China Environment News Focuses on the Dilemma of Bee Farmers’ Transferring - Zhou Jinfeng: It is Related to People's Livelihood, Poverty Alleviation, and Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains (I)
2020/3/5 15:58:00 本站

[Editor’s Note: ] In the interview, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), said in an interview with China Environment News reporter: "if bees are damaged and die, it is not only related to the livelihood of bee farmers but also closely related to agricultural production and ecological balance. Bees are related to people's livelihood, poverty alleviation, lucid waters, and lush mountains. Nothing is a small matter."

 

With the spring flowers blooming all over the country, the problem of bee farmers’ transfer under the epidemic situation has been widely concerned by the society, and the help information of bee farmers from all over the country also comes to CBCGDF. In three days, more than 10 letters and hundreds of phone calls were received. CBCGDF reported the difficulties faced by bee farmers to combating epidemic headquarters, agricultural departments. Now, many positive actions have been taken.

 

On February 28th, Hubei Province, the worst affected epidemic area, also made positive efforts to support the return of bee farmers. There is no place where the seriousness of the epidemic in Hubei can be compared, people are deeply touched by this responsibility, and Hubei also set a great example for all provinces! Now is the critical time for the decisive victory in the fight against the epidemic and the resume of working in spring. It is also an important time for all cities to show their wisdom in governance and practice the important speeches and decisions made by the central government.

 

CBCGDF will continue to help bee farmers open up green channels so that more joy and harvest will spread with the spring breeze.

 

The Original Title: Under the Epidemic Situation, Bee Farmers are Faced with Difficulties of Transferring: When Bees cannot Fly, it is about You and Me

 

With less than 20 days to go before the flowering date of Sichuan’s rape followers, beekeeper Zhai Xiaolong, in Yunnan Province, is extremely worried.

 

The sudden novel coronavirus pneumonia not only disrupted many people's normal life but also caused a great impact on the special group of bee farmers.

 

“As soon as the outbreak came, there was no way to transfer and also no income. We had to buy sugar to feed the bees, which caused great economic pressure.”

 

The dilemma of bee farmers spread on the Internet, which has aroused the widespread concern of the whole society. On February 15th, the general office of the Ministry of Agriculture and the other three ministries and commissions jointly issued the "Emergency Notice on Solving the Current Practical Difficulties and Speeding up the Resumption of the Breeding Industry". The Notice specifically mentioned that we should ensure the smooth transportation of "bees transferring”, effectively implement the green channel policy, ensure the “three different priorities” and fast and convenient access.

 

However, after investigating the situation of bee farmers in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Xinjiang and other places, the Resumption Working Team of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) found that due to the different situation of epidemic prevention and control in different places, there are regional differences in the implementation of policies, and vehicle access is difficult to guarantee.

 

“It's not just the problem about bee farmers. If bee pollination is affected, this year’s crop harvest will also be affected. The seasonal bee pollination result is extremely important. We cannot wait for others.” The relay of assistance from CBCGDF was fully launched.

 

On February 25th, CBCGDF sent an urgent letter to Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, emphasizing that “We should not miss farming time and should call on all localities to let bee farmers move smoothly.”

 

How to solve the dilemma faced by local bee farmers? How much bitterness is hidden on the other side of this "honey-sweet career"? What kind of important role does the bee, which is often ignored by people, play in ecology?

 

It is difficult to transfer, and the bees are trapped in the cage and dying

 

Bee farmers all know that when picking flowers and chasing honey, beekeepers must catch up with the source of honey.

 

The season is not waiting for humans, as the temperature turns warmer, the fluorescence of southern, central and western China and other regions will come. However, due to the special background of epidemic prevention, the traffic in most parts of China is still not completely resume. In addition, due to the blockade of some villages and other reasons, the bee farmers in Yunnan, Sichuan and other places are unable to transfer, and countless bees are trapped in cages and dying.

 

Zhai Xiaolong is one of them.

 

Yunnan’s honey collecting period is over. Bees cannot collect honey and could only feed with sugar. There is not much left in the hoard of white sugar. Zhai Xiaolong is in a hurry day by day.

 

In Xinjiang Autonomous Region, more than 300 bee farmers quarantined in Shihezi, Tacheng, Hetian, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Altay Prefecture, and other areas are also anxious. They could not return to the bee farm as scheduled. According to local bee farmers, if they cannot get back to work in the overwintering area where the bees live by the end of February, the bees will face a mass of deaths.

 

“Our family has been beekeeping for more than 30 years. For the first time, such a serious situation has a great impact.” According to Zhai Xiaolong, the beekeeping market in the past two years has not been good, and it is difficult to transfer, making the beekeepers' career worse.

 

People's impression of beekeepers may be idyllic, wandering in the flower sea. However, in fact, their life is not only with sweet honey and beautiful flowers but also years of running and hard work. All-year-round accommodation can only bring in a small income. The beekeeper's sweetness is hard-won.

 

“I have enough money to last another 10 days or so. When the money runs out, I won’t be able to buy sugar, so I’ll have to watch the bees die.” February 17th, Zhai Xiaolong is still extremely worried.

 

Run and call - “They were just in time for the rape flowers blossom.

 

The voice of help came from all directions.

 

CBCGDF began to pay attention to bee farmers and bees as early as a few years ago.

 

From the establishment of CBCGDF's Community Conservation Area for Bees to focusing on pesticides causing the mass death of bees, to conducting various discussions around agricultural biodiversity, CBCGDF has thus established contact and maintained communication with a large number of bee farmers and volunteers.

 

“During this epidemic, there are almost hundreds of bee farmers directly contacted with us. Spring breeding is imminent. If we miss the critical period, a large number of bees will die, and both bee farmers and local agriculture will be seriously damaged. Their dilemma needs to be solved.” Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary-General of CBCGDF, is also equally worried.

 

No matter day or night, CBCGDF acts quickly. They specially opened a hotline for bee farmers in need of help from all over the country, sent letters to local governments and transportation departments of bee farms where the transfer was blocked, asked for emergency assistance, gave access and reception, and assisted bee farmers in their smooth transfer so as not to miss farming time.

 

“We made countless phone calls and sent more than 10 letters to local governments and local epidemic headquarters in three days,” said Yang Xiaohong, who is in charge of bee farming at CBCGDF. Meanwhile, they also appeal actively to the beekeepers' dilemma on Chinese social media.

 

On February 26th, when our reporter called Zhai Xiaolong, he finally breathed a light relief in his words: “I have been transferred smoothly, now I am in Jianyang of Sichuan Province!”

 

Zhai told reporters that with the media’s attention and the coordination and arrangement of local government departments in Yunnan, the road opened on February 21st. On the 22nd, he and his father set out from Yunnan and returned to their hometown of Jiangyuan Town in Jianyang City in a day and a night.

 

"When we left, it was very smooth, and the leaders of the village, the county, and the agricultural department came to care about me. At the same time, on the way back to Sichuan, the high-speed monitoring point saw that we were beekeepers, they let us pass very quickly."

 

When Zhai Xiaolong returned to his home in Sichuan, he received a phone call from the Agricultural and Rural Department of Yunnan Province, asking if he had any problems and difficulties along the way. “It’s very heart-warming”, Zhai said.

 

As scheduled to catch up with the rape flowers blooming, Zhai Xiaolong did not have too much loss, the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.


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Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4856/11496.html


By / Xue Tongtong