The life of a beekeeper
A bee-keeper (or apiarist) is someone who keeps bees and collects the honey and other products they produce, and used for purposes of pollination of crops.
BEING a beekeeper is about much more than just the sweetness of honey to be enjoyed.
A beekeeper from Alberton spoke to The RECORD about what he does, and challenges he faces.
New Redruth resident Tony Glaros, explains: “A beekeeper (or apiarist) is someone who keeps bees and collects the honey and other products they produce, and uses for purposes of pollination of crops.”
Tony spoke about the production of honey, different types that can be found, effects that what the bee’s eat can have on the taste of the honey, problems he has with the industry and the like.
Among the interesting things Tony showed the RECORD was how a Honey Super (a box with drawers to create honeycomb and collect honey) is “baited” with a bit of honey and the bees come and start creating the honeycomb in the drawers, which can later be used for the products he produces.
“One of the big problems we have at the moment is the fake honey being sold at the moment. These con-artists take syrup and package it as honey, and sell it at cost price, which is obviously detrimental to my business in several ways,” says Tony.
“I have to contend with imported honey that is a lot cheaper, but everything that comes into the country must be irradiated to kill microbes, but of course this is not healthy for consumption once it has been bombarded with radiation, which nullifies the many health benefits you expect from honey; that is actually why Cape Town is experiencing an outbreak of American Foulbrood, a disease that is deadly to bees, because a batch was smuggled in without going through the correct channels, and once the local bees are exposed to this tainted honey, they get the disease, and it spreads very quickly and kills the larvae within the affected bee population,” adds Tony.
“Diseases like this can have a massive effect on humans. One has to remember that these bees, dying in large numbers, are being used for pollination and without these bees, there will, eventually, be no crops, no fruit and so on.” he said.
Tony says he will continue to do what he loves and produce the high-quality honey he is known for, and adds: “Please be on the lookout for this fake honey: if it seems cheap, and doesn’t have much information on where it was produced it may be fake”.
Tony implores anyone who is uncertain, or if they would like more information, to contact him on 082 744 2424.
