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.