Ziya Şahin, President of the Central Union of Beekeepers of Turkey (TAB), stated that the ban on some plant protection products and pesticides in agriculture is of great importance for the beekeeping sector.
Şahin told AA correspondent that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry banned the use of 6 active substances that are risky for human health and threaten the environment and animal health. Pointing out that “Imidacloprid” and “Thiamethoxam” are in the “Neonicotinoid” group, Şahin said that these substances are very harmful for bees.
The effect of pesticides spreads from seed to flower
Stating that the use of these drugs is banned in Europe, Şahin said that the drugs started to be used in Turkey in 2017 and their negative effects were seen immediately. Emphasizing that they started working that year to prevent the use of these drugs, Şahin explained that the banned drugs, which contain harmful active ingredients, harm every living thing.
Şahin said, “The negative effects of banned plant protection products, i.e. pesticides, on bees were very high. The effect of pesticides spreads from seed to flower. A field bee can carry the residues of these pesticides to the hive. The comb produced by those bees may also contain these residues. The ban on pesticides was welcomed positively in our community. We thank the authorities,” he said.
“We will go towards naturalization in honey”
Şahin, informing that there are around 9 million beehives in Turkey, made the following assessment: “About 4 percent of the bees were affected by these pesticides every year. We left hundreds of thousands of beehives in nature every year because of these pesticides. Our beekeepers will breathe a sigh of relief; the bee deaths caused by the banned drugs will end. In addition to the end of bee deaths caused by these drugs, we will also move towards naturalization in honey. This is what we also desire.” Emphasizing that the banned drugs will show their effect on the bee population in 2024, Şahin stated that the bee deaths caused by these drugs would decrease next year.
Source: Anadolu Ajansı
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