Hands off eucalyptus trees

The honeybee population is under serious threat in North America and in Europe. The stress the bees go through have led to the condition known as colony collapse disorder (CCD) where bees abandon their hive full of healthy developing brood with plenty of stores (honey and pollen) and a fertile queen for as yet no explained reason.

Scientific studies blame man-induced causes such as the use of pesticides containing neonicotinoids. I myself have signed a worldwide petition (over a million signatures in just a couple of days so far) to put pressure on the UK and US to follow Germany, Italy and France in banning the use of such pesticides to save the honey bee population.

To my knowledge no CCD case has yet been observed locally. Having kept bees for over 40 years, the worst season for local bees used to be the summer when a tenth of bee colonies used to die out annually mainly through lack of forage.

The imported eucalyptus tree is a godsend to the local bee colonies, including the endemic Apis mellifera ruttneri, the small Maltese black bee. This tree produces an abundance of nectiferous flowers right through the hot summer, providing a rich source of nectar which gives our bee colonies fresh hope of survival in an otherwise hostile, dry and barren summer environment.

As a beekeeper, I cannot understand how some local authority, claiming to be ecologically minded, justifies the cutting down of these trees (‘Sta Luċija trees’ disappearing act’, The Sunday Times, January 23).

When in 1992 the parasitic mite Varroa jacobsonii first appeared in Malta, three-quarters of the local bee colonies were wiped out. Luckily, through the efforts of the Apiculture section within the Department of Agriculture and through the efforts, enthusiasm and love of beekeepers for their bees, the bee population has revived and the eucalyptus tree has contributed much to this.

And the irony lies here: while foreign bee experts like Antonio Nanetti of the Istituto Nazionale d’Apicoltura of Bologna energetically urge us local beekeepers to keep alive our endemic bee A.M. Ruttneri, some local authority deprives our bees of a rich source of nectar during the ‘starvation’ season. Sta Luċija’s mayor tried to justify this outrage saying the tree is not protected. Every beekeeper knows the harm the council is doing in cutting down these eucalyptus trees.

I encourage the council to continue planting even more bushes around Sta Luċija and, to be more ecologically minded, it should plant as many nectiferous plants as possible. It would be a praiseworthy activity, ideally to be followed by all local authorities.

We should strive to save our bee colonies, not destroy them. Without them (and without our humble and quiet beekeepers who take such good care of them) we would have no pollination, with everything that might imply.

So if Sta Luċija’s mayor and council do not want to be held partially responsible for the decline of the honeybee population in their area, they should leave those eucalyptus trees alone.