Balance needed on bees

YOUR ARTICLE “Record spike in pollination demands puts honeybees in danger” on December 6 refers.

Commercial beekeepers, like myself, appreciate media coverage of the issues that confront our industry. Apart from airing matters of interest and concern, it also helps inform the general public about the work we do and the vital role honeybees play in the food production chain, and the natural environment generally.

The tone of that article was, however, unfortunate, painting a picture of mainly unscrupulous pollination contractors, intent on maximising income at the expense of their honeybees.

To be sure, we are facing difficult challenges as the exponential growth of the local agricultural industry demands ever more beehives for pollination. The surge in production of blueberries – the so-called “smart foods”, for example – requires up to 12 managed beehives a hectare to carry out essential pollination.

Peering into the not too distant future, it seems we will not have nearly enough beehives to satisfy the needs of our food producers. We simply don’t have sufficient forage to sustain the number of beehives required. The wholesale felling of eucalyptus trees across the country, often needlessly, is placing great pressure on the viability of commercial beekeeping.

But to suggest pollination contractors will simply meet shortfalls by over-working their bees and doing back-to-back pollination jobs, is misleading. Inevitably, as in all industries, there will be some mavericks who fail to observe operating standards.

The vast majority of commercial beekeepers, however, are passionate about their honeybees and committed to looking after their welfare. Anything less is entirely counter-productive.

A glaring oversight in the article was the failure to reflect the strenuous efforts by the local representative body, the Western Cape Bee Industry Association, to provide improved guidance for pollinator beekeepers and introduce higher standards.

The chairperson, Brendan-Ashley Cooper, has been spearheading this drive, which includes the establishment of a corps of pollination inspectors, who will ensure that the interests of both the honeybees and the farmers who hire them will be protected. So, far from being a disorganised industry, as the article will have you believe, we beekeepers are doing our utmost to deal with the many challenges confronting us and our honeybees.

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