30% of Bees in Diyarbakır That Don’t Hibernate in Winter Died

With the increase in bee deaths due to global climate change and indiscriminate agricultural spraying, 30% of bees in Diyarbakır that do not hibernate in winter have died. Mehmet Bayram, Vice President of the Diyarbakır Beekeepers Association, who has been in beekeeping since the age of 12, said that bees were adversely affected by not hibernating in winter due to the cold and rainy weather. Bayram stated that the biggest factor in the deaths of bees is global warming. He said, “The biggest factors in the deaths of bees in Diyarbakır are global warming and agricultural pesticides used. These are two of the biggest reasons for bee deaths in Diyarbakır. For the past 3 years, 30% of our bees have been dying in Diyarbakır due to climate change. Unfortunately, bees cannot hibernate due to global warming. Especially in the last 3 years, this has become evident. Bees become tired and exhausted because they cannot hibernate in winter. Since there is no breeding period for bees in winter in Diyarbakır, they go out in warm weather and die.”

Bayram also mentioned that indiscriminate agricultural spraying causes great harm to bees. He said, “Beekeepers in Diyarbakır go up to the highlands at the end of May. They return to Diyarbakır again at the end of August. During those seasons, they have to leave the bees near a place close to cotton fields. Unfortunately, we suffer great harm because agricultural pesticides are used indiscriminately in cotton fields. If they use this pesticide at night instead of during the day, it would cause much less harm to bees. But especially because agricultural pesticides are used during the working hours of bees, bees suffer great harm.”