BEEKEEPING
Bee forage week to raise awareness
T
he second National
Bee Foraging Week will
run from 19-26
September 2015. The
purpose is to raise awareness
of what bees need to
maintain healthy, strong
swarms.
As smallholders plan and
implement their spring and
summer planting, they should
also be consciously planting
vegetables, crops, trees and
flowers that are enjoyed by
bees.
“A lack of good quality and
variety of forage can lead to
unhealthy honeybee colonies
that are more susceptible to
disturbances such as pests
and diseases. “Weakened
honeybee colonies are less
effective in pollinating crops,”
says Mike Allsopp of the
Agricultural Research
Council's Honeybee Research
Section.
Natural forage sources are
threatened by urban sprawl
and thoughtless use of
chemicals.
Honeybees need access to a
variety of flowering plants to
provide food for their colonies
at different times of the year.
A study by the SA National
Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi)
reveals that eucalyptus trees,
certain crop species such as
sunflowers, canola, citrus and
lucerne, as well as indigenous
trees and shrubs, flowering
plants and wild flowers are
critically important for
honeybees to build strong
colonies.
But honeybees are crucial to
food security as well, because
they are vital as crop
Continued on page 10
Honey labelling regs announced
B
eekeepers who intend
to sell their honey
need to know how to
comply with newly-published
regulations concerning the
grading, labelling and
packaging of their honey.
A two-page leaflet published
by the directorate of food
safety and quality assurance
of the Dept of Agriculture,
Forestry & Fisheries gives an
outline of the requirements
which, in addition to listing
the things a honey-producer
MUST do to ensure compli-
8
www.sasmallholder.co.za
ance, also gives examples of
things he or she can't do,
such as describing honey that
has been adulterated with
sugar, syrup of other substances as honey.
The full regulations and
requirements can be downloaded from the Daff website
at http://www.daff.gov.za/daffweb3/Branches/Agricultur
al-Production-Health-FoodSafety/Food-Safety-QualityAssurance/Local-and-ImportRegulations/Processedproducts-honey regulation.