5 million bees died due to chemicals: Rosselkhoznadzor confirmed the guilt of Chelyabinsk farmers.
Rosselkhoznadzor (the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) has confirmed that agricultural enterprises are responsible for the mass death of bees in the Argayash District of the Chelyabinsk Region. The farmers treated their fields with hazardous chemicals and failed to warn local beekeepers about the upcoming work.
What did the Rosselkhoznadzor inspection reveal?
The bee deaths occurred back in early July. However, the agency was unable to determine the exact number of colonies lost, as some apiaries were not registered in the Horriot electronic system.
However, according to estimates by beekeepers from the villages of Kuluyevo, Davletbayeva, Yaltyrova and Bolshaya Kuysarina, approximately 5 million bees have died in the region.
During the inspection, specialists collected 24 soil, rapeseed, and wheat samples from agricultural enterprises in the district. As a result, three local farm managers received warnings about exceeding permissible levels of pesticides and using hazardous agrochemicals.
Systemic problem and judicial precedents
Unfortunately, insect deaths due to pesticides occur in Russia every year. In the last month alone, reports of mass deaths have come in from the Irkutsk Region and Krasnoyarsk Krai, where millions of bee colonies have perished.
As experts and beekeepers explained to the publication "Field of View," farmers regularly violate pesticide application regulations. For example, they spray chemicals during the day instead of at night and ignore their obligation to notify neighboring apiary owners in advance.
Consequently, proving a direct connection and the farmers' guilt is far from always possible. However, there are positive legal precedents in the country: for example, in the Penza region, beekeepers successfully obtained multi-million-dollar compensation for the dead bees.