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"OUR ECOLOGICAL TRUTH" '94. HOTEL "JEZERO",
lake of Bor

BEES NATURAL LODGES IN AREA OF BOR

Author: Ivan Brndušić, beekeeper

Science says that bees had existed even before us, humans. Ecological question is if they will exist after us. About Boor (an industrial town in East Serbia), well known source of pollution for its surrounding, is very easy to write, talk and prove.
When bees are in question, it is even easier, because there is no literature where Boor is not taken as a bad example, and among beekeepers and other citizens there is an opinion that bees’ survival is impossible here.
That was my opinion too, but bees showed me the opposite and with their solitary existence in surrounding of Bor have proved that they can live here as well as anywhere in Yugoslavia.
Since 1988 I have investigated this phenomenon and filed more than 70 colonies of solitary bees and about 70 more, which became known to me from my interviews with local dwellers of nearby villages. The topic of this article is not discussed till now and shows the opposite opinion the of majority. That is the reason why I have started my investigations with the map of Boor community. To prove what I have found I marked all reported natural lodges of solitary bees, with accurate data such as: photos taken at the place, names of witnesses, location, size of colony, kinds of trees, honey quantities and litters and the age of swarm of bees calculated according to the age of the honey comb.
The only exception is the colony in the Brestovac bridge. I have observed this colony from 06.05.1990. when the swarm had left my beehive and settled in this unusual place. It has existed there alive and productive for the last five years, and the last year (1993) this colony gave its own swarm. This unusual place for settlement is unique and magnificent. The bridge is as high as long, with very busy traffic and everything connected with, such as noise, vibrations etc. The real impression can be achieved only at the very point.
The second unusual lodge is the threshold of one house in Brestova~ka spa. Bees have been living and "working" there for four years. Besides these very rare settlements, colonies in chimneys and stables were also found. The most "popular" places are the cavities of old trees.
It is logical and also scientific question how bees, indicators of healthy living environment, survive without any external, human help, when we know that stationary beehives are attacked by various parasites, fungus diseases and viruses.
Besides honey bees I also "follow" some other insects, indicators of healthy environment, such as: wild bees "rotunda" and corunta" and hornets, which together make one unknown oasis in Bor, Brestovacka spa and Zlot cavities.

Conclusion:

Despite of all opposite opinions up to now about possibilities for beekeeping in metallurgical complex of Bor and its environment, the author had found more than 70 natural lodges of bees, some of them on very unusual places such as one concrete bridge near Bor, a threshold of one old house or in chimneys and stables and the most in cavities of old trees. Each of them has been marked on the map with all relevant data.
It is a question how bees, the indicators of healthy environment, can exist on such unusual places, but this indicates the need for further exploration of this matter.