Well-known Sanski Beekeeper Emir Muhtari's 50 Beehives Poisoned

One of the most well-known Sanski beekeepers, Emir Muhtari, had as many as 50 beehives poisoned last week, which were grazing in the village of Jalašinovac in the municipality of Sanski Most.

Muhtari, who visited the apiary last Sunday, says the bees were alive and healthy. However, when he returned to the apiary a few days later, he had a shock. Thousands of bees lay dead in and around the hives.

- It was a real shock for me - Muhtari told the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

- Out of seventy hives that were grazing, only 20 remained alive - said this embittered beekeeper.

The damage caused to Muhtari could be up to 20,000 KM, considering that the bee colonies were destroyed when they were at their peak strength. Honey and other bee products that were in the hives during the poisoning, such as wax and propolis, are now contaminated and will also have to be destroyed.

Muhtari most likely will not be able to get any compensation from the state. Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have an adequate laboratory where they could determine what poison the bees died from. This is not the first case of beekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina having their bee colonies poisoned.

Two years ago, a large number of bees died in Herzegovina precisely due to pesticide poisoning. A few weeks later, the well-known Sarajevo beekeeper Evgenije Žolkević also lost 40 hives due to poisoning. However, none of the unfortunate beekeepers could prove that their bees were poisoned, so the police could not file a report without official findings.

Beekeepers who lose bees due to poisoning in BiH are advised to send bee samples to institutes in one of the neighboring countries. However, since these findings can cost up to several thousand KM, and BiH does not guarantee compensation even after the cause of death of the bees is established, no beekeeper from BiH has yet decided to take such a step. They mostly replenish their bee population on their own or with the help of other beekeepers and continue where they left off, writes Patria.

Muhtari does not know who could have poisoned his bees or why. He suspects that someone did it with a highly toxic spray, but it will be very difficult to prove. He reported the case to the police.

- My only luck in all of this is that I am a big beekeeper, I have another 200 hives, so I will quickly compensate for the loss from my own funds - says Muhtari for Patria.