In a week where the local news has been dominated in this area by the apparent poisoning of a number of dogs by person or persons unknown ( tests are still being made and the results of the autopsy on one of the dogs are still to be published so at the moment, nothing is certain – article here) comes news of another attack this time not on man’s “best friend” but certainly a living being without whose help the world would be a far, far poorer and hungrier place – the humble and constantly working bee.
Some time over the last three days somebody decided that the 35 hives which were positioned in a field just outside Gromignana, had no right to be there and so taking the law into their own hands, he, she or they knocked over every single hive.
The owners of the hives only discovered this morning just what had happened when by chance they called into Gromignana to check on the bees.
According to one of the owners, it’s not the first time that their hives have been vandalised, the last time it happened was a year ago in nearby Bagni di Lucca when somebody knocked over five hives to show their displeasure at the presence of the bees. Then the message was clear and the other 25 hives were shortly moved to another “safer” place.
This time the person or persons responsible knocked over every single hive destroying bees, honeycombs and honey.
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The owners were today attempting to clear up some of the hives and recuperate the surviving bees before moving them back into other hives.
There has always been a kind of love – hate relationship with bees through the centuries with many people extremely wary or even afraid of the sound of a bee nearby but apart from supplying the human race with the fruits of their labour – the honey, the indefatigable insects perform another much more vital role, that of pollinating.
A world without bees is unthinkable. This would mean that pollination of plants could only occur through the action of the wind or by other animals brushing past.
Agriculture as we know it would be in steep decline.
The Caribineri at Coreglia have been informed of this vandalism and are investigating.
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