South Africa is not experiencing honey-bee shortages like Europe and the US, where in some parts of those countries up to 80% of honeybee colonies are reported as collapsed, says association for the plant science industry CropLife South Africa consultant Dr Gerhard Verdoorn.
A honeybee shortage is problematic as these insects pollinate plants, allowing fertilisation and reproduction.
“In the agricultural sector bees are some-times killed by misapplication of pesticides but in the case of South Africa, although it has not experienced colony collapses like those experienced in the US and Europe, honeybees are unnecessarily being killed with pesticides in rural areas,” says Verdoorn.
In 2010, in Barberton, Mpumalanga, the municipality ordered the killing of 900 swarms of bees, he notes, adding that this is unnecessary as the bees could have been removed without having to kill them.
Verdoornsays the unnecessary killing of bees could contribute to a decrease in the bee population.
A framework policy developed by crop protection and animal health products association the Association of Veterinary and Crop Associations of South Africa (AVCASA) sets out the correct methods involved in bee management, highlights Verdoorn.
“If bees within an area do not represent a threat to people or animals, these insects should be left as they are important not only for agriculture but for normal, natural vegetation. “If, however, they do represent a threat they can be removed by beekeepers.
“Beekeepers will remove the hive with the queen bee and then sterilise the area after-wards as bees release pheromones that attract other bees, which could result in another hive,” he explains.
The next category involves instances of bees that are impossible to move, where, although they do not represent an immediate threat to people or animals, they could in the near future. In such an instance, the colony would have to be exterminated. Further, in cases where bees do represent a threat to people and animals they would have to be exterminated as well, Verdoorn explains, adding that these two categories rarely occur and only represent about 5% of reported cases.
He adds that bee populations are increas-ingly moving into urban areas in search of food, which they cannot find elsewhere owing to their habitats being destroyed for construction or industrial purposes.
This occurs more frequently during winter as the only crops available to support bees then are citrus crops, such as orange trees, as other crops are dormant during this period, Verdoorn points out.
“The large-scale removal of blue gum trees by the Department of Water Affair’s (DWA’s) Working for Water (WfW) programme is another concern for beekeepers as blue gum trees are a major food source for bees,” he says.
The WfW programme aims to remove alien species, such as plants, animals and microbes that represent a threat to South Africa’s bio-diversity, as they outcompete with indigenous species for resources such as water. The DWA says alien plant species also represent a threat to the country’s water security as they “divert water from more productive uses”.
Another challenge which honeybee popu-lations face is the lack of knowledge of the effects global warming has on bees, says Verdoorn. “It is unknown what the effects will be if the global temperature rises by 0.5 ºC, but it would most likely impact on bees,” he adds.