Vagrants targeting bees in Virginia Bush
A local beekeeper says vagrants are destroying bee colonies.
VAGRANTS are tapping into the honey reserves of the 38-hectare Virginia Bush Nature Reserve. It is believed that the men are removing honey and are also killing the local bee population by destroying the hive. What’s more, the men are making a profit from the illegal venture and selling the honey and bees wax to local residents.
Durban North resident and chairlady of the Durban Beekeepers, Janice van Eck, said the trend is cause for concern, especially as the men are unwittingly killing the queens of the hives and thus dooming the colony, which can number up to 25 000. The organisation helps with bee removals and helps raise awareness and educate residents on bee behaviour.
Actions dooming local bee colonies
“I know there are guys doing it at the Pigeon Valley Nature Reserve as well as at Virginia. I’m deeply concerned by this because we need the diversity in our ecosystem, particularly bees. Bees are responsible for pollinating about one-sixth of the flowering plant species worldwide, and to say we rely on the pollination efforts of bees to sustain our food system is an understatement,” she said.
Van Eck said the men raiding the hives in the reserve do not know the damage they were causing the bee colonies.
“In many cases these men are destroying the hive and killing the queen bee. She is the heart and soul of the honey bee colony. She is the reason for nearly everything the rest of the colony does. The queen’s two primary purposes are to produce chemical scents that help regulate the unity of the colony and to lay lots of eggs. She is capable of producing more than 1 500 eggs a day, and killing her means you are dooming the colony,” she said.
