Buzzing concerns: Record bee invasions, say beekeepers

The number of reported bee invasions in Barbados has reached record levels this year, raising alarm among residents and prompting disruptions in schools across the island, according to the Barbados Apiculture Association.

But as December progresses, a significant reduction in bee sightings is anticipated—for now, the beekeepers group said.

Longstanding beekeeper Julian Mangal, a member of the association, told Barbados TODAY that this year marked the first time such a high number of bee invasions had been reported.

He explained that over the past five years, changes in the island’s rainfall patterns have significantly impacted how bees forage, with this year experiencing the most profound effects.

Mangal said: “Compared to previous years where we would have only gotten like three or four calls about this issue, this year, there has been an explosion of those calls, an explosion of bee and human interactions. One reason is the constant rain, as has been mentioned by the Ministry of Agriculture. Our rain pattern has been regular, which is good for plants, but it affects the number of blossoms on plants. The blossoms drop off and the quality of the nectar is impacted as well. With so much water, the quality of the nectar is not as sweet, and it doesn’t provide as much energy for the bees as needed,” he said. “So it is a combination of those two things: rainfall and reduced flowers. We have a good population of bees in Barbados, and they need to find food wherever they can.”

Last month, the Lead Officer for Apiculture and Senior Agricultural Assistant with the Ministry of Agriculture, Bernard Thompson, announced that flowers were scarce across the island, causing bees to invade schools in search of sweets and other sugary food and drink.

Bee invasions disrupted classes at four schools across the island—A. Dacosta Edwards Primary, Springer Memorial Secondary School, Wilkie Cumberbatch, and Coleridge & Parry—leading to temporary closures and emergency calls to beekeepers.

Mangal explained that there is always a dearth of flowers during the latter months of the year, but what is uncommon is the constant short bursts of rain.

But he noted that as more flowers begin to bloom, there should be fewer bee sightings.

He said: “This is nothing unusual. It is just that this year there has been a higher interaction between bees and people because the bees are hungrier than usual. Every year around this time, between late October and early December, there’s a reduction in the number of flowers in the environment. Fewer flowers and fewer plants blooming mean there’s less nectar for the bees to feed on. As a result, the bees are hungry and they are going for any sort of sweet stuff they can find anywhere. That may be in your backyard, in the schools, or it might be at a restaurant serving sweet drinks. They are going to look for food because they want to survive.

“Right now, we are heading into the middle of December, so that is expected to reduce. You won’t have as many incidents of interaction at the schools with bees because there are going to be more flowers coming back in; what we call a flow.”

But Mangal cautioned Barbadians to expect an increase in bee sightings early next year.

“Those conflicts are going to reduce as of this month, but they might come back up late March into April because the monkeys usually create a problem at that time as well when there is very little food,” he said.  sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb