The conflict of survival of Bee-eaters and of honey bees

Bee-eater birds (Merops apiaster) appear and remain in Cyprus for 15 days in spring and 30-40 days in autumn. During spring, their presence is almost unnoticed, but during autumn, their excessive concentrations cause damages to bee colonies and severe losses to beekeepers. Bees remain in their hives and no forage activity is documented in the whole apiary. The causes of confinement of bees into their hives remain unclear. The singing of the birds and their appearance are not the reason of the confinement of the bees. As a result of the restriction of the bees into their hives, we observed diminished queen laying, decrease of the brood and a shrink of the adult population. The internal temperature of the hive increases by 2-4°C due to the lack of the water and to the tension (stress) of the "captive" bees. The colonies cannot rear brood during fall and enter into winter with old and starving bees. Due to this, 20% of the wintering bee colonies die every year. The so-far proposed solutions to prevent bee-eaters from apiaries, such as the use of tapes, color balloons, CDs that diffract the light, recording voices of hawks and falcons, alarm cries of bee-eaters and gun shootings were tested and found ineffective to protect bees. To ensure the harmonious coexistence of birds with bees and to maintain the contribution of bees to pollination, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment of Cyprus supports financially the beekeepers and in turn through Cyprus Rural Development Program 2014-2020, the beekeepers undertook commitments to pursue methods that benefit of bees and the protection of the birds.

蜂虎鸟（Bee-eater birds，学名*Merops apiaster*）于春季在塞浦路斯停留15天，秋季则停留30至40天。春季时，它们的出现几乎不会被察觉；但到了秋季，种群的过度聚集会对蜂群造成损害，给养蜂人带来严重损失。蜜蜂会滞留于蜂巢内，整个养蜂场均未记录到蜜蜂的采蜜活动。蜜蜂被困于蜂巢内的原因目前仍不明确，蜂虎鸟的鸣唱与外观并非导致该现象的诱因。由于蜜蜂被限制在蜂巢内，我们观察到蜂王产卵量减少、蜂群育幼规模缩减，以及成年工蜂种群数量下降。因缺水以及“被困”蜜蜂的应激反应，蜂巢内部温度升高2至4摄氏度。蜂群在秋季无法抚育幼蜂，只能以老龄且饥饿衰弱的蜂群状态进入越冬期，正因如此，每年有20%的越冬蜂群死亡。迄今为止提出的各类防范蜂虎鸟侵扰养蜂场的解决方案，诸如使用驱鸟彩带、彩色气球、可折射光线的CD光盘、录制鹰与隼的鸣叫声、播放蜂虎鸟的警戒鸣叫声以及鸣枪驱离等，均已被测试并证实无法有效保护蜜蜂。为实现鸟类与蜜蜂的和谐共存，并维持蜜蜂在授粉活动中的生态贡献，塞浦路斯农业、农村发展与环境部为养蜂人提供财政支持；同时根据《2014-2020年塞浦路斯农村发展计划》，养蜂人需承诺采用惠及蜜蜂且保护鸟类的相关措施。