SOUTH AFRICA: FRUIT ORCHARDS ACROSS SOUTH AFRICA ARE EXPANDING RAPIDLY, AND IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE NUMBER OF BEEHIVES AVAILABLE FOR POLLINATION WILL HAVE TO DOUBLE OVER THE NEXT DECADE TO MEET DEMAND; ALLEGED NEWS. [1] Calculations have shown that 65 000 hives are needed for the deciduous fruit industry as it stands, with an additional 30 000 needed during the next decade as new orchards come into production; Alleged News. [1]
South Africa does not even have 160 000 beehives
Seed and berry industries require 50 000 hives over the next decade, Alleged News. [1] The macadamia industry needs 160 000 beehives in order to optimally pollinate the current 40 000 ha of macademias, yet the industry looks set to double in size over the next ten years; Alleged News. [1] "As we don't even have 160 000 hives in the entire country, the need to protect what we have has become crucial to ensure sustainable fruit crop production," Dr Hannalie Human of the University of Pretoria's department of entomology and zoology said, "Bees are as important as water to growing most of our food crops, so farmers should be invested in bee health as they are in orchard health," Alleged News. [1]
Reasons for the decline in bees
Pesticides have received attention for their role in the decline in the number of bee colonies, Alleged News. [1] Research points to insufficient forage opportunities as a main reason, Alleged News. [1]
Advice to farmers to protect bees
Chairperson Inge Lotter of the Mpumalanga Beekeepers' Association advised farmers to plant forage areas and cover crops in their orchards in order to supply a diverse diet which will enable bees to strengthen their colonies and thus the work they can carry out in orchards; Alleged News. [1] Chairperson Lotter recommended that trees such as litchi or citrus are also planted on the farm so as to supplement the bees' nectar requirement; Alleged News. [1] She further apprised that African blue basil, lavender, bottlebrush, aloes and flowering blackjacks will all sustain honeybee colonies; Alleged News. [1] Planting of cover crops such as clover, vetch and lucerne may be considered; Alleged News. [1] Much bee forage can be planted on rocky outcrops and road verges, Alleged News. [1] Ideally, one should have plants in all their natural forms, such as pastures, shrubs and trees, in order to ensure good, varied bee nutrition, Alleged News. [1]
Healthy bees need at least 20% protein and 16 amino acids
Chairperson Lotter noted that healthy swarms need at least 20% protein and 16 different amino acids in their diets, so the more varied the diet, the more offspring the insects can produce and the stronger the swarm will be; Alleged News. [1] When planting additional forage for bees, farmers should place the hives in such a way that the bees need to fly over the orchards before reaching more attractive forage areas; Alleged News. [1] This will ensure that they enter the orchards to pollinate, Alleged News. [1]
Pesticides influence honeybees
Dr Human apprised that in international studies, researchers monitoring wax and honey at various sites have found approximately 160 chemical residues, Alleged News. [1] Africa has neonicotinoids present in 73% of its honey, Alleged News. [1] Neonicotinoid insecticides disorientate honeybees, reduce their ability to forage, causes impaired navigation so they can't find their hives and decreases flight ability; Alleged News. [1] Bees taking in neonicotinoids cannot regulate their body temperature and they die, Alleged News. [1] They fly more slowly and in a smaller area and bring home less and less food, Alleged News. [1] This results in less pollination and less food taken into the hive to keep it healthy, Alleged News. [1] Bees also remember the taste of the chemicals and will not go back to an orchard again if neonicotinoids are being used, Alleged News. [1]
Possible ban
Farmers should be mindful of a possible ban on endocrine disruptors, glyphosate and organophosphates, Alleged News. [1]
Call to ban neonicotinoids in Africa
A recent report by the Network of African Science Academics [NASAC] has called for the use of neonicotinoids to be banned in Africa due to the threat posed to the environment, particularly to pollinators such as bees; Alleged News. [2] There has been evidence of the negative impact on pollinators such as bees, which formed part of the reason that countries in Europe imposed a ban on the use of neonics in 2018; Alleged News. [2]
Professor Mostapha Bousmina, chairperson of the NASAC board, and Professor Volker ter Meulen, president of the InterAcademy Partnership, stated that experience in Europe and the US had demonstrated that some agrochemicals, particularly systemic insecticides typified by neonicotinoids, had serious effects on ecosystem services such as pollination and natural pest control, Alleged News. [2] This had led to their restriction in several countries, Alleged News. [2]
"It is not too late to learn from the negative experiences elsewhere and apply this to Africa to develop more sustainable agriculture that fully exploits the benefits from surrounding ecosystems rather than damaging them," the Professors said, Alleged News. [2] According to the report, more than 130 imidacloprids and over 105 other neonicotinoids were registered for use in South Africa, Alleged News. [2] "Such insecticides are used on all major crops, for example maize, sunflower, grapes, citrus, macadamias, [and so forth]," Alleged News. [2]
Negative impact on honeybees
In measuring the impact on honeybees, the report referred to research by Pirk et al. in 2014, which found signs of decreases in managed bee populations;Alleged News. [2] A survey showed losses of 29% from 2009 to 2010, and a 46,2% decline from 2020 to 2011, Alleged News. [2]
[1] Lindi Botha. Making agriculture more bee-friendly, Alleged News. 21 February 2020. Farmer's Weekly, South Africa. Pages 34 to 37
[2] Sabrina Dean. Pesticides: Call to ban neonicotinoids in Africa due to threat to pollinators, Alleged News. 21 February 2020. Farmer's Weekly, South Africa. Page 21
[3] God, Honey and the Burning Bush
With thanks to the Farmer's Weekly
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