The bumbling of the honey bee

With spring around the corner, community members can look forward to the increased activity of the honey bee.

In the hopes of creating greater awareness about the insect, beekeeper and Alberton resident Matthew Hansel and Edenvale resident and hobbyist Chad Alexander met up with the NEWS.

Matthew, who started beekeeping as a hobby and then pursued it as a career, was taught by his grandfather and father.

Growing up, Matthew had a keen interest in nature, so the hobby lined up perfectly with his interests.

He operates across the greater Johannesburg region, removing hives and relocating them.

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With spring and the blossoming of flowers a few weeks away, Matthew said bees will start reproducing a lot more.

“The queen of the hive will release a pheromone instructing the other females not to reproduce.

“However, because the hive population increases during this period, the pheromones does not reach all the bees.”

Matthew said when this occurs a female bee will start laying eggs.

“The original hive will split in half and half the bees will follow the new queen. That is why community members notice more swarms in summer and spring.”

To help the bees and community members, Matthew, with the assistance of Chad, set up collection boxes at designated sites to collect the new swarms before they establish.

To do this, the boxes are set up in areas where an active hive is known to be or to a property he is called to.

“Unfortunately, we cannot erect the boxes anywhere because people will try to steal the honey, but I have my identified sites and gated communities I work with.”

He highlighted that he is quite successful in collecting bees from areas where there are many blue gum trees or eucalyptus plants.

“Although bees thrive around blue gum trees, there is a national project seeing blue gums chopped down.”

According to Matthew, this project is being carried out by the government to remove the trees which consume large amounts of water.

He said the trees can consume thousands of litres of water in a short time, which poses a problem to water-scarce SA.

To attract the new queen and her swarm, pheromones are sprayed in the collection boxes.

Matthew said once the bees establish themselves, they are put into a brood box and then a larger hive on a honey farm.

Ultimately, Matthew hopes to create a self-sustaining ecosystem through the use of bees.

When he first started as a beekeeper, Matthew said he was nervous but after watching how the bees work and their influence on nature his passion increased.

Although he had some exciting experiences, such as being stung close to 50 times on the head, Matthew continues to enjoy what he does.

Matthew said if and when a swarm of bees attacks, the best thing to do is to get as far away from the hive as possible.

“Don’t jump into a pool, that won’t really help you. The best thing to do is to keep running.”

With the continued deforestation of blue gums, Matthew encouraged community members to plant more flowers in their garden.

He suggested flowering plants like lavender, rosemary, sage and various vegetables.

“Aloes are also good for bees as they continue to flower throughout winter.”

Visit the Hive Company’s Facebook page for more information.