NONGSTOIN: Bees have died mysteriously in a few apiculture farms in a village in West Khasi Hills prompting villagers to urge the authority concerned to take action.
Twenty of the 27 households in Umthied Iawkohsoin Myriaw village practise bee-keeping and apiculture is an important source of income, besides agriculture. In the last two weeks, beekeepers have lost half of the hives.
Some villagers have lost as much as 80 per cent of their bees, “which is unusual and many of the hives which survived are not strong in numbers”, sources said.
“It is a strange thing happening in the village right now because every day the bees are dying. It is causing panic among villagers and they are worrying whether the honey that they have produced will be safe for consumption,” said headman Tenningstar Lyngdoh Nongum.
Agriculture Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh said he has already asked officers to investigate the matter.
