ARMENIA
Not all municipalities of Quindío have created committees for the management of bees
This was announced during a meeting led by the Environmental and Agrarian Attorney’s Office of the coffee region.
Before the bee swarm attacks in Quindío that have left 4 people dead, Animal activists denounce that in the majority of municipalities the committee for the management of bees has not been created
This was announced during the meeting of the Departmental Beekeeping Board which took place in the governorate of Quindío led by the environmental and agrarian attorney general’s office of the coffee region
The animalist representative of Quindío Beatriz Aristizábal He highlighted the importance of this meeting where the delegate of the attorney general’s office was emphatic in requesting dates and specific actions of the mayors regarding the management of bees in the 12 municipalities of Quindío.
The deputy added “It is a critical diagnosis, very few municipalities have that committee, many are barely intending to create that protocol. and that decree of attention. I believe that these spaces are very important because the animals, the bees in this case, specifically as pollinators and as a fundamental part of our ecosystems, because they deserve special protection and I believe that we are indebted to them and because these spaces are very important and the presence of the Attorney General to reinforce that request that, in fact, already told us that “Since the law came out in 2022, it has been taking place and to date few mayors have taken the actions required by the law.”
And he added that “the lack of information and articulation of the different institutions puts the bees in check and also the community with this type of unfortunate situations that have occurred in the department of the deaths of these people due to bee attacks. africanized, where they also mentioned the reports and what they told us is that they were allegedly provoked.”
And he added “they stigmatize these beings and people by not finding an institutional response in a timely manner, Well then they take justice into their own hands, what they do is burn them, I am aware of those types of situations that many people have called the mayors or these institutions and because of the lack of articulation and misinformation, there is no timely response, unfortunately, and they end up having to solve the problem, let’s put it that way and I am aware of some swarms that have been burned”
Mayor of Armenia
Alejandro Ceballos Cardozo leader of judicial representation of the government secretariat of Armenia explained “there has been a regulation for two years where the municipalities not only of Quindío but of all of Colombia have practically not taken the issue, they have not taken the pertinent measures to resolve this issue, understanding that bees are pollinators, apart from being sentient beings, they are fundamental for the expression pollination of flora and food, then they cannot be said, they cannot be destroyed in any way.
In this order of ideas, the municipality of Armenia, for statistical purposes, we can tell you that in the year 2023 it attended to 27 cases and in the year up to the year 2024 until the month of May, 35 cases with an aggravating circumstance were attended to. And since it is an issue that has evolved, we do not have the appropriate personnel and, well, when people see that the State has no way to respond to that call, what it does is in an abrupt way, as they say, they stir things up and It is worse because there are many people who know it, but others do not know that they may be allergic to the bee sting and this can have a fatal outcome.
The municipality of Armenia began the creation of the Municipal Committee for the management of urban bees and other pollinators, the municipality will prepare the administrative act through which this committee is created and hands the responsibility to each person. Currently, people can make a report to the National Police line 123 or the Official Fire Department and it will be attended to through the different beekeepers because, as is insisted, it is not about destroying it, but about capturing these swarms and delivering them to the beekeepers who are the ones who have the equipment and know and do the economic exploitation of the honey bee from these of these important animals for our ecosystem.
Beekeepers
Rodrigo Rodríguez Osorio represented the company Apiario CRJP of the department of Quindíor a company that emerged has been around for five years and expressed “this work table is very important, where the beekeeper integrates with the citizens and we see the importance of the bees, because Bees are also important, we must not ignore that thanks to them pollination, there are many products that we eat.
What these working groups are doing right now is organizing committees to prevent accidents, because Bees are not aggressive, bees are defensive. They are defending their territory. We as human beings are the ones who are invading them and due to the lack of knowledge of many things in matters of beekeeping, accidents have happened, there have been deaths, stings, allergic people and well it is due to lack of knowledge that the farmer as such sometimes does not know. how to treat bees.
