Helping the humble bumble
The Southland Bee Society is urging Southlanders to ‘‘help us help the honey bee’’ by heading along to an upcoming bee-themed weekend.
Bee society secretary Sonya Crook said the Beekeeping Field Day on February 13 and the Bee Friendly Gala Day on February 14 were a great way of educating beekeepers and the public about protecting the bee population.
Both events will be held at Limehills School.
The Beekeeping Field Day is an opportunity for commercial, semicommercial and amateur beekeepers to educate themselves on the latest possible law changes for beekeepers.
The field day will have discussions on American Foulbrood Disease from Rex Baynes manager of AFB Management, who will discuss the possibly of elimination of AFB from Southland.
‘‘We’re actually quite lucky here in Southland because we have a very, very low rate of AFB,’’ Crook said.
If a hive were to get AFB it would have to be destroyed, which was something no beekeeper wanted, she said.
The field day will also include the latest studies into controlling the varroa mite.
Regulations for beekeeping could be impacted by changes to the controlling authorities.
The beekeeping industry is run by different regulatory bodies for commercial and hobby beekeeping, but there is work going on to unify the regulatory bodies.
There would be a guest speaker to discuss the potential changes to the law at the field day, Crook said.
‘‘Because there’s been such a huge increase with beekeepers coming on board it’s important that the information gets out to these people.’’
The Bee Friendly Gala Day will be more family-friendly.
The Southland Bee Society has about 60 members and the gala day was a way of promoting itself and meeting potential new members, Crook said.
There will be honey tasting, mead making, observation bee hives, market stalls and workshops on how to become a beekeeper and how to plant trees and flowers for bees.
With so many people starting hives in their backyard, the gala day was a way to help educate them on the basics of beekeeping, Crook said.
‘‘People don’t realise that having a beehive in your backyard, while it’s a really, really fun thing, it does require a bit of commitment, which is time.’’
To register for the Beekeeping Field Day go to http:/ /southlandbeesociety.nz.
Entry to the gala day is a gold coin donation. The day runs from 10am until 4pm.