'Bees starving' in disastrous year for French honey

August 25, 2024

by Céline CASTELLA

Beekeepers across France say it has been a disastrous year for honey, with bees starving to death and production plummeting by up to 80 percent.

Mickael Isambert, a beekeeper in Saint-Ours-les-Roches in central France, lost 70 percent of his honey and had to feed his colonies sugar to help them survive after a cold, rainy spring.

"It has been a catastrophic year," said Isambert, 44, who looks after 450 hives.

A beehive typically produces 15 kilos (33 pounds) of honey a year, but this time, Isambert said his farm had only produced between five and seven kilos.

When it rains, bees "don't fly, they don't go out, so they eat their own honey reserves," said his co-manager and fellow beekeeper Marie Mior.

Low temperatures and heavy rainfall have prevented bees from gathering enough pollen, and flowers from producing nectar—which the insects collect to make honey.

More:
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-bees-starving-disastrous-year-french.html