Spring has finally sprung and the Necta Honey Farm in Vleikop will soon be one of the farms that will be pollinating various crops and producing honey for the public.
Edward van Zyl has been producing tons of honey since 1986. He spoke to the Herald about how the process works and what his challenges are.
For his type of business, Edward said he needs to collect between 50 000 and 80 000 bees that will fill between 750 and 1 000 beehives.
He said it was imperative that the crops get pollinated from the very beginning of spring.
For the past three decades, Edward has been committed to producing good quality, unadulterated honey that is in constant demand.
He said the first step in beekeeping and producing honey is to first make a beehive in which the bees are housed.
“We keep our beehives on a site at the old mines. The bees produce up to 20kgs of honey per beehive. When the honey is ready, we take it to our plants to extract and purify it. Then we bottle and eventually sell it,” Edward said.
According to Edward, the ecosystem in Randfontein is slowly declining and becoming less suited to honey production. He said this is due to the fact that crops are being cut down and burnt.
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Edward said blue gum trees and sunflowers, which are very important for the production of honey, are also in short supply.
Edward said that one of the things that people working with bees need to know is that bee-handlers should stay away from the beehives if they are sick, as a sick person stands a greater chance of being killed in a bee attack.
If you are allergic to bee-stings and get stung, you are likely to die almost immediately, unless you can get treatment really fast,” Edward said.
However, Edward said despite the dangers of working with bees, the environment needs them, especially in agriculture.
Ideally, Edward said his business should be able to produce 18 tons of honey year, but because Randfontein is slowly dying, business is becoming more difficult every season.
• Contact: 082 776 8801.
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