Bee Love

August is over, the last of the beekeeping ‘breather’ months. Bee numbers are on the rise as lambs are on the ground. No rest for the multi-discipline farmers out there, even I find myself with extra mouths to feed after successfully caesarean sectioning a dead ewe with triplets.

Mouths to feed are many in the hive, but at least we are not feeding the mites. After our deadly campaign with oxalic acid mist, mite numbers are being kept in check by the oxalic staples.

Last week our test hive at home had a drop of five mites on the sticky board, three days after vaporizing. I can live with that background level - and it is a datum, as sad as it is, we know we can never get them all. Our crew is super-vigilant for any signs of mites or damaged bees, and it is extremely heartening going through the rounds without finding evidence of either.

Off to a good start. Looking forward, I can see the orders for overwintered queens, piles of gear to create splits, and stacks of newspapers for making formic acid bags, looming overhead. Preparations are underway. The pricker bank is being re-needled, the extracting room floor is being resurfaced, and our operations are being revamped with a custom stainless sugar tank to go on the back of the truck.

The guy who won't wear a suit. Looking through some recently purchased hives with my brother.

Shoutout to all those significant others. Mine is a boilermaker/welder, so you know where that feed tank came from. The best things in life are free, and I don’t just mean the repairs to the truck. I’m talking about love. Appreciate what you have, and love will set you free.

It’s got to be love of the job that drives most of us. Love and necessity. Or insanity. Kidding, but the big push is just around the corner and things are about to get real.

To get into the mood, I attended an event, with Zespri’s ‘Beekeepers guide to kiwifruit pollination’, a collaboration of kiwifruit industry reps and beekeepers. The meeting went down with the same tone I’d heard at other recent shindigs – Zespri’s unabashed optimism and enthusiasm for the future of export kiwifruit. This was, however, the full-depth spiel, and the kiwifruit caucus was all ears and note-taking as the beekeepers bantered.

Now a few familiar faces, I could recognize some of our industry advocates. Discussions were encouraged and there was a fair bit to get through. With many unique challenges in perfecting the pollination of kiwifruit, what’s ‘good’ for the orchard is not always good for the bees, and various dances take place around flowering times and spraying schedules.  

Interesting points were raised, including enclosed orchards and the use of nettings. One could liken it to, as a bee, beeing in an absolute white-out. Every which way is a never-ending colour-block, and your chances of finding home are dubious at best. In perpetual gloom, the odds continue to stack as your life-giving wings break away on the windbreak (wing-break). Save the bees, guys.

Thankfully, this issue is being addressed in real time, and now some orchards are removing large strips of overhead netting to better accommodate pollinators’ need for the sun as a point of reference.

Calling in a favour with ‘the other half’. The new sugar tank (that’s the large vessel not what I call the bloke making it!).

Encompassing good practice and communication, the way forward is lit. Hive standards were covered, and on the topic of revolutionary hive auditing, my dad demonstrated his gift as a visionary, apprising that he has used thermal imaging on beehives for the last 10 years, to quickly pick out weak hives and otherwise gauge bee numbers.

All in, I have been sucking up information like a sponge. Attending industry events has been an eye-opener to how the real world works and has given me insight to the future.

New technology has a place in the scheme of things, but ultimately, sensors and algorithms do not hold a candle to the depth, understanding, and gratitude our humanness brings to managing bees.

So embrace your passion, cherish what you hold dear.

Bee Love.

Aimz