The Buzz about Bees
and the trouble they are in…
Beekeeping is a very serious and an under recognised topic, the importance itself of keeping the bees alive and reproducing goes well beyond the mere fact that they produce honey for our consumption.
Bees are critical to the survival of the human race, with their pollination contributing in some way to over 90% of the food we eat. We need to do everything we can to help them survive and remain sustainable - as the bees are in trouble. The prevalent use of pesticides and herbicides are not only killing the bees, but also reducing the nectar sources they rely on to survive. It has been reported that over 5.6 billion pounds of pesticides alone are used annually worldwide! In general, bees’ numbers worldwide are reducing drastically. In New Zealand, due to the Manuka ‘Gold Rush’ hive numbers have increased from under 400,000 to just under 1 million in the past 10 years. This in itself has caused issues especially with overstocking of areas and apiaries (a yard of beehives) being far too close to each other increasing the spread of disease. There is still only the same amount of food for the bees to forage, and this massive increase in hive numbers has seen the bees suffering from starvation and disease, and for the beekeeper, the yield of honey has reduced.
There are some simple things we can do to help, grow lots of flowers in your gardens, the bees love a wide range of flowering plants like lavender, poppies, marigolds, clover, fox gloves, dahlias, honeysuckle, jasmine etc. When it’s hot, pop a bowl of water out for the bees, it’s thirsty work flying from flower to flower and carrying all that pollen and nectar home to the hive.
If you are a keen grower of vegetables, bees are an essential ‘ingredient’ to any successful crop.
We have a Bee Keeper, based in North Canterbury who has been beekeeping for over 25 years and I am thrilled to share with you how he cares for the bees.
As we head out of winter and look forward to spring, we wanted to let you know what the Honey bees are up to. At this time of the year, the bees are still clustering together to keep warm on the days it is too cold for them to venture out. On the warmer days, they can’t wait to get out, stretch their wings and start foraging for pollen and nectar.
It is a really ‘buzy’ time for the Bee Keeper too, at this time of the year the hives are receiving another treatment for Varroa, a very nasty little parasite that feeds on the bees blood and hides in the sealed brood chambers causing the bees to hatch with deformities. At the Bee Keepers Honey, we take great care with pro-actively monitoring and treating for varroa using organic treatments.
It is also a great time of the year to give the bees some extra tucker to help get the Queen bee enthusiastic to start laying brood in anticipation of the nectar flow and to strengthen numbers in the hive. We feed, when necessary, sugar syrup and pollen patties. This gives the bees a real boost as it has been too cold for them to go out over the winter and gather pollen and their stores may be getting low.
Each hive needs a minimum of checking once per month to monitor the bee health, varroa levels and check for disease, mainly AFB (American Foul Brood).
We are passionate about Bee Keeping and we look forward to updating you regularly.
Written by
Susan
