It is an autochthonous breed that is in clear decline
Repopulate the Peninsula with 47 million specimens of Apis mellifera iberiensisbetter known as Iberian beeis the objective of a project that has been launched in Spain to reverse the “disappearance trend” of this native breed of bees, so necessary for the preservation of ecosystems.
Its about Smart Green Bees projectwhich has been promoted by the technology company LG with the collaboration of the El Rincón de la Abeja association, technical partner of the initiative, and artisan beekeepers from different regions of Spain, such as Malaga, Valencia or Barcelona.
The Iberian or Spanish bee is the only native species of the Peninsulabut its population is receding at an accelerated pace due to factors such as drought, diseases that affect the species and the low profitability of beekeepers, since it is not the most efficient breed for honey production.
One bee per inhabitant
The initiative aims to expand the Apis mellifera iberiensis throughout Spain with up to 47 million new bees in a period of two years, “one for each inhabitant”, Paola Vecino, president of the El Rincón de la Abeja association, explains to Efe.
“We are choosing enclaves that are conducive to this expansion of swarmswhere sustainable beekeeping can be carried out and this reverts to a benefit for the ecosystem”, she points out, clad in a beekeeper’s suit, from a farm in the Montes de Málaga Natural Park, where they have placed the first beehives that will help this demographic recovery of the Iberian bee.
In Malaga, the artisan beekeeper José Sebastián Sánchez, founder of Mieles Joseíllo a decade ago, collaborates with the projecta local firm that has a long tradition and sustainable production, since “it has exactly the number of hives that correspond to this area due to the floral load that there is,” says Vecino.
In this mountainous area, located just twenty minutes by car from Málaga capital, we can find a great diversity of plants, such as sage, gorse, rockrose or cantahueso, which ensure that bees have available resources -flowers to pollinate- “the largest part of the year”.
On this farm, where goats, dogs and chickens also live, 14 hives have been installed so far, although the forecast is that there will soon be 45: “That means tripling the number of bees in a short time, in a matter of a year and medium,” says Vecino.
A newly created hive in its initial phase can house between 5,000 and 6,000 bees, although this figure can reach 60,000 after a few months.. This expansion usually occurs between spring and summer.
But since beekeeping is not mathematical and there are “a thousand factors” that can prevent a hive from progressing, the promoters of the Smart Green Bees project have “overcalculated” the number of swarms that they have to implant, taking into account that there may be diseases and other losses due to natural and uncontrollable reasons that prevent a honeycomb from prospering.
“In this area, for example, it is quite common for wild boars to attack the hives, so we try to choose several enclaves and overestimate the number of swarms that will be needed to reach those 47 million bees to ensure the success of the project. “, says Paola Vecino.
Biometric monitoring systems
The hives installed in Malaga incorporate biometric monitoring systems that “do not affect the development of the swarms at all” and that they allow to evaluate in a simple way the demographic growth of the bees of each apiary.
This technology also offers relevant information such as weight, internal humidity, temperature or the sound of the bees, to follow the state of health of the hives in real time.
According to LG, the fifteen beehives installed in Malaga already contain about 15,000 bees each and this figure will grow in the coming months thanks to the floral richness of the surroundings and the “privileged climate” of the province, “whose 300 days of sunshine a year allow efficient and non-intrusive care.”
The Iberian bee has some morphological characteristics that differentiate it from other breeds of Apis mellifera: They are dark in color, smaller than European bees and with a longer tongue, have slightly blurred stripes and have a somewhat nervous and aggressive behavior.
The campaign is also carrying out actions in other towns in Spain, such as Montroi, in the Valencian Community, and in Sant Climent de Llobregat, in Catalonia.
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