Extreme weather events in Chile, including major recent floods and wildfires earlier this year, are devastating colonies of the humble bee, a key pollinator for crops of avocados and almonds in one of the global south's key food producing countries.
Heavy rainfall in the last week has caused floods that have blocked off roads and prompted evacuations in the center of the country in what has been described as the worst weather front in a decade. That follows major fires at the start of the year.
"We were affected by the fires and now the floods," said Mario Flores, president of the National Beekeeping Movement (Monachi), adding that over 3,000 beehives were affected last week alone in heavy rains in Chile's south-central region...
Chile's bee population, hit hard in recent years by drought, is important for pollinating many of the South American country's export crops including cherries, blueberries and apples, part of a multi-billion dollar food industry.
Losses have mounted during recent floods, beekeeper Carlos Nunez said, with 300 of his 500 hives ruined last week after the Cachapoal River broke its banks in a province to the south of capital Santiago...
The government has decreed an agricultural emergency in areas affected by the floods to financially help farmers, particularly from Santiago to the southern Biobio region.
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