DANA BAY NEWS -  The Dana Bay Conservancy’s Junior Youth Club celebrated World Bee Day, which falls on 20 May, with a delightful and educational event held at Travellers at D Bay on 16 May.

The event saw John Stolz and Kobus Vos of the Southern Cape Beekeeping Industry Association (SCBiA) speak to the youngsters in attendance about bees, their behaviours, and their roles during their extremely short lifespan, which lasts between 30 and 90 days, depending on their biological sex and the time of year.

Dawn Squires, who runs the club under the Dana Bay Conservancy banner, said it was a fascinating talk and that she was amazed to learn that a beehive can hold up to 50 000 bees with just one queen that can lay up to 2 000 eggs a day. 

“Interestingly, all worker bees are female and have the ability to sting, so watch out for those ladies! The males don’t sting, but mate with the queen and immediately die. If they haven’t mated yet, they look after the eggs,” she said.

Squires said from the event, she also learnt that pure honey lasts indefinitely and remains safe to eat for decades after it was produced.

“It is very important that we keep bees around, since they are responsible for pollinating almost every plant food source out there. We depend on them for survival,” said Dana Bay Conservancy’s chairperson, Erika van der Westhuizen,

She also thanked Vos and Stolz for coming to the event and speaking to the youth club.

If any parents in Dana Bay are interested in their children joining the Junior Youth Club, contact Squires on 078 025 3447. 

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