Faced with the disappearance of bees in several regions of Morocco and the concern of beekeepers affected by this unprecedented phenomenon, the National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA) has conducted an in-depth study to investigate the subject in order to detect its nature.
This phenomenon, known under the scientific name of “Bee Colony Collapse Disorder”, has previously been observed in several countries in Europe, America and Africa. The survey in question is part of the monitoring of the state of health of beehives in the country and also follows reports of the desertion of bees by beekeepers in certain regions of the Kingdom.
The investigations carried out in collaboration with all the partners of ONSSA, in particular the Moroccan Interprofessional Federation of Beekeepers (FIMAP), in all the provinces of the region of Beni Mellal-Khénifra to determine the real causes which decimate the colonies of bees, ruled out any hypothesis of disease which could affect the brood, the hives or the bees.
The flight of bees, an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of the Kingdom, is not linked to any disease, but rather to several environmental, climatic, biological factors and especially to the practices of beekeeping, all of which would be the cause of their collapse according to studies conducted by other countries, said the regional director of the ONSSA of Beni Mellal-Khenifra, Mohamed Nemmaoui.
The origin of this plague is by no means pathological, but rather due to a combination of several factors, including low rainfall, the decrease in the quantity and quality of food available for bees, the state of health of apiaries and the prevention methods used.
ONSSA is continuing its efforts in coordination with all stakeholders to identify the real causes of this phenomenon, Nemmaoui
added, stressing that he had said in a statement that the disease is not a priori the cause of the disappearance of bees, a phenomenon that is still quite new at this stage.
The first results of the field visits carried out by the teams of the provincial veterinary services, concerning about 23,000 hives, have made it possible to note that this desertion of hives, the extent of which varies from one region to another, is an unprecedented phenomenon in the Kingdom.
Be the first to comment