INTERNATIONAL: Bees took the center stage at a Beekeepers protest in front of Chile’s presidential palace in Santiago on Monday,3 January.

Protesters, geared with protective device, have placed wooden beehives with thousands of bees inside outside La Moneda government palace.

Four beekeepers were detained, with seven police officers stung during the demonstrations.

Honey production has been hurt by a long-term drought in Chile that has withered the bees' food sources such as flowers and crops. While drought is not uncommon in Chile, the current megadrought has persisted since 2010, and climate change is at least partly to blame, scientists say.

"We were protesting because of the drought," protester and beekeeper Jose Iturra has said to local media. "Bees are dying. There would be no life if bees die. That's what we wanted to highlight."

The beekeepers want government reform to improve honey prices or to provide subsidies to honey producers. They have asked to meet with President Sebastian Pinera. The beekeepers set around 60 beehives, which contained an estimated 10,000 bees, on the avenue in front of the palace.

One of the beekeepers, Jose Iturra , has told local reporters that the drought in the Colina commune north of Santiago was killing the local bee population.

A representative for the Ministry of Agriculture in the Santiago region said that the agency was also concerned about the effect the drought was having on the bees.

The government has been providing aid for months to 20 communities experiencing severe water shortages, Omar Guzman, the regional agricultural secretary, told reporters.

Some passers-by were alarmed by the risk the bees posed to the public. "It's dangerous for the people who are allergic to bees because they can cause death," one local said.

Seven national police officers, called Carabiniers, were stung trying to arrest the beekeepers and move the beehives out of the street, police officials said, and were taken to the hospital.

Droughts and rising temperatures from climate change have affected bee populations worldwide. A 2020 study published in the journal Science found that populations fell by around 50 per cent in North America and 17 per cent in Europe in one generation.

^{PHOTO: BEEKEEPERS PROTESTING OUTSIDE LA MONEDA PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, POLICE REMOVING BEEHIVES AND DETAINING PROTESTERS, SOUNDBITES FROM PROTESTER AND LOCALS}