Anchor: The South Korean government has drawn up pest control measures after some ten billion honeybees either died or disappeared last fall. Authorities believe mites are to blame, but apiaries claim unusual weather conditions led to the precipitous population decrease.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.

Report: The government estimates that some 500-thousand beehives across the nation witnessed the disappearance or death of honeybees between September and November of last year.

With an average of 20-thousand bees in each hive, roughly ten billion bees are thought to have been lost during the three-month period, a figure that is expected to rise given similar conditions this winter.

The number of beehives in the nation fell more than eight percent after last autumn, with some eight billion honeybees disappearing last winter.

The government has cited mites as the cause of the latest population shock, claiming that apiaries failed to take proper control measures.

Bee farms, however, are blaming the unusual weather and warm temperatures seen last fall and winter, saying the repeated patterns of such conditions affected the bees’ ecosystem.

Based on its belief, the government plans to promptly provide pest control materials to bee yards after the winter and operate a special pest-control period between June and October.

For bee yards that have suffered losses, the government plans to swiftly provide beehives and up to ten million won in support funds.

The government believes that even if the number of honeybees declines, it will not have a significant impact on the nation’s beekeeping industries and have limited effect on the ecosystem.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.