A Word on Pesticides

A Word on Pesticides

Pesticides can be a serious threat to your bees if used incorrectly; best practice is to avoid them at all costs. Natural insect sprays are available from most garden stores, but if you must use pesticide be sure it is bee friendly (it should say so on the label). As a general rule, never spray flowering plants as the nectar becomes contaminated and can seriously harm your little honey making friends.

Farmers urged to get in bee-hind with planting

Farmers are being urged to plant bee-friendly trees rather than pines to avoid a looming agricultural crisis.

Landcare Research pollination biologist Linda Nordstrom-Lloyd said the world faced the real possibility of “bee deserts” if farmers did not start replanting bee-friendly trees and plants.

New Zealand farmers were increasingly concerned about pollination. Awareness was growing that the bee-killing varroa mite meant crops were not getting background pollination from wild bees.

Intensive farming also meant the loss of the plants and shrubs that produced the flowers bees need. As a result, some beekeepers did not want to put their hives on certain farms because there was no pollen and nectar for the bees.

“Farmers are starting to become aware that they need beekeepers more than the beekeepers need them. They are starting to want to make their farms bee-friendly, because they need to attract honey bees in.

“There might be a few native bees but they can’t pollinate at the high level that honey bees do. Honey bee hives can have up to 60,000 bees in them.”

She said Landcare was aware farmers were running businesses and that planting costs were important, so a database was kept to help them.

“If a farmer wants to do erosion control, get carbon credits or make timber profits – there are many reasons why they need plants and shrubs – what we’re saying is, if you’re going to plant one thing, plant flax rather than grass.”

“Or if you’re going to do timber, instead of pine – which has very poor protein – plant eucalyptus. We’re trying to show that they can make a selection in favour of the bees.”

Sunday Star Times