The losses of bees, wax and honey are estimated at an average of two million 300 thousand pesos according to a preliminary calculation prepared by the Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Yucatan Yucatan Peninsula (CCMSS-PY), which together with young people from the ejidos of Candelaria I and II the Inclusive Development or Beekeeping Initiative in José María Morelos & # 39; launched.
The project includes more than 30 young people from nine ejidos of the municipality to strengthen the livelihood of the youth, who see a chance of growth in their communities
The eight young men of Candelaria I and II, all younger than 24 , started their initiative with 28 cabinets that ran to 30 in the first half of 2018 and only received a technical visit on 7 August to evaluate their performance, which was judged successful, according to María del Carmen Sánchez, technical assistant of the initiative.
" One day after the visit, employees of a businessman from Yucatan, identified as Pablo Mendoza, consulted a piece of land for a habanero plantation and used a chemical called Regenet 4SC, whose effect was four kilometers and killed thousands of bee-bees ", explained the beekeeper.
The damage is still quantifying, but in a provisional way the Civic Council – with the help of affected beekeepers – counted between 331 and 335 hives Apis melífera had consequences, without the influence on wild bees, important pollinators of the forest.
Wilson detailed that since Wednesday, August 8, some beekeepers detected an "unusual" behavior in bees resulting in a massive death in the following days.
On Friday they went to other apiaries, where they had covered the floor with dead bees. The losses were total.
"There was also a conversation with the landowner who initially resisted and refused to give credit for what was happening, he was very reluctant until he saw himself, he was shocked," said Wilson Ayala.
Employees of the Yucatan businessman gave the name of the chemical used for the fumigation . This is fipronil a substance that is marketed under the brand name Regenet 4SC, very toxic to bees. This substance has been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pesticide of class II.
However, at the sight of the extent of what happened, they changed their original version and insured that an organic chemical was being used .
The beekeepers tried to file a complaint with the public prosecutor, in José María Morelos, but the authorities initially denied that right, under two arguments: one of them that the institution is not authorized to intervene in the death of animals; and the other, that the death of bees is not a crime.
"Then they also told us that, as the owner smoked his country, since there is no crime," Wilson added.
The argument is inaccurate since the Criminal Code of Quintana Roo has a chapter dealing with crimes related to apiculture and, in Article 147, fraction II, it indicates that incurs that crime " Destroy beehives, honey, bees, honeycombs and bee products ".
Eventually the complaint was granted four days later. The ministerial authority will have to send personnel to the affected area to collect evidence . In addition, one of the young beekeepers will go to the public prosecutor's office on Friday to plan the date on which declarations will be extended.
The more than 300 hives affected and the hundreds of thousands of dead bees, as a result of fumigating fipronil, meet the indicated criminal type.
Aurora Xolalpa specialist in bees, who works in the Intercultural Maya University of Quintana Roo (UIMQROO), supports beekeepers with the taking of several samples of dead bees .
Ayala Mex took at least 100 to deliver them to the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (Sagarpa), as well as the state commission for the development and protection of animals.
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