INDUSTRY NEWS
Bloosom season is always a busy time of year for Trevor Monson , of Monson ' s Honey and Pollination . This year his business coordinated the delivery of over 100,000 hives . Photos : Jade Benham
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Getting bees ready for almond pollination is a skill .
- Trevor Monson , Monson ' s Honey and
Pollination
From previous page “ There was one delivery of bees that were deteriorating in health , but the BeeHero system enabled us to identify the problem sooner and organise replacement hives .” Despite the advancements in hive monitoring , Mr Monson said there ’ ll still be a need to do random inspections to verify the BeeHero data . Around Sunraysia , the almond blossom season started off slowly , sped up quickly and then finished early , but Mr Monson said it went pretty well . “ Good weather matched conditions so bees had plenty of flying time to get the job done ,” he said . In past years beekeepers have had to navigate border crossing rules caused by COVID and varroa mite , but Mr Monson said the rules to enter Victoria were fair and reasonable in 2024 . There were also no issues sourcing enough hives this year . “ Getting bees ready for almond pollination is a skill and preparing bees for winter with good nutrition and a high protein diet is important ,” he said . Mr Monson observed that some growers weren ’ t ready when the bees started being delivered to their orchards . “ Mummy nuts were still in some orchards and there were also growers who were worried that their weedicide program wasn ’ t finished ,” he said . Mr Monson also urged growers to be mindful that bee delivery and pick up takes time to coordinate , especially when some beekeepers are travelling from Queensland and need to make multiple trips . In August varroa mite was detected in Victoria for the first time . This was in a hive at Nangiloc , south of Mildura . “ It ’ s not doom and gloom , right around the world other beekeepers are living with varroa mite ,” Mr Monson said . After almond pollination , many Victorian beekeepers were taking their hives into New South Wales to work on canola . “ The price of honey is no good , so beekeepers need to do canola pollination ,” Mr Monson said .
industry . australianalmonds . com . au
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