Climate change and agrochemicals threaten beekeeping in Yucatan
In the face of climate change, as well as the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals in agriculture in general, both in the state and in other parts of the country, they are pointed out as the main responsible for the decline in the presence of pollinating insects in the countryside.
Key insects for the reproduction of fauna species such as bees or butterflies are setting off alarms, as announced by the researcher at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV) in Mérida, Miguel Munguía Rosas.
“At a global level, it is recognized that there is a pollination crisis, in recent times here in the area – to which Yucatán belongs – there is concern that the use of agrochemicals bees, like other pollinators, are dying,” he warned.
He pointed out that this situation is complex, not only because bees are part of a very visible element since they are part of the value chain of the primary production sector, through beekeeping, but because of their value as pollinators.
He indicated that the use of agrochemicals and its impact on bees also affects other pollinators such as butterflies since they share much of the metabolism with these other insects.
In that order of ideas, he commented that, although it can be seen that there is still in some way an abundance of honey-producing flora species in the region, the danger is that when their pollinators die, these wild plants do not have a mechanism to reproduce by themselves, since there are male flowers and other female ones, which need the activity of these insects for their preservation.
He explained that if the population of pollinators decreases, the genetic diversity of the different plant species will consequently also decrease. “So, the less genetic diversity, the less possibility of response to an eventuality,” he noted.
The expert reported that climate change is negative since it brings with it rapid and unpredictable modifications, which can only be combated by flora species, through genetic diversity, so what was stated above represents a concern for the scientific community.
However, in this complex panorama, he considered that there are protective factors such as a genuine concern of citizens in general with environmental issues, as well as a more frequent interest in having gardens in homes that go beyond the aesthetic, but rather Rather, little by little, spaces are being created precisely to attract pollinators of all kinds to these places, from insects to birds and mammals.
The specialist explained that people already adapt their spaces to attract hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and bats, through so-called gardens for pollinators, which is why these species of plants are usually grown to shelter this fauna.
Munguía Rosas considered that a radical change in land use is necessary, especially in large urban centers, to create spaces that are used as urban community gardens or, if the space is available, return to cultivation models such as the milpa maya.
