ZAGREB, 21 April 2022 - The government will provide financial assistance to beekeepers in Međimurje after the mass death of bees, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said on Thursday after a government session.

She recalled that the government had helped local beekeepers after the scourge of bees in 2020 when about 40 honey farmers were given 1,300 bee colonies and the aid was worth HRK 1 million.

Vučković said that now the authorities were waiting for the findings of a veterinary inspection to establish whether the mass death was caused by a contagious disease or if the bees were killed by the effects of the use of protective chemical agents. Recently, an estimated 17.5 million bees in about 350 beehives in Međimurje have been found poisoned.

Local apiarists say that the wrong application of protective agents in fruit growing as well as in rapeseed cultivation has led to the mass poisoning of bees.

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