Honey, I’m home: bees get their own sanctuary during swarming season

In the heart of Midrand, Johannesburg, a novel sanctuary for bees has been set up on the grounds of an international pharmaceutical company.

Concerned about the safety of honeybees during the swarming season — when bees reproduce and find new places to build hives — conservation agency Bee Kulture devised the concept of a bee sanctuary.

The idea was presented to Rentokil Initial and kicked off a partnership to protect the honeybees and their vital role in the ecosystem.

“We developed the concept of bee sanctuaries and presented it to Rentokil as a response to the current situation, which is that bees are under threat, and there is a lack of safe sites for apiaries,” said Shane Duthie of Bee Kulture.

“Many corporates have an abundance of suitable and unused land, and corporate involvement in any rehabilitation programme is beneficial. Developing a sustainable project to achieve this has not been done feasibly and safely until now.”

About 200 — the number of bottles of honey the bees at the sanctuary are expected to produce

Six — the number of months swarming takes place

—  IN NUMBERS:

Bees are deemed critical for the future existence of humans and are essential for the growth of many plants, including food crops.

“It is therefore imperative that every bee is protected, and whenever a swarm is deemed to be a nuisance they need to be safely and sustainably relocated,” said Duthie.

Gugu Masina, Rentokil’s marketing manager, said the company was impressed by Bee Kulture’s conservation approach, which “fits in well with our ethos of integrated pest management and environmental protection, the partnership between ourselves was obvious”.

Duthie said the first bee sanctuary is located at a pharmaceutical company in Midrand.

“They were chosen due to their willingness to assist in helping bee populations recover.

“The development of large tracts of land by corporates has led to the destruction of millions of natural bee colonies. Habitat loss is one of the main reasons for colony collapse in the world.”

The company had two beehives in their buildings which needed to be removed.

“When presented with the concept they were open to the idea of creating a bee sanctuary on their property instead of removing the hives.”

Instead of removing and rehousing the large swarm of bees, apiaries have been placed in a small, carefully sectioned off and signposted piece of the property to provide a safe space.

Duthie said the project rollout has been successful so far.

The development of large tracts of land by corporates has led to the destruction of millions of natural bee colonies. Habitat loss is one of the main reasons for colony collapse in the world.

—  Shane Duthie of Bee Kulture.

“Bee Kulture is expecting to be able to harvest honey for the company in about two months.

“They are expecting about 200 bottles which will be branded to their specification for their canteen use, to be given to their suppliers or to be donated to charities.

“The future of these bee sanctuaries will most likely include involving and engaging with underprivileged communities and trying to garner more youth involvement in this industry, which has an ageing population.

“This is concerning because beekeepers do a lot to aid indigenous bee populations. If these skills are not transferred to the younger generations, bee populations are likely to continue to decline,” he said.

Duthie said when colonies split and bees swarm off, they become weak, dehydrated, hungry and cold.

“They are not dangerous and will not attack unless provoked. It is best to leave them to rest in a spot while their scouts look for a new and suitable home. They are regarded as dangerous when provoked and most dangerous where an established colony is provoked and they have a lot of honey or brood to protect.”

They are working on convincing other companies to adopt a bee sanctuary.

“It will allow a businesses an opportunity to give homes to bees who would have saturated their land had they not developed it,” said Masina.

“It is a very visual commitment to the environment and sustainability for their suppliers, competitors and clients to see. It produces honey for the companies to use as they please.

“They are providing a safe space for these colonies to continue to produce more bees to assist in aiding the revival of the declining population.”

“The impact that each of these sites can have is massive, and the more good work that these sites can do, the better.”

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