João Antônio Falkoski has been a beekeeper for 35 years. He got interested in the profession as a kid by helping his father. A resident of Lomba Grande, part of the city of Novo Hamburgo, he did not see water invading his house, but the floods in May this year affected 20 of his beehive boxes. “There was honey to be harvested in the next few days. But the boxes fell and the bees drowned,” he laments.
Falkoski estimates that 1,6 million bees from his hives died. They would produce about 150 kilos of honey. “In the state, around 60,000 hives were lost due to the floods. That means a few million bees will no longer pollinate the next crop of soybeans, corn and canola from small producers. That certainly has a considerable environmental impact."
Responsible for 15% of Brazil's honey production, Rio Grande do Sul lost 10% of its bee population in 2023. The recent floods could result in zero honey production in 2024.
" That certainly has a considerable environmental impact," says João / Photo: José Carlos Martins
Beekeepers in Rio Grande do Sul build their apiaries in floodplain areas because biodiversity is usually richer there, which improves productivity. The way out now will be to install the apiaries in areas known in Brazil as “coxilhas”, hills usually covered with grassland. The change, however, will reduce honey production. Without enough food, Rio Grande do Sul's bees will be extremely fragile to face the winter, which could further increase losses in Brazil’s southernmost state.
The coordinator of the Beekeeping Sector Chamber, Patric Luderitz, pointed out that the sector had been drastically affected. "Emater/RS-Ascar's initial survey counted 16,000 hives lost by May 24, but we estimate a loss of between 35,000 and 60,000 hives, including Apis [mellifera mellifera] and stingless bees."
At the beginning of June, the chamber met to discuss a plan to rebuild the honey production chain. In addition to bee deaths, the floods also damaged the May flowering season, essential for honey production. "We've lost almost our entire honey harvest, and we have very low stocks," Luderitz warned.
Estimates states that between 35,000 to 60,000 hives perished due to the flood / Photo: José Carlos Martins
The organizations linked to beekeepers and honey beekeepers have drawn up a reconstruction plan that includes:
- making the Taquari Apiculture Park available: the park will be used to structure box manufacturing lines, bee wax rollers and the production of domes and nuclei to replace the material producers lost;
- donation of bees: the donation of bees from other states will be possible by creating regulations that provide for quarantines to prevent diseases and pests from entering Rio Grande do Sul; and
- feed purchase: the sectoral chamber is asking the government to buy subsidized feed or provide it for feed to help beekeepers maintain surviving hives during the winter.
Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae, in Portuguese) is also offering support to farmers affected by the floods.
The Sebraetec Supera program provides consultancy to assess the physical space and draw up a business plan for reopening companies, as well as a resource of up to BRL 15,000 (around US$ 2,770) for small businesses to pay for repairs, services and acquisitions needed to resume activities.
