Our Professional Members offer Pollination Services. Please contact the beekeepers listed below for further information:
Kwa-Zulu Natal: North Coast and South Coast
• Macadamias
• Avocados
• Litchis
Central Free State
• Apples
• Cherries
• Sunflower
Green Door Apiaries
Matt and Phil Walker
0827134192
gdahoney@sai.co.za
Hawthorn Hill Honey Farms
Kim and Shelia McCall
0827070761
Kimmccall79@gmail.com
Qalabusha
Janice van Eck (0823328786)
Mandla Dhlamini (0612838589)
vaneckjanice@gmail.com
Bushveldbees
Kristie Paine (0825336099)
kristie@bushveldbees.co.za
Glenwood Garden Apiary
Chris Weber (0726211456)
chrisweber@mweb.co.za
Montpellier Bees
Amanda Bucknall (0799033216)
bees@montpellier.org.za
www.montpellier.org.za
About Pollination Services
In KZN this is a fledgling business and both beekeepers and farmers are still trying to find the best solutions for our climate, crops and conditions.
Pollination as a service has not been required in the past for several reasons:
There has been a large reserve of native pollinators and wild bees around. `these are diminishing due to habitat loss, wider use of pesticides and many other reasons.
Farmers are planting larger and larger blocks of monoculture so there is nothing to keep the pollinators in the area when the crop is not flowering and they do not come back in large enough numbers to adequately pollinate the crop.
Farmers have not realised the value of adequate pollination.
This scenario is changing and this is where the beekeeper and honey bee play a role.
The honey bee is not the only pollinator. Many other insects perform this role, as well as birds, bats and other animals. However, the honey bee is the only one that man has been able to manage and move about reasonably easily on a commercial scale.
What to expect from pollination services:
The beekeeper will provide a strong colony of bees that has been built up so that there is a large number of worker bees available to do the pollinating.
The number of hives per hectare is crop dependent.
The time the hives are on site is crop dependent.
Depending on how long the hives are to be on site, the beekeeper may need to visit the site for hive management purposes.
There will be a fee for this service as there is a lot of behind the scenes work and investment for the beekeeper. The hives have to be maintained in the off season and there is usually very little to no honey production on a pollination site. This is because the site is oversaturated with bees to ensure full pollination and there is not enough excess nectar to be stored as honey.
The responsibility of the grower is to provide a safe site for the hives to be placed. Vandalism of bee hives is an enormous problem. The grower will also need to be mindful that most pesticides used on crops are also harmful to bees.
If you are going to have hives placed on your land for pollination purposes be sure to plan your spraying regime around the bees and discuss it with your beekeeper.
All beekeepers are required be registered with DAFF so make sure your beekeeper is registered.
The recommended pollination price for 2020 is R980.00 + VAT for a 2 week pollination period
For more information on pollination see:
Standards