A bill is being considered by the Verkhovna Rada, which obliges farmers to inform the nearest beekeepers about the chemical treatment of the fields.

It is assumed that such an alert will go through the exchange of short text messages via mobile communications. The list of informed persons will include all beekeepers from the nearest 10 km from agricultural land.

This bill arose under the influence of Sergey Leshchenko, Leonid Kozachenko and Mustafa Dzhemilev. The exact data that will need to be indicated in the SMS to beekeepers: time and date, name of the treated plants and the preparation.

People’s deputies propose introducing state support for beekeeping, as well as administrative and criminal liability for damage to this industry. Illegal felling of melliferous bushes and trees will be punishable by a restriction of freedom for a period of 2 to 5 years, the provision of false information about the conduct of beekeeping, which led to the death of bees - a fine in the amount of from 3 to 5 thousand tax-free minimum incomes of citizens.

In the explanatory note to the bill, people's deputies emphasize that 50 thousand bee families died in Ukraine last year.