"Disappearing Honeybees" Prompt Fruit and Vegetable Farmers to Say "The Inevitable Has Come"... Secondary Damage Becomes a Reality

The Gyeongbuk Provincial Council's "Honeybee Virus Research Group" (led by Representative Park Soon-beom) held a kickoff meeting on the 15th at the Chilgok-gun Agricultural Technology Center for the "Research Project on the Status Survey and Response Measures of Honeybee Virus Disease Occurrence in the Gyeongbuk Region."

At the meeting, Representative Park Soon-beom, head of the research group, explained the background of the study, stating, "Gyeongbuk Province is the largest beekeeping area in the country, suffering the most severe damage from honeybee deaths. As honeybees disappear, significant damage is also being caused to farms cultivating fruits and vegetables. We initiated this research to find response measures at the provincial council level."

He also emphasized, "We will do our best to prepare practical and concrete countermeasures for farmers through this research."

Gyeongbuk provincial councilors have launched a research project to investigate the causes of expanding agricultural damage due to the disappearance of honeybees.

Professor Gil Eui-jun (Department of Plant Medicine, Andong National University), who is responsible for this research, said, "There is currently a severe lack of data on the status of viruses occurring in farms," adding, "Since the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council is taking a leading interest in this, we will ensure to produce thorough research results."

Furthermore, since this research project is a critical issue for local beekeeping farms, in addition to the research group members, Representative Jeong Han-seok, Kim Jong-su, Director of Research and Development at the Gyeongsangbuk-do Agricultural Technology Institute, Ji Seon-young, Director of the Chilgok-gun Agricultural Technology Center, and beekeeping farmers attended, creating an in-depth discussion on the mass death of honeybee colonies and expressing interest and expectations for the research project.

Honeybee populations have been declining annually due to various causes. In particular, during the winter season from 2022 to 2023, the number of honeybee colonies in the Gyeongbuk region sharply decreased from 539,000 to 325,000.

This has led to expanded damage across agriculture, including beekeeping farms, fruit orchards, and vegetable cultivation. As the largest beekeeping area nationwide, Gyeongbuk Province is highly concerned about the spread of diseases and mass deaths caused by virus transmission.

This research project is being promoted by six Gyeongbuk Provincial Council members?Park Soon-beom, Noh Seong-hwan, Lee Woo-cheong, Lee Choong-won, Jeong Geun-soo, and Heo Bok?who formed the "Honeybee Virus Research Group." Over four months, they will build data on the occurrence status of honeybee viruses in the Gyeongbuk region and investigate overseas cases of honeybee virus responses to establish policies and alternatives aimed at minimizing damage to farms.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.