Buzz about bees at 9th annual macadamia symposium

THE ninth International Macadamia Symposium (IMS’23) was held at The Capital Hotel, Zimbali in Ballito from 18 to 21 September, hosted by Macadamias South Africa (SAMAC).

Attended by over 700, with delegates from Australia, Brazil, China and, of course South Africa in the mix, IMS’23 provided a platform for networking and collaboration among the world’s main macadamia producing countries.

The many informative sessions presented by leaders in macadamia cultivation, research, marketing, among others, provided a bounty of information to the farmers in attendance; all they need to know about the industry in a nutshell, so to speak.

Days two and three of this significant event were the most informative, with speakers addressing topics such as Flowering and Pollination, Post-Harvest and Quality, Macadamia Diseases, Orchards of the Future and Macadamias’ Position in the Global Economy.

Clare Hamilton Bate, CEO of the Australia Macadamia Society; Chen Yuxiu, chairperson of the Yunan Macadamia Society; Jose Eduardo Mendes Camargo from the Brazil Macadamia Society, and Charles Muigai of the Kenya Nut Company were among the speakers.

Doctor Hannelie Human from the University of Pretoria spoke about ‘pollination standards and best practices’.

With bees being the main pollinators in macadamia orchards, Dr Human urged farmers to ‘communicate’ with their beekeepers to get the best results.

As an example, she used spraying cycles, advising growers to notify beekeepers before any chemical spraying is to be done, because it can have detrimental effects on the bees’ health and productivity.

She went into the finer details of pollination, explaining how important hive positioning is inside a macadamia orchard and on the farm.

While it’s been established that bees can travel up to 6km away from their hive for feeding and thus pollination, Dr Human said that, in her experience, a radius of 200m around the hive is where the best results are achieved when it comes to macadamia orchards.

She also explained how various factors like topography can influence bees’ productivity, and how these factors should be kept in consideration when placing hives on macadamia farms.

“Ensure you have a good relationship with your beekeeper,” was Dr Human’s most prominent piece of advice to the many mac farmers in attendance.

On day four of the symposium, the delegates left the lecture halls to spend time out in the field on some of the many macadamia farms in the immediate area.

These visits to KZN’s macadamia farms proved to be especially insightful for overseas growers, as well as local growers from Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

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