The progressive disappearance that affects bees around the world due to the loss of their habitat and invasive species also affects Switzerland, where an expert has warned that all insect colonies in this country are sick and could disappear in one or two years if no action is taken.

According to Peter Neumann, a zoologist and expert on these insects who works for the University of Bern, all bees in the country are infected with the varroa mite and other viruses that have weakened the chronically affected colonies.

“Even viruses that are not usually dangerous for them are now a danger, due to how weakened the colonies are,” said the expert in an interview with several Swiss media, including the newspaper Le Temps.

To combat this problem, which according to Neumann has been neglected for 30 years, it is necessary to “raise awareness among beekeepers and consumers, develop colony protection methods and, in the case of honey bees, research into a lasting strategy against the varroa mite,” he claimed.

It also recommends stopping the use of insecticides and pesticides that are harmful to bees, another factor that has contributed to the fact that these animals, exploited by man for millennia, have become part of the lists of threatened species.