Deforestation, use of chemicals impacting on wild bees population in Ukhrul forest
Source: The Sangai Express / Mungchan Zimik

Ukhrul, August 20 2020: The Tangkhul community has a traditional practice of rearing wild bees (apiculture) both for honey collection and for consuming the bee larvaes, but indiscriminate forest exploitation and use of chemical substances to increase crop yield or to protect crops from pest has directly affected the population of wild bees in the forest.

Although there has been no scientific studies for the decreasing number of wild bees in the forest of Ukhrul yet, local people presume that the key factors are deforestation and use of chemical substances such as fertilizers, pesticides and weedicides to increase crop yield.

Deforestation, use of chemicals impacting on wild bees population in Ukhrul forest

Bee keeping/apiculture is considered a hobby by many Tangkhul men and they take pride in competing among themselves on who can produce maximum bees larvae or honey in a particular year.

G Kaping aged about 55 years of Tangrei, Ukhrul said that that there are basically two types of wild bees found in the forest of Ukhrul district and they are reared for honey and larvae.

According to him, bees reared for honey in Tangkhul dialect are Kaha, Shileng and Mikza etc (wild bees found in forest are Rock Bee/Apis dorsata and Dwarf Honey Bee/Apis florea) .

Other wild bees/hornets reared for larvae which is a delicacy for many Tangkhuls is the Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia) popularly known as Killer Hornet.

G Kaping said that the wild bees/giant hornet reared for their larvae are Khuirei, Mazam, Rerngui, Khuipui, Khuichihui, Lapuinao, Lanemnao etc.

Among this, Khuirei is the biggest in size.

Killer hornet thrives best in forest areas where oak trees grow abundantly.

Oak trees produce special juice/sap which is food for the larvae and drone.

Adult hornet/Khuirei would guard the oak trees that produced sap from invasion by other hornets.

The uncontrolled felling of oak trees for fire wood and for other purpose in the last 5-10 years has depleted the number of oak trees robbing the bees of their sap as food supplement.

Apart from deforestation, forest fire is another reason in the decrease of wild bee population in the forest.

The young adult hornet which usually hatch during the last week of November or December becomes the drone bee and will hibernate the whole winter season.

Later in the next spring season (April & May) the queen bee comes out and starts to make nest/beehive to continue their life cycle again.

However the indiscriminate forest fire kills many bees during their hibernation time.

Another bee farmer from Kasomtang, Ukhrul Rinmaya said that he has been rearing honey bee since the year 2000 .

According to him, he hardly sees honey bees after the local farmers started using chemical substance such as pesticide or weedicide to kill pests or insects of crops.

Rinmaya who has observed the relationship between the plants and the wild bees said that pesticides might have fallen on flowers and plants which are collected along with the pollen and nectars by the bees resulting in their deaths.

Pesticides also reach surface water from treated plants and soil.

Due to rampant use of pesticides, there is a high possibility of widespread contamination of water that flows from upper slope into the stream running across the villages.

Last year more than 25 water buffaloes were found dead while grazing near Paorei village of Ukhrul with ruptured lungs and perforated livers.

Though no specific reasons could be ascertained yet the villagers suspect that the animals might have drunk the contaminated water.

According experts, loose spray of pesticides land on flowers and plants.

The pesticides which have fallen on flowers and plants are collected along with the pollen and nectars by the bees, subsequently resulting in the slow death of the bee colonies in the forest.

Beside indiscriminate use of chemical substances, the Killer Hornet is also a major threat to agriculture as they target bees.

The dwindling bee population which is already at risk helps in pollination, an extremely crucial process.

The number of wild bees particularly honey bees which visit flowering plants to collect nectar and pollen is also decreasing with each passing year.

The nectar and pollen from the flowers are the main source of food which help the queen bee to lay eggs and at the same enhance the process of plant pollination.

If symbiotic inter-relationship between the bees and plants is further disturbed it will ultimately impact on the survival of other organisms in the forest.

(This article is written under the media fellowship of Directorate of Environment and Climate Change 2019, Govt.of Manipur) .