Chen Jun, a beekeeper in Kuitun, Xinjiang, has been keeping bees for more than 30 years. Every winter, he would take the bees to a relatively warm place to overwinter. In February of the following year, the bees will breed new bees and replace the old bees, which is called "spring breeding" in the jargon.
At present, it is a critical period of spring breeding, under the epidemic situation, Chen Jun learned that if he goes to Turpan, where the bees are located, he will be quarantined for 14 days: "I can't wait for 14 days." If you don't rush to the spring, these bees will starve to death and die of old age, and this year will be over. ”
Many Xinjiang beekeepers face the same problem. In the winter of 2019, they left the bees in Turpan, Kashgar, Ili and other places for the winter, ready to return in the next year to replenish feed and breed. Affected by the epidemic, the return journey has been interrupted, and many bees have died. There are proposals from beekeepers to return to the bee farm for self-isolation.
In this regard, a staff member of the Turpan Municipal Agriculture and Rural Bureau said that at present, personnel from other places to Turpan need to be quarantined for 14 days.
Chen Jun's bee farm was full of dead bees. Courtesy of respondents
Spring has arrived for bees and beekeepers are unable to go
In the fall of 2019, Chen Jun rented a yard in Turpan, pulled more than three hundred boxes of bees from his family, left the wintering sugar feed as planned, and returned to his home in Kuitun.
Beekeeping in Xinjiang is mainly Italian bees. In winter, bees are almost dormant, less active, and rely on sugar feed to sustain themselves. In winter, Turpan, Xinjiang, has relatively high temperatures and is the preferred wintering area for beekeepers nearby.
After winter, around February 10, the spring breeding of bees will begin. In the spring, beekeepers work tediously, including feeding sugar and pollen, curing mites and diseases. Chen Jun had planned to return to Turpan on February 5 and begin bee spring, but the epidemic interrupted transportation to Turpan.
Chen Jun told the Beijing News reporter that the wintering bee colony can live up to 180 days, as of now, his bee colony has been wintering for more than 160 days, and the wintering feed will also be exhausted. Chen Jun was worried, so he asked his friend to go to the bee farm to take some photos, and the ground near the hive was densely packed with dead bees: "If you don't do spring breeding, this year will be over." ”
After the traffic to Turpan was partially restored, Chen Jun called various departments in Turpan and learned that he had to be quarantined for 14 days.
The local agricultural department in Turpan proposed the policy of "escrow and breeding", Chen Jun was relieved and refused: "Beekeeping requires very professional technology, it is different from cattle, sheep and livestock, not to say that you can live by giving forage... Who but yourself can be so attentive to your bees? ”
Chen Jun was more worried, the weather was warmer, the swarms of bees were stealing, fighting each other: "If you can't control the risk is very high." ”
According to the original plan, around March 20, Chen Jun and other beekeepers would go to Kashgar, Korla and other places to let bees pollinate crops: "Half of our income is based on fruit farmers spending money to hire us to pollinate, and the other half of the income is to collect commercial honey from June to August every year to make money." "If The spring is not successful, it will greatly affect their income this year."
Beekeepers want to self-isolate upon return
Shihezi bee farmer Wei Xinli encountered the same situation as Chen Jun. Her family has more than two hundred boxes of bees, which are placed in the rented compound of Ar ar township in Turpan to overwinter.
Wei Xinli said that there are at least more than 300 beekeepers in northern Xinjiang who winter in Turpan, and the actual number is much more.
Kashgar, Ili and Korla are also concentrated areas in Xinjiang where beekeepers overwinter.
The 150 boxes of bees in the family of chen juwen, a bee farmer, who spent the winter in Korla this winter, called the local community and the government, and got a reply that if he returned to Korla, he needed to quarantine for 14 days.
Chen Kaijie, a native of Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, is a big beekeeper, and his more than 600 boxes of bees winter in Ili. The Shi Jinzhong brothers in Taizhou raised 2,000 boxes of bees and overwintered in Ili. "There are more than 80 people in Taizhou. Before, there was no way to go through the traffic. Now that the seal has been unsealed, I can fly to Urumqi, but I still can't return to Ili, nor can I return to the bee farm. Shi Jinzhong said.
Wei Xinli said that during the special period, there are relevant requirements for epidemic prevention work, and beekeepers also understand and support it. "Right now is the most critical period for the entire beekeeping industry, and the bee farm is definitely inseparable from people." Different industries, beekeepers are retail investors, perhaps there is a better solution than not letting us go back. ”
Chen Kaijie also said that beekeepers usually choose to winter in remote rural courtyards or open Gobi Deserts, and there is little contact with local villagers and the outside world. "Quarantine is accountable to everyone and we support it. But can we beekeepers self-isolate in their own bee farms while they are thriving? ”
Human-bee separation is the biggest problem facing beekeepers at the moment. The beekeepers interviewed said that if they could not return in time, they would face the bees starving to death and dying of old age.
Chen Jun's bees pollinate the sunflowers. Courtesy of respondents
Beekeepers still need to be quarantined, and some areas have launched "escrow and breeding"
Beekeepers self-isolate in bee farms have not yet been achieved in several of the above places.
On February 25, a staff member of the Turpan Municipal Agriculture and Rural Bureau introduced to the Beijing News reporter that at present, personnel from other places to Turpan need to be quarantined for 14 days and can go home after epidemic prevention inspection: "So even if the beekeepers from other places come back now, it does not make much sense." ”
However, considering that the number of bees wintering in Turpan is very large, the interests of beekeepers are damaged, the staff said that the agricultural department has previously done relevant information statistics, set up a special person to dock with each beekeeper: "We contacted the local beekeeping association, hoping that they can provide technical guidance and support, and we also organize local beekeepers to temporarily coordinate their hosting and breeding of bee farms." ”
In addition, for the shortage of sugar and feed in some foreign breeding farms, the staff member said that the governments of various districts and counties will temporarily advance funds to help purchase emergency responses.
The staff of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture New Crown Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters said on February 25 that the traffic in Ili has not yet fully recovered, and returnees from other places also need to be quarantined for 14 days.
On February 25, the Urumqi Municipal Headquarters for the Prevention and Control of the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic issued a notice specifically for the travel of bee farmers, requiring the Municipal Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau to coordinate and dock with the agricultural and animal husbandry departments in Turpan and other places to win support.
Urumqi Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau staff said on February 26 that although it can help coordinate the travel of bee farmers in Urumqi, it is necessary to follow the prevention and control requirements of each prefecture and city when entering Turpan and other cities.
On February 15, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Transport and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the "Emergency Notice on Solving the Current Practical Difficulties and Accelerating the Resumption of Work and Production of aquaculture", which includes the transportation guarantee for the transfer of bee farmers into the scope of "ensuring the smooth transportation of materials and products": "Some counties, townships, and villages should resolutely correct inappropriate practices such as sealing roads and blocking roads and generally persuading them to return."
Beijing News reporter Konka
Edited by Guo Chen
Proofreading Danger