Difficult conditions result in high costs for bee industry

Difficult conditions have forced the Western Cape Bee Industry Association (WCBA) to increase its pollination tariff just over 15% for this year, recommending that the annual pollination cost in the Western Cape for 2020 should be R980 plus VAT.

According to the WCBA, numerous factors had influenced its pricing decision, of which the loss of forage due to recent droughts and fires were the most significant. “It had a great impact on beekeepers. Hives and bees that had been lost in fires had to be replaced at a cost. Additionally, their forage had been destroyed that resulted in bees being fed extensively at great [expense],” explained the association in a letter to the members of the WCBA.

The association added that due to the lack of forage, bees also had to be moved much further away to new sites where forage could be found. “Because of the long distances, more transport expenses are incurred and there is less time to work the bees due to the greater travelling time. This resulted in a reduction of total hives worked per worker per day, which too has a financial impact.”

According to the WCBA, more and more colonies of bees were also being lost each year due to the use of crop protection chemicals during pollination. “Often the actual losses occur two to three months after pollination, when up to 30% of colonies die off from residual pesticide in the hive that was collected during pollination. A lot of this is known to be due to fungicides too and has another huge financial impact on beekeepers.”

The WCBA pointed out that beekeepers normally kept a certain number of additional hives in reserve in case of deaths during pollination and other emergencies. However, the association stressed that last year these reserves were insufficient and that there had been a shortage of bees during pollination.

“When one takes all of the above factors into account, as well as the normal annual increase in overheads, it [would have amounted to] a massive increase in the recommended pollination price.

“However, after much debate within the committee and further consultations, we decided to limit the increase to just over 15% for this year. We must, however, warn growers that the increases over the next few years are likely to be above 20% to get to a more realistic cost of pollination.” – Jeandré van der Walt