This summer has been a record-breaker for major European rivers and forests, with record low levels and wildfires reported respectively.

The cause of such extreme events is climate change in action. The current climate change is significant as it has been brought about through direct human interventions and behaviours.

Honey bees greatly depend on biotic and abiotic factors. Global changes in climate will also greatly impact local apiculture as will be discussed herein.

The increase in drought and fire hazards due to lack of rain and unabating heat is directly linked to increased frequencies of wildfires. In turn, such wildfires contribute greatly to loss of colonies and habitats.

Floral resources upon which honey bees feed are negatively impacted. Due to stressful conditions, plants produce reduced volumes and quality of pollen and nectar. In fact, this year’s less erratic precipitation correlated with increased honey yields when compared to recent years.

Increasingly arid environments also equate to increased metabolic requirements by honey bees to deal with harsher abiotic conditions. For instance, honey bees will have to travel longer distances in search of fresh water, an essential element for brood rearing and hive thermoregulation.

The life cycles of fauna and flora are directly linked to seasonal changes. Changes in climatic trends will destabilise long-established relationships between flower blooms and pollinators. Honey bees, which also act as a main pollinator, intimately link their life cycles to coincide with annual periodical changes.

The Maltese endemic honey bee (Apis mellifera ruttneri) has adapted to withstand local biotic and abiotic conditions through various evolutionary mechanisms.

Floral resources upon which honey bees feed are negatively impacted. Due to stressful conditions, plants produce reduced volumes and quality of pollen and nectar

This has allowed it to be in perfect synchrony with the environmental changes. However, traits of temporal mismatches can already be observed locally.

Various locals have reported the blooming period of wild thyme, characteristically abundant in remaining pristine karst habitat (xagħri), occurring weeks earlier between the end of May and beginning of June. Usually, thyme flowers between the end of June and beginning of July.

Apart from the occasional inclement weather during this atypical flowering period for thyme which negatively affects its flower quality and quantity, honey bees are forced to shift their normal summer foraging patterns.

This practically also means that honey bees would have to wait longer until their next significant foraging forays which occurs later on during the year (eucalyptus and carob).

Bearing in mind the decreased resource availability and consequent decreased fitness, honey bees will become more susceptible to disease.

A change in disease profile is also expected,  which will affect the incidence, spread and virulence of both established and new pathogens or pests.

Locally, the increased presence of the oriental hornet is causing havoc among local apiculturists. Presently, only a preliminary study on the topic is available. The reasons behind their dramatic increase and spread have various roots, including fluctuations in annual temperature trends which climate change might be facilitating (read more about this topic here: https://nahlamaltija.wordpress.com/2022/07/23/maltese-honeybee-vs-oriental-hornet/).

Honey bees greatly depend on biotic and abiotic factors. Global changes in climate will also greatly impact local apiculture. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Other possible global changes in the near future include:

▪ An increase in chalkbrood disease, caused by the fungus Ascosphera apis, which thrives in humid environments.

▪ An increase in Nosema ceranae infections, facilitated by elevated temperatures.

▪ European foulbrood, usually easily dealt with, becomes more lethal in the lack of adequate pollen sources which also acts to boost honey bee immune systems.

▪ The emergence of new, deadlier viruses.

Alarmingly, pathogen transfer between different species of bees (previously isolated from one another) due to climate-induced migrations is also expected. This phenomenon is not a new occurrence in apiculture, with the infamous Varroa parasite having been introduced to European honey bees via cross-species transmission from Asian honey bees. Presently, limited information is available on this topic. However, evidence suggests that the extent and role of host shifts has been underestimated. Considering the present globalised world, even though the Maltese islands are isolated geographically, the introduction of new diseases remains a likely possibility due to importations.

The same issues vis-à-vis a change in disease profile will also affect the agricultural sector. This will consequently mean an increase in pesticide use by farmers to better protect their crops, lesser yields and more expensive produce. Although the effect of some pesticides on bees might be sub-lethal on their own, when combined with other stressors, it causes a rapid deterioration in bee health and becomes extremely lethal.

Possibly the biggest threat to the Maltese honey bee is genetic mixing with other imported subspecies or strains of honey bees which may be regarded by some beekeepers as more commercially enticing.

This causes genetic pollution in the Maltese honey bee population. Such a scenario greatly pushes endemic island populations to extinction because of their intrinsic sensitive diversity. Favourable characteristics, including the resilient traits the Maltese honey bee exhibits to endure the challenging Maltese habitat, would become greatly diluted within the population. This makes it less able to adapt to harsher environmental conditions going forward.

Climate change is not the be-all and end-all of the challenges faced by local apiculture.

It is time to stop procrastinating and act before it is too late. The solutions to sustainable future beekeeping are clear as day

Unfortunately, environmental stressors, pests and pathogens, and lack of healthy genetic diversity, have a negative multiplier effect on honey bee vitality.

However, noteworthy is the fact that studies have reported that the best honey bee to keep is the native subspecies present for a particular region. Why? Because it possesses the necessary tools through its unique genetic diversity to adapt to worsening climatic conditions for apiculture in its native region.

The Maltese islands are gifted with their own endemic sub-species of honey bee. It is possible that the legacy of the not-so-distant colonialism has become too enshrined in our mindsets. Some might think that foreign sub-species are superior.

As a population, we have to shake off such baseless claims regarding imported commercial subspecies, as this is not the case. Local is better!

The Maltese beekeeping community should prioritise combining forces with the aim to protect this greatly underrated treasure, and cooperatively conquer the numerous challenges that Maltese and Gozitan beekeepers are facing.

It is time to stop procrastinating and act before it is too late. The solutions to sustainable future beekeeping are clear as day.

Dylan Farrugia and Abner Joe Buttigieg are co-founders of the Coalition for the Conservation of the Maltese honey bee, an initiative that was set up to holistically conserve and promote the endemic Maltese honey bee. Follow the Facebook or Instagram accounts Koalizzjoni għall-Konservazzjoni tan-Naħla Maltija to keep updated with any new developments.