'Honey bees flourished during lockdown in Delhi', officials

One of the important positive aspects of the coronavirus-induced lockdown was that the population of honey bees increased considerably in the national capital. An official said that the lockdown period had a very positive impact on honey bees.

New Delhi: Coronavirus-induced national lockdown may have caused innumerable problems for many of us who were forced to stay indoors for months together to contain the highly contagious disease but these restrictions on movement also resulted in amazingly surprising results on various fronts, including beekeeping.

Reduction in air and water pollution was something which was noticed almost a week after the restrictions came into force but one more important and positive development was felt by beekeepers and officials involved in beekeeping as they found out a gradual increase in their population in almost all the gardens and green areas of the national capital.

Deputy Director of NDMC, S Chellaiah, who noticed honey bees increasing in Delhi gardens, told ETV Bharat here that as the noise level came down, honey bees started showing up everywhere and it was one of the important positive developments of the national lockdown that they have witnessed.

Underlining the importance of honey bees and their role in ensuring food security, he said the population of honey bees had increased by over 25 per cent because of the lockdown.

"Honey bees could be seen everywhere," he said, expressing happiness over the development.

He was also of the view that honey bees grow and work better when air and noise pollution levels are under control.