Maltese bee debate buzzes to Europe, government denounces ‘alarmism’

An ongoing debate about whether the genetic identity of the Maltese honeybee has been placed at risk by a recent large-scale importation of bee colonies, certified to be from France, will be taken up to the European Parliament.

Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola has submitted a parliamentary question, asking the European Commission whether they are aware of the potentially harmful effects that this importation could have on the Maltese honeybee.

“I wanted to know more about any effects the importation of foreign queen bees may have on the local bee species,” Metsola told MaltaToday. “Over the past few months, a number of people have brought this issue to my attention and highlighted their concerns about having an influx of foreign bees interbreed with our local bee population.”          

In January, Italian apiculturist Ermanno de Chino imported 445 nucleus bee colonies to Gozo, for use by his new company Melita Bee Limited to produce queen bees for export.  

Local beekeepers have expressed their concerns with MaltaToday that de Chino’s new bees could interbreed on a large scale with the local honeybee (Apis Mellifera Ruttneri), producing aggressive hybrid offspring and eventually even altering the bee’s DNA.  

A 1997 study by Washington State University professor Walter Sheppard proved that Ruttneri is a unique subspecies, endemic to Malta but genetically more related to North African bees than to European ones. A 2014 Masters’ dissertation by Sheryl Sammut confirmed these findings.

“83% of the colonies I had identified in my study were of an African lineage, indicating that the Maltese bee has remained resilient in the face of past pests and foreign importations,” Sammut told MaltaToday. 

“Bees are vital to the world’s food chain, responsible for pollinating one in three bites of the food we eat,” Metsola explained. “Apiculture also plays a crucial part in Europe’s Agricultural Sector, contributing at least €22 billion to European agriculture. The EU has been at the global forefront in taking action to protect bee colonies and has, since 2010, launched a wide range of initiatives to ensure that the decline in Europe’s bee population comes to an end.” 

‘No scientific evidence to stop bee importation’

The government and De Chino have downplayed these fears, arguing that bees have been imported in the past and that there is no scientific evidence that could warrant a ban on the importation of healthy European bees to Malta. 

“There is no scientific foundation to all of this alarmism when the importation of foreign bees has been going on for several years,” environment minister Leo Brincat told Parliament.

“It is this unfounded alarmism that is harming the local bee industry. The importation of bees from EU member states is free and no European government has the right to prohibit it.”

3,342 bee colonies were registered on the islands before De Chino’s importation. 482 of these were located in Gozo, the majority in Nadur and Xaghra, meaning that De Chino’s importation has effectively doubled the number of bee colonies on the island. 

The government has no information on what percentage of these colonies is of the Ruttneri variety, the sheer scale of which has got Maltese beekeepers fearing for the future of Ruttneri’s DNA and its adaptability to the Maltese climate. 

“Studies have proved that the Maltese honeybee has evolved over time into a completely endemic species, a very hard-working species that can thrive in Malta’s hot summers,” Malta Beekeepers Association president Stephen Galea told MaltaToday. “Italian and French bees, on the other hand, are used to kinder, sunflower-filled environments.”  

When asked in Parliament whether he could guarantee that De Chino’s importation will not result in the creation of aggressive hybrids, Leo Brincat said that “nobody can guarantee things that depend on nature”.