Beekeeping in Daraa, in the Department of Attention, and beekeepers demand the establishment of a fund to compensate for the damages

Daraa-Sana

The beehives in Daraa annually produce about 120 tons of pure honey through about 35,000 hives, and they are concentrated in the areas of Yarmouk Valley, Nawa, Al-Sanamayn and Azraa, according to the Daraa Agriculture Directorate.

The areas of Nawa and Khirbet Ghazala in the countryside of Daraa witnessed this year the sudden death and migration of bee colonies, and it was found that the causes are due to the disease (varroa varroa), the lack of pastures, the inability of beekeepers to migrate the colonies outside the governorate, and the lack of diversity of pollen sources, which negatively affected the immunity of bees Honey, whether at the individual or community level.

Engineer Bassam Al-Hashish, Director of Agriculture, stressed in a statement to SANA the importance of correct and sound bee practices, generalizing and applying the approved integrated management program (for Varroa) and treating (Nosema) and educating beekeepers not to use the protein candy paste during the winter months in general, especially those that contain pollen before analyzing it. In the bee diseases laboratory at the Ministry of Agriculture, in order to ensure that they are safe and free from spores of American brood and Nosema.

Hashish pointed to the need to use organic materials in the fight, and to educate beekeepers about the danger of using smuggled pollen and unorganized Varroa pesticides, not to unjust harvesting of honey, leaving a good stock for the beehive so as not to stress the bees in the winter, implementing training courses on correct bee practices, methods of prevention and treatment of bee pests and diseases, and not Control of Varroa in case of Nosema infection before treatment and study and adoption of new models of foam bee hives.

Head of the Agricultural Guidance Department in the Directorate of Agriculture, Engineer Muhammad Al-Shahadat, stated in a similar statement that the department and the Chamber of Agriculture are ready to support beekeepers and provide the necessary advice, and we are working to launch courses related to proper breeding and harvesting honey production.

In turn, the head of the Forestry Department in the Directorate of Agriculture, Eng. Jamil Al-Abdullah, stated that the department launches successive campaigns for artificial afforestation with the aim of restoring the vegetation cover that has been affected by tampering, cutting and logging. Labor costs and contributes to increased production.

For their part, a number of breeders demanded the provision of necessary medicines for bees at studied prices, the establishment of a compensation fund for damages in the event of loss of bees as a result of disease or natural factors, the provision of natural reserves for beekeeping and cultivation of aromatic plants, the multiplication of bee breeds adapted to environmental and climatic conditions, in addition to the creation of a specialized agency in the field of marketing production Honey, adjusting its specifications, and holding specialized festivals to promote honey.

In the context, Abdul Rahman Qarfula, an expert in animal production and a consultant to the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Agriculture, said that beekeeping and the production of honey and beehive products are among the old agricultural activities and contribute to the local product and have an important role in increasing agricultural production by helping to pollinate flowers, indicating that the bee sector has suffered losses. As a result of terrorist acts, the number of sects decreased and thousands of families lost their source of livelihood.

He suggested the formation of a technical advisory committee of specialists and researchers to solve the problems facing the profession of beekeeping, encourage local industries that use honey in their food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, and create a union for Syrian beekeepers that brings together all workers in the field of bees in order to facilitate the process of control, statistics, production and the implementation of a large development program in which the distribution of Beehives with their supplies to the affected breeders.

It is reported that the number of bee hives in Daraa before the crisis amounted to 39,549 hives, annually producing 135 tons of pure honey.

Qasim Miqdad

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