State insect? Bees find sudden champion in govt

Alarmed by dwindling bee populations, environmentalists called on the government to elevate the bee as the state insect. Some officials agreed, but their reasons left some perplexed.

Prasanna Kumar, former wildlife warden for Bengaluru Rural, who filed letters asking various government bodies for special status for bees, said he was concerned by reports of bug-extermination companies in the city charging as little as Rs 500 to douse hives with pesticides, killing entire colonies.

“I suggested making the bee the state insect as it is key to the environment, integral to humanity's survival,” he said.

Karnataka Biodiversity Board officials concurred. Research associate S Pritham said the bee as the state insect would increase public awareness about their critical role, which according to professor Shashidhar Viraktamath of GKVK’s Entomology Department, involves pollinating one-third of our food supply.

“Right now, people’s perception is limited to their sting, but as the state insect, public’s regard will increase,” Pritham said.

“If Karnataka selects a state insect, it will be first state in the country to do so,” he added.

S P Seshadri, chairman of the Biodiversity Board, sidestepping questions about threats to bee habitats, described the project as ‘very prestigious’.

To environmentalists and scientists, however, talk of prestige carries a hollow ring. Professor Viraktamath pointed out that it made little sense to adopt bees as mascots when human intervention is causing their widespread extermination.

“There are no precise statistics of bee population declines in India but a May 2017 research showed a population decline of 80% in Odisha – comparable to Karnataka,” he said.

All three primary wild bee species found in Karnataka, including the rock bees (apis dorsata), little bee (apis florea) and asiatic honey bee (apis cerana), have suffered sharp declines.

According to Seshadri, the final decision about the selection will be made during a meeting of the state wildlife board.