Without bees, no one could roll in clover
Without bees, no one could roll in clover
Without the incredible honeybee, two-thirds of
the food we take for granted would almost vanish, making
life as we know it impossible.
“The reality is
that no bees mean no food and no people. That’s no joke
because bees make civilisation possible,” says John
Hartnell, Federated Farmers Bees chairperson and a
Christchurch based exporter of bee products.
“If we don’t look after all natural pollinators and
the honeybee especially, we could see economic and social
collapse. We are truly tiptoeing around the edge of a
global chasm.
“One-third of the food all humans
eat is directly pollinated by honeybees. Nothing comes
close to matching nature’s super pollinator. It is why
the honeybee is most indispensable animal to modern society.
“When you eat your main meal tonight, just
examine what’s on your plate. Anything of colour, from
avocados to zucchinis, are only there because of honeybee
pollination.
“What’s more, another third of
the food we eat from agriculture is indirectly supported by
honeybees pollinating pasture and crops.
“While too much nitrogen can be a bad thing, too
little, we forget, makes life impossible. Without bees no
one would be rolling in clover. It is that simple and that
stark.
“Then of course there is fruit; our
sixth largest export worth over $1.6 billion each year.
Whether it is kiwifruit, apple, blueberry, cherry or pear,
all are directly pollinated by the honeybee.
“Without the honeybee, we’d be pretty much dependent
on an austere diet of fish, starch, grains and seaweed.
“In China, much of its pear industry relies on
pollination by human hand because the overuse of
agricultural chemicals has made the land hostile to the
honeybee.
“That is why Bees are an Industry
Group within Federated Farmers and share policy resources
with our arable sector. This recognises just how vital
bees are to farming and farmers know that.
“Last year, Syd Fraser-Jones was conferred life
membership of Federated Farmers Waikato after 57 years of
service.
“When accepting his life membership,
Mr Fraser-Jones said the three most important things to
agriculture are ‘the bees, the bees and the bees –
you’ve got to look after the bees.’ That says it
all,” Mr Hartnell concluded.
Being bee
aware with sprays
There are some very simple
rules when we look at agricultural sprays and irrigation and
this is as applicable to lifestyle block farmers and
councils, as it is to working farms:
§ If the
crop is flowering and bees are flying and working the crop,
leave spraying until dusk and before dawn. This is
generally better than the day itself, with less wind and
less spray drift.
§ While a chemical may be said to be ‘bee friendly’, do not take the risk. Often, the ‘sticking agent’ mixed with the chemical can be more dangerous to bees than the active product itself
§
Ensure any spraying contractor is fully briefed on your
requirements. Deliberately flaunting these guidelines is a
prosecutable offence and the prospects of a beekeeper
accepting a contract to pollinate your crops in the future
will be greatly diminished.
Being bee
aware with irrigation
Water via irrigation is a major threat to bee life. The bee cannot live in a cold-wet environment and it will rapidly chill and die before returning to the hive:
§ Use common sense and irrigate in the evening and not during the day when bees are flying. This has the advantage of greater water retention for pasture and crops
§ If you want hives in a crop,
then ensure an irrigator can not drift across and literally
take out the hives.
Being bee aware with
hive location
Placing hives for good pollination is like selling a house; it is location, location, location:
§ Ensure hives are out of the travel path of any irrigator
§ Different crops have different requirements. For those crops the bees want to work, like white clover, they will fly some distance to seek pollen and nectar. Locating them over the fence in a sheltered warm north facing site will do the job
§ Some crops are a
little less palatable for the honeybee, like kiwifruit,
carrots and onions. In this instance, placing the hives in
the paddock or the orchard directly with the crop can
enhance the pollination strike rate. Again common sense will
prevail, the honeybee is a master pollen and nectar
gatherer; show them the opportunity and they will get on
with the job, weather permitting.
Being
bee aware in the urban environment
Much of the
advice above applies equally at home in the suburbs with
gardeners. Making home gardens an inviting place for a bee
to visit increases pollination success:
§ Use a mixture of bee friendly plants placed in your garden, which encourage bees to fly in and do their job of pollination
§ Lavender in the vegetable plot or orchard is a great start and it will flower right through the pollination period
§ Bee friendly gardening is just as important
as bee friendly farming. Keep it simple, keep it safe and
bees will keep your garden pollinated.
For bee friendly planting ideas
Please refer to Federated Farmers Trees for Bees by clicking here or by putting “trees for bees” into Google.
ENDS