International Scientific and Practical Conference "Problems of beekeeping during the pandemic"
On December 10, 2020, the Beekeeping Union held an International Scientific and Practical Conference in Moscow "Problems of beekeeping during the pandemic". The conference in connection with the global Covid pandemic was held in an online format.
Previous conferences held by the union "Beekeeping" have always been a meeting place for friends, colleagues and like-minded people, where there was an amazing atmosphere of communication, unanimity and caring, which gave inspiration and ideas to many people! But, unfortunately, a difficult year in 2020 has made some adjustments. In order not to endanger the health of each participant of the conference, communication took place in a new ONLINE format.
The international scientific and practical conference was opened by Olga Kuzminichna Chupakhina, President of the Beekeeping Union, Ph. D. in Economics, Director of Agrobioprom JSC, who welcomed the conference participants and announced that in 2022 Russia will host children's competitions for young beekeepers, representatives from all over the world.
Oleg A. Lebedev, Deputy of the State Duma, member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Political Party faction, member of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues, made a welcoming speech and made presentations.
In particular, he said that at the last meeting on agrarian issues, the entire faction, all members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, unanimously approved the draft law on beekeeping in the Russian Federation in the second reading. This draft law and its amendments and proposals were approved by the State Legal Committee of the Presidential Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture. The draft law focuses on protecting bees from poisoning with agrochemicals and pesticides. This problem is very serious. It is resolved not only by this draft law, but also by a draft law that returns powers to the Rosselkhoznadzor. His duties include a tracking system plus monitoring of enterprises that produce agricultural products. These companies must inform you in advance, within 72 hours: about the toxic chemicals that they are going to spray, in what area, in what field, and when the crops will be processed. The Rosselkhoznadzor should display these data on its website so that everyone can go to this site and get acquainted. The Law on Beekeeping, together with the law that represents the authority of the Rosselkhoznadzor, strengthens these norms. This bill also addresses the legal framework, breeding issues raised by the Altai Territory, security, preservation of bee colonies and many important aspects of beekeeping.
The Agrarian Committee goes to the government with a question about the official approval of the beekeeper's day. The committee receives a lot of requests regarding the maintenance of bee colonies, and we are also working on them. We are grateful to the community of beekeepers with whom we work closely.
A very informative report was presented by Robert Khlebo, who is the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences.:
- Apimondia –Regional President for Europe
- Apislavia Federation – General Secretary
- Vice-President of the Association of Slovak Beekeepers
— National Representative:
EPBA (European Association of Professional Beekeepers)
BeeLife
COPA-COGECA (European Agricultural Union-General Committee for Agricultural Cooperation in the EU)
- Head of the Department of Small Animal Sciences at the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, Slovakia. He is a practicing beekeeper.
There are 350,000 registered Karnika or Krainka bee colonies in Slovakia. 3 beekeeping magazines are published. Beekeepers are paid to pollinate crops and orchards. The most important crop of arable land is rapeseed. Its crops increase annually, as it is dated as an energy plant. Its flowering coincides with the flowering of white acacia, but honey from it is very difficult to realize. In Europe, acacia honey is declared as counterfeit. In summer, honey is collected from linden, sunflower and phacelia. But in recent years, their crops have been declining. The most profitable for sale is dark fall honey, which is collected in fir and spruce forests. It is sold at retail for more than 10 euros, and wholesale for about 2.5 euros per kilogram. Honey in Slovakia is also used for making mead and cookies.
In 2020, the 2nd meeting of young beekeepers from all over the world was held, where various beekeeping competitions and competitions were held. In Slovakia, bumblebee breeding is very developed, which is sold to greenhouses all over the world. For example, in Spain, there are about 450 m2 of greenhouses in just one village.
Honey production in the EU is 234,000 tons, and imports – 165500 tons. EU co-financing in the beekeeping industry is 33,100,000 euros per year. This amount in the form of a grant is used for technical assistance – the purchase of equipment, beehives, queen bees, education, and the purchase of medicinal products to combat varroatosis and other bee diseases.
Recently, the number of beekeepers in Europe has been decreasing due to such reasons as: lower prices for honey, falsification, diseases and poisoning of bees.
Bees have reduced immunity due to intensive farming and as a result of bee poisoning. Therefore, the number of bee colonies in Europe is sharply decreasing, and this is a big problem, since bees are an indicator of the ecological situation. So, in 1960, 2400 g of pesticides were used per 1 hectare, and in 2020 75 g, but they are very concentrated poisons! In 2019, a European citizen's petition was launched – save the bees, farmers and the environment. Introduce a ban on synthetic pesticides. This will allow even small producers focused on organic production and not subject to corporate interests to survive economically.
Varroatosis in the EU countries is also the main problem, as it opens the way for dangerous viral diseases.
Basic preparations and methods for controlling varroa ( % ) of Slovak beekeepers:
- amitraz (fumigation, aerosol) - 88%;
- formic acid (evaporation) - 45%;
- fluvalinate (Contact plates – - 34%;
— VarroMed (Hive Clean) – 30%;
- Oxalic acid-8%;
- less than 5% — flumethrin, thymol, hyperthermia.
Honey production in Europe fell by 40%, which led to the arrival of honey from third countries: Mexico-10%, Argentina-12%, Ukraine-20%, China-39%. This is due to low import prices — 1.5 euros/kg. Beekeepers in the European Union have honey prices of 6 euros, and the cost of honey production exceeds 3 euros.
Apimondia and the European Union have spoken out against counterfeit honey on the world market. So, when monitoring in the UK in November 2020, out of 13 tested honey samples in retail chains, 10 were falsified.
Data from scientific studies on the adjuvant effect of propolis on cell culture in viral infection were presented by V. I. Trukhachev, Rector of the Timiryazev Russian State Agrarian University-Moscow Agricultural Academy, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Doctor of Economics, Professor, R. T. Mannapova, Professor of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Doctor of Biological Sciences, R. T. Mannapov A. G. — Head of the Department of Aquaculture and Beekeeping of the Timiryazev Russian State Agrarian University-Moscow Agricultural Academy, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor.
The results of the conducted studies indicate a similar effect of propolis in relation to the parainfluenza-3 virus and the possibility of obtaining a virus with specified biological parameters for the production of more immunogenic vaccines for the prevention and treatment of diseases caused by RNA – containing viruses.
František Gajik, Chairman of the Trnava Beekeepers 'Organization and Adviser to the President of the Slovak Beekeepers' Union, told the forum participants about the problems and state of beekeeping in Slovakia. We have the same problems as in the entire global beekeeping community-the fight against varroa, viral diseases, reduced immunity and bee poisoning. From September 1 to 13, 2020, a beekeeping festival was organized in Trnava, where apiconsultant Anastasia Chernakova gave two lectures on bee diseases and presented Russian, produced by Agrobioprom JSC, ecological preparations to combat varroatosis and nosematosis of bees-Ecopol, Apidez, Bisanar, Nosetom.
Anastasia Chernakova, director of the Slovak company Apimedico, beekeeper, apiconsultant, shared the spiritual wealth of beekeepers with inspiration. They are very curious and selfless people, fanatically devoted to their work. The beekeeper observes and works with the spirit of the earth.
Jaroslav Gasper, Candidate of the National Research Institute of Beekeeping Liptovsky Gradok of the Slovak Republic, presented a report on the intestinal microflora of honey bees and their antagonistic effect against the pathogen of American rot. As a result of the conducted studies, it was found that lactobacilli have the highest antimicrobial activity, and Thymus vulgaris essential oil showed the highest microbial activity.
The topic — apitherapy and autism or bee hope for children with autism attracted special attention. Iveta Krajnyakova, an apiconsultant with certificates in apitherapy, who works with children with autism in Slovakia and abroad, director of a bee products company, told how beekeeping products help fight gastrointestinal diseases in children with autism.
Currently, the current issue is the confrontation of coronavirus infection. Igor Vladimirovich Krivopalov-Moskvin, Director of the Research Institute of Clinical Apitherapy, President of the Union of Apitherapists, Doctor of Medical Sciences, announced his scientific research on apitherapy for coronavirus infection.
Experimental and clinical studies have established that apitoxins stimulate both cellular and humoral immunity and increase immunoglobulin and at the same time form the number of antibody-forming cells that resist foreign agents, including viruses. Apitoxin therapy slows down the division of viral cells and penetration into the blood, activates the production of interferon and antibodies in the body, creates an unfavorable background for the development of coronavirus infection, and reduces Covid-19 infection at the upper respiratory tract level. We need to take advantage of what nature has given us today.
On the main diseases of honey bees in the Krasnodar territory reported Moreva L. Ya., Professor of Kuban State University, Doctor of Biological Sciences, She noted that Kuban beekeepers have the same problems as beekeepers all over the world. A methodology for combating the main diseases of bees using safe, ecological preparations produced by Agrobioprom JSC was presented.
Kopaeva N. M., Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Director of the organization "Ryazan Bee", spoke on the Ryazan experience of countering bee poisoning. Ryazan beekeepers, thanks to their achievements and best practices in protecting bees from pesticide poisoning, with the support of local governing bodies, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Ryazan region, a powerful public voice, and dialogue with crop producers, avoided mass bee poisoning in 2020. Another visible reason for the autumn gathering of bees was made public.
V. N. Kosarev, Chairman of the agricultural cooperative "12 HIVES", suggested how to transfer fetal queens in a pandemic when they are kept in transfer cells. In this situation, our company used the services of EMS Post Rossi - the operator of courier express delivery. But the cardboard box in which the shipping boxes were sent fell into disrepair. Therefore, we recommend that the required number of cells be knocked down into one specialized parcel with ventilation with a barred grid, with the inscription on the sticker – "Top!", "Live bees!", " Do not keep in the sun!". With a veterinary certificate of form 2. Send the queens no later than the next day.
Strelbitskaya O. V. Kuban State Agrarian University named after I. T. Trubilin, a post-graduate student of the Department of Private Zootechnics and Pig Breeding, told about the problems beekeepers faced during the pandemic in the Krasnodar Territory. This is the receipt of a red pass, which was issued only for one unit of special movement, posts on roads that negatively affected the life of bees when they were transported to other honey collection sites.
Janos Karmendi, Chairman of the Apitherapy Society, Doctor of Science, representative of Apimondia and his translator Istvan Rozh, welcomed the conference participants on behalf of Hungarian beekeepers. They often visit Russia to exchange research results and also worry about the future of beekeeping. Their research is aimed at raising the immune system by using beekeeping products efficiently and competently.
Zheleznyakov A. P. director of the plant for the production of bee products, heads the Rostov regional public organization "Union of Beekeepers of the Don". He reported on the state of beekeeping in the Rostov region.
Over the past year, conferences, seminars and round tables were held with the participation of leading beekeepers and heads of the region and the Ministry of Agriculture, and courses for novice beekeepers were organized. He noted that this year the number of poisonings has decreased, and where they were registered, court sessions were held and criminal cases were opened. We are very concerned about the uncontrolled import of bee packages from abroad, in particular from Central Asian countries, without veterinary certificates, without quarantine standards, which is causing damage to Russian beekeeping. We are also concerned about the illegal import and use of Chinese drugs that are not registered in Russia, which contain an inflated amount of active substances, which leads to their rapid addiction.
In conclusion, A. Z. Brandorf, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Director of the Federal Research Center of Beekeeping, Rybnoye, made a speech. She noted that this year there was a high percentage of castrated varroa. This is due to the untimely use of veterinary drugs in various climatic zones of our country, the use of Chinese drugs. I drew attention to the importation of little-known bee breeds into our country, which also carry various diseases with them. She reflected on the issue of veterinary rules of beekeeping and highlighted the scientific and practical activities of the Institute.
Olga Kuzminichna Chupakhina thanked the participants of the conference, wished them success, good health and expressed a wish to see them soon.