Durban – Beehive thieves have stolen 41 boxes containing swarms ready to pollinate macadamia orchards, and beekeepers have called on macadamia nut growers to be on the alert for stolen bees whose “owners” might be offering their pollination services.
The swarms, in their hives, were stolen at night, earlier this month, from a farm in Umlaas Road.
Their owner, Matt Walker, and fellow beekeeper Dieter Meyer who is helping investigate the crime, suspect the thief could have wanted the hives to offer such services.
“Beekeepers have their personalised markings on hives, so macadamia growers should look out for any such markings and report anything suspicious,” said Meyer.
“There is a big demand for pollinators in the province.”
Walker, who is based in Hilton, said the farmer on whose land the hives were standing had notified him of the theft. Seven hives that were not taken appeared to have been vandalised.
“It was all rather a messy job.”
Walker said the hives contained new swarms that were waiting to be put out into macadamia orchards.
He said the theft had cost him more than R80 000 taking into consideration the loss of the hives and the loss of pollination contracts.
Bees, which are a key player in pollination and therefore food production, are under threat worldwide as their numbers decline “largely due to intensive farming practices, mono-cropping, excessive use of agricultural chemicals and higher temperatures associated with climate change, affecting not only crop yields but also nutrition”, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
“If this trend continues, nutritious crops such as fruits, nuts, and many vegetables will be substituted increasingly by staple crops like rice, corn, and potatoes, eventually resulting in an imbalanced diet,” the FAO report said.
“Bees are under great threat from the combined effects of climate change, intensive agriculture, pesticides use, biodiversity loss and pollution,” said FAO director-general José Graziano da Silva.
“The absence of bees and other pollinators would wipe out coffee, apples, almonds, tomatoes and cocoa to name just a few of the crops that rely on pollination. Countries need to shift to more pollinator-friendly and sustainable food policies and systems.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele confirmed that the theft had been reported and that a fence had been cut during the incident late at night on June 16.
“The matter is still under investigation,” she said.
Meyer asked that anyone seeing suspicious beehives to email him on [email protected]
The Independent on Saturday