Chile's bee colonies devastated by floods after fires

[June 29, 2023] SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Extreme weather events in Chile, including major recent floods and wildfires earlier this year, are devastating colonies of the humble bee, a key pollinator for crops of avocados and almonds in one of the global south's key food producing countries.
 
 Heavy rainfall in the last week has caused floods that have blocked off roads and prompted evacuations in the center of the country in what has been described as the worst weather front in a decade. That follows major fires at the start of the year.

"We were affected by the fires and now the floods," said Mario Flores, president of the National Beekeeping Movement (Monachi), adding that over 3,000 beehives were affected last week alone in heavy rains in Chile's south-central region.  

"The situation we are experiencing today is critical for the national beekeeping industry."

Chile's bee population, hit hard in recent years by drought, is important for pollinating many of the South American country's export crops including cherries, blueberries and apples, part of a multi-billion dollar food industry.

Damaged hives are seen after heavy rains hit Chilean central and southern regions, in O'Higgins region, Chile, in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on June 28, 2023. Movimiento Nacional de Apicultores de Chile/Handout via REUTERS

Losses have mounted during recent floods, beekeeper Carlos Nunez said, with 300 of his 500 hives ruined last week after the Cachapoal River broke its banks in a province to the south of capital Santiago.

"It was a total loss. What was saved we are going to see if it can be recovered," he said. "Everything is lost."

The government has decreed an agricultural emergency in areas affected by the floods to financially help farmers, particularly from Santiago to the southern Biobio region.

"Whatever (help) we get will be welcome because we have been having problems in the beekeeping sector for a long time now, with the fires in the summer, the honey exportation, the fake honey competition," said Nunez.

"We are trying to keep our heads up and whatever help we can get will be good."

(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Natalia Ramos and Carolina Pulice; Editing by Isabel Woodford and David Gregorio)

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