Bees Are Fleeing Puerto Rico Due to Earthquakes

Experts have raised their concern over the series of seismic activities in Puerto Rico disrupting bee colonies inhabiting the area causing them to abandon their hives. According to scientists, a subspecies seen as a possible solution to the global bee crisis could once again go extinct after being decimated by hurricanes in 2017, according to an article by NBC News.

Hermes Conde, director of the island's Eastern Apiculture School, said that bees have deserted up to 25 percent of hives in towns like Guayanilla in southern Puerto Rico after hundreds of tremors and a 6.4 magnitude earthquake rattled the area. He added that the quakes have changed the position of many hives, confused returning bees and caused destruction inside the wooden boxes.

The series of earthquakes have also disrupted beekeepers' normal feeding of hives during winter months as farmers recover from quakes that collapsed hundreds of homes.

While the U.S. territory demands a disaster declaration from President Donald Trump that would increase relief resources, the island's beekeepers are asking the U.S. government and its citizens for donations of "protein patties" and other bee food to save their hives.

"Bees are looking for calmer areas, fleeing all the movement in the earthquake zone," said Conde, who has lost 10 of his 50 hives in Guayanilla. Conde also fears more may go if the quakes continue.

The hardy, productive bees of Puerto Rico which are the descendants of Africanized bees, are seen as a possible substitute for western honey bees that have died off in unprecedented numbers due to so-called colony collapse disorder (CCD).

While experts say Puerto Rico's bees are less susceptible to parasites blamed for CCD, a phenomenon which has caused economic losses worldwide in crops that depend on western honey bees for pollination, the bees are no exemption when it comes to the tremors caused by natural seismic activities.

In 2017, during the onset of Hurricane Maria, around 85 percent of Puerto Rico's bees were wiped out. According to Conde, the bee population has since recovered to around 60 percent of its former size.

Meanwhile, bee expert Tugrul Giray, a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, said the principal reason bees were abandoning hives was likely a lack of food as beekeepers tended to other priorities in their lives.

But he said bees hated vibration, and the repeated tremors and earthquakes since December had caused them to become less docile and leave nests.

"Puerto Rico's beekeepers need special help right now," said Giray, warning locals to take care when encountering the island's stressed-out bees.

It can be recalled that a 7.1-magnitude earthquake near California's Death Valley last year has killed large numbers of bees.

Some experts think the earthquake could have disrupted the Earth's magnetic fields, which bees use to navigate themselves which would have led to mass confusion amongst bee populations, paralysis and death.

Moreover, a three-year study in Taiwan found that two major earthquakes in 1999 and 2002 had a devastating impact on insect populations.

Felin Honeybees bee expert Katie Hayward supported Giray's claim saying, "Bees are extremely sensitive to vibrations and can suffer great stress in those kind of situations. Also, they may leave the hive if the colony feels threatened."