Brazil: Report outlines guidelines for the recovery of beekeeping in Rio Grande do Sul

Over 20,000 beehives in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, were lost due to heavy rains, floods, and landslides in Q2 2024, threatening honey production, crop pollination, and the income of thousands of beekeepers and meliponiculturists. A report by Embrapa Meio Ambiente highlights the need for short-term recovery measures like repopulating bees and providing new boxes and food, and long-term solutions like creating credit lines, insurance, emergency funds, and technical training programs for beekeepers. The report also emphasizes the importance of planting floral species and relocating hives to higher ground to prevent future losses. The climate disaster has underscored the vulnerability of beekeeping to climate change and the scarcity of flowering, leading to food shortages for bees. This incident is part of a larger issue as climate models forecast that by 2050, 90% of Brazilian municipalities could face significant losses of pollinators, posing a threat to the subsistence of thousands of beekeeping families and the agriculture industry.