Pollination's bitter truth

With bees pollinating approximately one-third of the world's crops, commercial pollination services are a crucial and sought-after resource for many farmers. However, unscrupulous industry players are doing more harm than good, exacerbating the problem of dwindling bee populations.

- Lindi Botha

FAST FACTS

Wild bee populations are dwindling.

Unscrupulous beekeepers are catching bees and moving them from farm to farm to use them for their pollination services.

Bees are being overworked, resulting in their starvation and making them abscond their hives.

Farmer Giovanna Secco stands in silence among the sweet-smelling macadamia and papaya blossoms on her farm in Lows Creek, Mpumalanga. "Where are the bees?" she asks. It should be one of the busiest times of year for pollinators on the farm, but despite the fact that Secco has hired around 300 hives, at R90 000/month, the bees and their comforting buzzing are absent.

Secco has reason to be concerned. Studies show that without bees, nut set of macadamia trees would reach only 30%. The industry is therefore desperate for bees, and it's not the only one. The Mpumalanga Lowveld is also a hotspot for avocado, citrus and papaya production, and it is estimated that twice as many bees will be needed here within a decade to pollinate the growing orchards, all of which flower at the same time.

A recent, chilling study by Dr Hannelie Human of the University of Pretoria's Department of Entomology and Zoology shows that 70% of South Africa's migratory bees have been lost.

The number of beekeepers is also dwindling, and this is exacerbating the crisis. Beekeeper Michel Lenferna says there are more beekeepers exiting the industry than entering it.

"Vandalism, low honey prices, and a decline in honey production in colonies are making it harder for beekeeping to be sustainable. This will push the supply of, and demand for, pollination services to an unfavourable level for farmers, and there's a real risk that there won't be any bees in the future," he says.