How a website could stop billions of Russian bees from dying

Bees perish: A file picture showing a bee gathering pollen from a flower on a cherry tree in a garden outside Moscow. Several billion bees from about 80,000 colonies have perished due to the use of pesticides. — AFP

MOSCOW: For Ivan Gusak, bees are his retirement plan. For years he has been keeping them in Rostov, about a 15-hour drive south from here, and had planned to live off the money he makes from selling the honey they produce.

But last month, his apiary was wiped out. He found out through the grapevine that a nearby farm had been applying parathyroids to crops overnight. The chemical is legal for use in Russia, but can have devastating consequences if it’s misapplied.