SOUTHERN CAPE NEWS - Do not chop down trees unnecessarily and as far as possible, allow wild flowers to grow on the roadside. Do not mow them.
That is the message from an experienced beekeeper concerned with maintaining the bee population in the Southern Cape.
Destruction of forage for bees, particularly the fynbos along the coast in the Southern Cape because of property development, presents the largest threat to local swarms, according to bee expert Herman Venter.
Drought and fires
The drought also led to dwindling swarms and the fires this year destroyed swarms, he said.
A Santos Haven retirement village resident, Leonie Raubenheimer, called the Mossel Bay Advertiser, complaining that the grass was cut so frequently at the village that the ground cover of small, wild flowers was not allowed to grow.
Raubenheimer said: "I spent a week in Plett. There was devastation there from the fires. Now they have left everything to flower on the sidewalks. No one is cutting anything. Here at Santos Haven, they want the lawns mowed flat.
There is a profusion of wild flowers in Mossel Bay currently.
"We need to bring awareness so that people's mindset is right. It might not happen this season. Right now people have the mentality that the grass must look perfect, but we have beautiful wild flowers in the town. Let's look after what we have. I would like Mossel Bay to be a trendsetter."
Venter said he knew teams of staff had mowing schedules so it was impossible to tell them not to mow. Also, some people would be pleased that the wild flowers were allowed to grow, whereas others would think they looked untidy.
However, he said: "If possible the clover with the yellow flowers on the road verges should be allowed to grow this season and only be cut once the flowers have died."
Excellent forage
Venter said the clover was excellent forage for bees. "It's a great idea to leave the flowers to grow in the Knysna and Plett area now."
Fynbos was good forage for bees because it flowered more or less throughout the year, although it was not the best honey-producing forage.
"You need 10 hectares of forage to properly sustain one beehive," he said.
"Bees are not becoming extinct in South Africa. We still have wild swarms of bees. There are declines in bees because of drought - in wild and managed swarms.
"During the fires in Knysna 400 swarms were lost. Beekeepers towards Albertinia, Riversdale and Still Bay – where there were also large fires - lost more than in Knysna."
Venter has hives on different farms. "People allow me to put hives on their property. I do honey production and we do a lot of bee removals." He also sells honey products.
There is a profusion of wild flowers in Mossel Bay currently. Photo: Linda Sparg
Don't exterminate
As far as is possible one should not exterminate bees, Venter says. There are instances where the bees are inaccessible or that it is not financially viable to remove the bees. He does no exterminations himself.
"I am not a pest control specialist."
"Often people will pay a pest control expert to destroy a swarm of bees, yet they won't pay for bee removal," Venter says.
He said there was a misconception that keeping bees was easy and one could make much money.
He said: "It's like keeping a pet. Bees need water and food and they can get sick. You must care for them. People must not keep hives and then leave them unattended.
"Rather sell them if you can't look after them. Don't leave them out in the field."
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