Defeat pests the natural way

Against the mounting pressure on farmers to deliver food grown without the use of hard pesticides, one of South Africa’s biggest agri conglomerates, ZZ2 in conjunction with international partners, had the visionary thinking of establishing an international biological plant protection company in the heart of the local citrus growing industry five years ago.

Today, BioBee Integrated Crop Solutions, prides itself as a leading company in the biological control industry, providing high quality products, dedicated field services with professional backup support and supply from their mother company. BioBee’s insectary and laboratory is situated in Letsitele.

The shareholders are Hishtil SA (an international seedling company from Isreal with nurseries in Mooketsi and Riebeek Wes), ZZ2 and ANB Investments. Eldad Peer, CEO of BioBee SA, says they are able to draw on 39 years of research and development work that is done throughout the world at the various BioBee subsidiaries, but especially at the R&D facility in Isreal.

In 2015, upon establishing BioBee in South Africa, they launched the pioneered patented biological control agent, BioAnagyrus, a parasitic wasp for the control of mealybugs. “Mealybugs are devastating pests in a large array of crops. With their piercing sucking mouthparts, they suck sap from the plant’s phloem, secreting honeydew that serves as a substrate to black sooty mold.

The latter, on top of inflicting aesthetic damage to fruits, seriously disrupts the plant’s photosynthesis and fitness. Mealybugs are capable of transmitting viral diseases in plants of great economic importance,” says Peer.

Insects are the future of a biological plant protection programme, says Peer of BioBee.

In recent years authorities worldwide have banned more and more chemicals that were used for controlling the mealybug and have become more stringent regarding the maximum residue level (MRL) legally tolerated in or on agricultural commodities or feed. All these changes have made biological control a viable alternative.

“As part of our domain, we constantly search for new solutions and develop new products to help our customers manage the challenges they face.” One of our latest solutions is the parasitic wasp BioAphytis for the control of the notorious red scale, a phyto sanitary pest on citrus.

With thousands of hectares of citrus, grapes, vegetables and ornamentals being treated with integrated pest management (IPM) products and solutions, increasing numbers of South African growers, wholesalers and retailers have realised that IPM is the most effective and sustainable pest management system.

“As a solution driven company, we are expecting to continue rendering our products and services throughout South Africa for farmers to produce the best quality fruits. Our services do not only benefit farmers but also the economy of SA when it comes to export.

From the quality fruits, farmers will be able to meet requirements as stipulated by the Global GAP when exporting their products all over the globe,” says Peer. ZZ2 director, BJ van Zyl, says that the work of BioBee fits perfectly into ZZ2’s Natuurboerdery philosophy – that is to work with the natural environment to provide consumers with healthy food. “We have invested in bringing this technology and knowledge to South Africa to the benefit of the agri sector as a whole,” Van Zyl says.

What does BioBee do?

BioBee mass produce and implement beneficial mites, insects, micro and macro organisms which are a natural, smart, efficient and an economical alternative to chemical pesticides. Their biologically based integrated pest management programs enable farmers to control pests and diseases for the entire growing cycle and deliver healthy fruit and vegetables with low or zero chemical residue.    

For more information, get in touch with BioBee on below details:

Visit the BioBee website
Go to the BioBee Facebook Page
Call BioBee on 015 345 1572
E-Mail Biobee at info@biobee.co.za