WILDLIFE
The role of bats in your ecosystem
C
hances are that you
have seen bats flitting
about your plot at
dusk, but how much do you
know about them?
There are at least 19 species
of bat in Gauteng, with 56 in
From page 30
mother queen. This larva
receives royal jelly for eight
days before the cell is
capped. Enough royal jelly is
packed into the cell for the
larva to develop into a pupa
and later into a new queen.
After a further five days the
new queen chews her way
out.
So powerful is the nutrient
value of royal jelly that a
strong queen can develop
after 13 days from laying of
the egg from which she
developed. First to hatch of
the six or eight cells devel-
total throughout South Africa.
Of the 75 species found in
the sub region of southern
Africa, 20 species of insectivorous bats and 2 species of
fruit-eating bats are listed as
threatened in the IUCN Red
List of threatened Animals.
Bats have many important
roles to play in support of
biodiversity. They are the
major predators of night-flying
insects, including mosquitoes
and many crop pests, so
BEEKEEPING
oped, she sets about eating a
hole into the remaining cells
to destroy the unhatched rival
queens. At first a light lemon
colour, as she starts laying her
colour turns to orange and as
she ages her colour turns to
light brown. Into her third
year, and quite dark by now,
beekeepers list her as a
beetle.
The new virgin queen takes a
number of short orientation
flights to familiarise herself
with the surrounding terrain,
before she sets off for her
mating flight, when she is
mated by about 40 drones
while in flight. There is great
excitement among the bees
for the new queen in
welcoming flights and light
melodious humming. She
soon thereafter starts her life
of nothing but egg laying for
the next two to three years,
and life among the bees goes
on again.
Article by Peter Clark, author
of his book Tales of an African
Beekeeper at 011 362-2904,
and member of Eastern
Highveld Beekeeper's
Association, Secretary Mike
Alter at 011 965-6040.
31
www.sasmallholder.co.za
smallholders and farmers
should be encouraging them.
Many bats spread seeds for
new plants and trees. Many
plants bloom at night, using
unique odours and special
flower shapes to attract bats.
Bats also bring about pollination, particularly the fruit and
nectar eating bats. There are
four species of fruit-eating
bats that typically occur in
South Africa but only two of
these species occur in
Gauteng, namely the African
straw-coloured fruit bat and
Continued on page 32