and the work of beekeepers.
Gisèle Onno like her colleagues and sisters have to adapt. She makes new frames with wax for her hives which she takes care to protect from the sun. “Last year the wax frames of the hives melted, unheard of. We are trying to find insulators. I try to find apiaries with more shade.”
Honey production has been falling for several years in Occitania, the leading production region. At the beginning of 2020, there were 200,000 hives in our region, which account for 28% of production in France.
The climatic element is a more preponderant element which comes to antagonize the bees and the beekeepers. The flowers are the basis for the production of honey. With the lack of water, the entire production chain is compromised. The bee is capable of adapting, but it is more complicated for vegetation and… for humans.
“If it’s too hot, the chestnut will not last, because it is a tree more dedicated to the mountains. We are losing biodiversity in our regions”, claims Christophe Lacroix. And, to continue: “There are a lot of disasters for the bees and climate change is adding another layer. Already we will be in lack of food, behind, we will have the Asian hornet, we have a magic cocktail so that the hives do not pass Winter.”
There remains the costly and complicated solution of transhumance. But to go where?