One Mojacar resident took to social media to express her concerns over local honeybees.
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A Mojacar resident has taken to social media to denounce the bad practices of a local beekeeper.
A strange occurrence
A few days ago, at Toni’s house, they began to see some small black dots floating in their pool.
Within hours, these nearly doubled in numbers, creating a black layer covering their pool.
It turned out they were bees hundreds and hundreds and they were drowning in her water.
Concerned about the situation they searched for the origin of the problem, and revealed an apiary, where beehives are kept, with about fifty hives just 300 metres from Toñi’s home.
Unprotected and thirsty
They claim the bees were at ground level, without the appropriate whitewash, which protects the bees from the heat, and without water.
In search of a water source, the insects arrived at Toñi’s pool; bees are also attracted by the chlorine, colour and sound of the water.
Attempts to help
“We have been taking out bees with the net all weekend, trying to make them survive, but many have died inevitably.” Said Toñi, adding “We cannot be on call 24 hours a day”.
In desperation, they put polystyrene platforms in the pool so the bees could find refuge while they went to notify authorities, who told them they could not act until Monday.
Toñi decided to spread awareness of her problem on TikTok (@lashadasnosonblancas).
1.4 million views
Now, more than 1.4 million people have viewed her first video of the bees, and thousands more have seen her later videos on the topic.
Beekeepers from around the world who saw the video began to interact with each other, and try to find the owner.
Bee s importance
Toñi went further on TikTok to explain the importance of bees and looking after them, stating “We want to make a wake-up call so that things are done differently. We have to protect the bees, without bees we are nothing and sometimes we don’t realise it”.
Bees are crucial to food production, provide a source of income for many rural livelihoods and they are vital insects in pollination.
As stated by the UN Environment Programme, “When animals and insects pick up the pollen of flowers and spread it, they allow plants, including many food crops, to reproduce. The most common and effect pollinators are insects, and among them, bees.”
The bee s disappearance
According to Toñi, she has been living there “for about twenty years” and “there have always been hives around”, however, they had “never had any problems, because the beekeepers did their job well”.
Unfortunately, as Toñi states “There are some who do it well and there are also those who do it to collect subsidies.”
Now, the bees have mysteriously disappeared, but Toñi isn t entirely happy by this, stating on TikTok, “We didn’t want him to take them away, they don’t bother us, but we wanted him to do things properly.” She now worries the bees aren t being better kept, but instead just kept away from her, and the social media spotlight.
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Originally from the UK, Harry Sinclair is a journalist and freelance writer based in Almeria covering local stories and international news, with a keen interest in arts and culture. If you have a news story please feel free to get in touch at [email protected].
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