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At least one million bees reportedly died of poisoning in a wine region of South Africa.
Brendan Ashley-Cooper told the BBC that an insecticide used by winemakers, Fipronil, would have killed insects on his farm.
Other honey bee breeders in the Cape region have also been affected, but it is still unclear how many insects have died, he said.
Fipronil is at the origin of the death of millions of honeybees in Europe.
Activists say Fipronil is very toxic to insects and its use was restricted in Europe in 2013
About 100 of his hives, or 35% to 40% of those he owned in the affected areas, had been affected by the disaster, said Ashley-Cooper, vice president of the Western Cape Bee Industry Association. .
He estimated that it meant that between one and a half million bees had been killed.
It is unclear how many bees there are in South Africa, but deaths would not make much difference to their overall population, he said.
"Less honey for Christmas"
Fipronil was also at the center of an egg scandal in Europe this year.
Millions of eggs have been removed from supermarket shelves in more than a dozen European countries, including UNITED KINGDOM, after discovering that some had been contaminated with the insecticide.
Fipronil is commonly used to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks, but its use is banned by the European Union for animals intended for human consumption, such as chickens.
Fipronil has long been used by wine growers in the Cape to control the ant population, but it was the first time the insecticide was suspected of causing bee deaths, Ashley said. Cooper.
Photo: activists worry about the decline of the bee population
Other tests are underway to confirm if the problem is causing the problem, and growers and the government are working with beekeepers to solve the problem, he added.
Managed and wild bees hives from southern Cape have been affected, said Ashley-Cooper.
"A week ago we started receiving calls that beekeepers were finding dead bees in front of their hives," he added.
"A large majority of hives have been affected," said Ashley-Cooper.
There would be a small impact on honey production, and "some uncles and aunts will have to do without honey this Christmas," he said.
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