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delivered to earth by honey bees ‘dripping’
• Some weeds are wonderful bee food donations to support our beekeeping
so it may be fun to create a ‘’weed bee
sanctuary’’ spot in your garden. (website below).
• Plant for bees. Nathalie Strassburg has
a wonderful website which is worth a WHEN HONEY BEES MOVE IN…
visit (www.medicinegarden.co.za). Her
website includes useful information on
companion planting. messenger between our world and the
• Support our beekeepers by paying fair
prices for honest, real honey. It takes
many trips to apiary sites and hours of
labour to tend to honey bees. Public bee from his tears and that messages were
34 Landscape SA • Issue 93 2020
straight from the face of Ra.
Due to the diversity of well-established
gardens, we have some amazing
sanctuaries for honey bees. It can also be
scary when a swarm of honey bees moves
in. As I learn about this super organism
and its highly complex social structure,
I realise that honey bees are defensive
insects and not innately aggressive. When
gardens have a selection of indigenous
and exotic forage plants, honey bees are
likely to ‘move in’. Perhaps, if you believe in
mysteries, the honey bee’s arrival is a sign
of spiritual wisdom.
Honey bees will naturally occupy roof
cavities, meter and pool motor boxes,
drums, waste bins, bird logs, hollow tree
trunks and any space in which they feel at
home and protected from the elements.
Every colony’s choice of home is unique
and many factors determine if, when
and how the bees should be relocated.
Generally speaking, if the honey bee
colony is located within your property,
you have the mandate to select and pay
for your own honey bee removal. Never
attempt to do this yourself and please use
SABIO accredited experts. However, if the
colony is in a manhole situated outside
your perimeter wall, then the respective
telecommunication company have the
mandate to select their own honey bee
removal service. It is important to consult
your body corporate or home owners
association in this regard.
Ideally, honey bees should be removed
at night when all the bees are in the hive.
A honey bee colony can vary between
30,000 – 60,000 bees. Up to a third of the
bees will be out foraging during the day.
A daytime removal may result in the ‘girls’
arriving back home with their treasures of
nectar and pollen, only to find the rest of
their family gone. Honey bees are social
insects and without the rest of the super
organism they will die off. However, the
length of time the bees have occupied
their home, combined with other variables,
will determine the viability of a daytime
removal. SABIO accredited experts will re-
hive the swarm, where possible, so that
the bees can be relocated successfully.
industry can also be made to SABIO
As with any professional service, Honey
Bee Removal experts charge a fee for
their time, labour and travelling costs.
Please visit the South African Bee Industry
In Celtic mythology, the honey bee is a Organisation's website (www.sabio.org.za)
to locate a qualified honey bee removal
spirit realm, and is often associated with expert near you. Details of Honey Bee
wisdom. In ancient Egypt, it was believed Associations across South Africa can also
that the sun god Ra created the honey be found on SABIO’s website.