Beekeeping

Honeybee products include honey, bee-collected pollen, royal jelly, wax, and health supplements.

Honey and wax go beyond the food market and are used in large quantities in the manufacture of beauty products, candles, lipstick, medicine, herbal tea and chewing gum. Honey is a natural anti-oxidant and can, for example, be used to extend the shelf life of meat. Other products that can be exploited are pollen, an extremely pure form of protein, propolis (a natural antiseptic), royal jelly (a health and cosmetic product) and bee venom (used medically in the desensitising of allergic people).

Many beekeepers sell their products in bulk to honey packers, or they market their products themselves. Smaller operators often sell from the home, in roadside stalls or to local cafés. The large bee farmers only farm with bees. The smaller ones usually diversify. Beekeeping does not always work on economies of scale (don’t think that a beekeeping operation will only be profitable if you have numerous hives).

Bees are the most important pollinators of agricultural crops, being responsible for about one in every three mouthfuls of food we eat each day.

Source: Mike Allsopp, Dr Connal Eardley (ARC-PPR)

Contents

Content

International business environment
Local business environment
For the newcomer
Honeybee forage plants: what you can do to help
National strategy and government contact
Associations involved
Training and research
Companies involved
Websites and publications

International business environment

There is a worldwide demand for honey and wax.

  • The major exporters of honey are China, Argentina, New Zealand, Germany and Mexico.
  • The major importers are the USA, Germany, UK, France and Japan.

Most countries have strict regulations regarding the importation of honeybee products and these should be obtained from the local trade commissions. Europe, the USA and Canada require further tests against residues of pesticides in honey.

The supply and demand, foreign exchange rates, and quality of the product all play important roles in determining the world trade prices of all honeybee products.

 

Some international references:

Find The Ultimate Guide to British Bees: How to Protect Their Declining Population by Clive Harris. The article sets out the importance of bees; provides full-colour photographs of honeybees, bumblebees, common carder bees, Mason bees, Mining bees, and Leafcutter bees. It asks and answers the many questions you may have about bees like what do they eat, the difference between bees and wasps, how they make honey and beeswax etc. It lists the ways in which we can help bees.

Local business environment

The latest chairperson’s report on www.sabio.org.za provides a good overview of what is happening locally.

The article “Are you intending to sell honey and mixtures of bee products in South Africa?” in DALRRDNews July 2017, page 7, sets out the procedures involved. Find the publication at http://www.dalrrd.gov.za/docs/agrinews/July%20for%20web.pdf or call the Directorate: Food Import and Export Standards at 012 319 6118

  • Bees provide a critical ecosystems service as pollinators, valued at an annual R16 billion. Problems affecting bees include insufficient forage, theft and vandalism, disease, environmental hazards such as pollution and exposure to external factors such as fires and drought.
  • The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) currently lists 130 000 managed colonies of bees and 1 800 beekeepers on their records. About 70 000 of the colonies are based in the Western Cape. However, the numbers are thought to be much larger, because of unregistered colonies and bee keepers (Winde, 2018).
  • South Africa produces around 1 500 tons of honey per year, and is a net importer, importing over 2 000 tons annually. The country does some exporting though, mostly to African countries with neighbours Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Mozambique topping the list.
  • There are regulations regarding importation of beeswax and honey in order to keep infectious diseases out of the country. All imported honey and bee products need to be irradiated for disease control purposes, and are required to display the radurised sign on these products.
  • Importers can often bring honey in more cheaply even with the transport costs, and local production is decreasing.
  • Issues of concern include food fraud (imported honey that is a fake honey using sugar and other ingredients) and honey labelling. In the latter case, the vagueness of country of origin (two or more countries are listed) (Sihlobo, 2018). This suggests a lack of compliance with any legal requirements.

Eucalyptus flowers. Photo used courtesy of Mike Allsopp (ARC) and SANBI

The following are measures recommended for beekeepers in the case of an AFB outbreak – or in the case of any honeybee disease outbreak.

 

  • Beekeepers should endeavour to keep all apiaries isolated from each other; that is, do not move honeybee colonies from apiary to apiary.
  • Beekeepers should not place their colonies in the near proximity of colonies belonging to other beekeepers.
  • Do not move equipment (brood boxes, supers, frames) from apiary to apiary, or from colony to colony.
  • Sterilise all beekeeping equipment (hive tools, gloves) with alcohol or boiling water after use, so as not to spread the infection from apiary to apiary or from colony to colony.
  • Do not put out wet supers for bees to feed from.
  • Do not feed colonies with anything containing honey or pollen.
  • Keep robbing to an absolute minimum, and hence, keep beekeeping management to a minimum.

 

Contact: Mike Allsopp at AllsoppM [at] arc.agric.za

 

Find the notes on different diseases (including AFB) under the “Honeybees of South Africa” option at www.sabio.org.za.

For the newcomer

Apiculture (bee-farming) is ideal for women, young people and the disabled, people who also have other responsibilities such as housework, school or are physically challenged. When husbands migrate to cities to seek employment, women stay behind with all the responsibilities. Beekeeping offers an opportunity to earn an income while tending to the rest of her agricultural and household responsibilities. It is light labour and not mechanised. It is not suitable for the lazy though.

When honeybees have been established in beehives, the bees will produce the honey and other hive products. The farmers’ job is to pay attention to their bees and manage their hives effectively. Bees are a free workforce that will work for the farmers as long as there are nectar-producing plants in the area.

Honeybees are found all over South Africa and are a free and accessible resource. People do not have to own land but only need permission to place their hives in a safe place. If there are adequate bee plants in an area to allow bees to produce surplus nectar a beekeeping operation could be started.

The success of these sort of programmes depend on the South African honey consumer market knowing about them, and on the beekeepers’ abilities to exploit the spin-offs from hive products.

Tips for Newcomers to the Beekeeping Industry

  • Bee colonies have to be protected from the wind.  If no natural windbreak is available, erect a temporary wind shelter.
  • Colonies should be placed in sunny locations and preferably where the sun shines on the entrances.
  • Hives should be kept off the ground with old tyres or concrete blocks as dampness and the lack of ventilation could stress the bees.
  • Ensure uncontaminated water is close to the hive.
Source: Brett Falconer, Highveld Honey Farms

Honeybees are also of value in South Africa as vehicles of Empowerment and Rural Development. Small-scale beekeeping has great potential as a means of entrepreneurial development and economic empowerment, particularly among rural communities and especially for women. Collaboration and partnerships between companies like SAPPI and MONDI, government and local communities result in economic development for a large number of communities and individuals in South Africa.

 

Read about the Beekeeping for Poverty Relief Programme (BPRP) on the ARC website, www.arc.agric.za.

Honeybee forage plants: what you can do to help

The reduction of bee forage sources in the country, caused by, among other things, urban development and overpopulation, is identified in the Western Cape honeybee strategy (2018) as the single largest threat to bees.

A recent study undertaken by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) revealed that gum trees, certain crops, indigenous trees and shrubs, flowering plants in suburban gardens and even roadside wildflowers or weeds are all critically important to South Africa’s indigenous honeybees. Forage availability and accessibility for honey bees are a large constraint to beekeepers in South Africa. A lack of good quality and variety of forage can lead to unhealthy honey bee colonies that are more vulnerable to pests and diseases. This, in turn, can lead to insufficient pollination of our important agricultural crops. A major factor in the decline of honeybees around the world is a lack of good forage plants that provide the nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen (protein) sources that bees require for their nutritional health.

Landscape showing bee forage: eucalyptus and canola. Photo used courtesy of Tlou Masehela and SANBI.

 

You can help in any of the following ways:

  • Allow beekeepers access to utilise the forage resources on your land, and work with the beekeepers to make sure hive sites are secure and inaccessible to vandals.
  • Protect your natural vegetation through incorporating pollinator habitat or forage concerns into agricultural best practice, land-clearing authorisations (i.e. do not unnecessarily clear virgin land), Environmental Impact Assessment processes, and landuse planning policies and tools.
  • Adhere to the Alien and Invasive Species Regulations under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 regarding gums (eucalyptus) on your land. Six Eucalyptus spp. are listed as invasive and must be controlled. Other gums may be maintained or planted for bee foraging purposes.
  • Consider planting indigenous bee-friendly plants when gardening, planting wind-breaks or when rehabilitating after a development (e.g. dam walls, road berms, etc.) Be sure to plant plants that are appropriate to your specific area. Check with your local nursery for subspecies or varieties that occur locally to avoid invasive problems or hybridisations with veld species in the vicinity.
  • Honey bees will visit any flowering crop (especially the very attractive ones like canola, lucerne, sunflowers, citrus) as well as other flowers and weeds. Please take this into account when spraying chemicals – consult the label and adhere to its instructions. Be careful of chemicals when gardening too.
  • Encourage public land planting programmes (e.g. under power lines, along road verges, or urban greening programmes) to consider bee-friendly plant species first.
  • Consider planting complementary crop plants (such as lavender or basil) or fodder crops (like clovers or vetch), or rotate land with legumes crops, as these are all important honey bee forage.
  • Do not unnecessarily spray or remove weeds that are attractive to bees (e.g. wild radish, cosmos, etc.)

Lists of bee-friendly plants are available on www.sanbi.org (search “bee-friendly”). Also find the reference to the publication Beeplants of South Africa under heading 10. For more information, please contact Mbulelo Mswazi on m.mswazi [at] sanbi.org.za.

National strategy and government contact

The legislation option at www.sabio.org.za gives notes on the following with brief implications for the beekeeper:

  • Agricultural Pests Act (36/1983), including Control Measure GN R858 15 November 2013 – Control Measure relating to Honeybees. Amongst other things, all beekeepers must register with DALRRD on an annual basis. Find the form on the SABIO website.
  • Agricultural Product Standards Act (Act 119 of 1990)
  • Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act (Act 54 of 1972), including Regulation R146
  • Health Act, 1977 (Act 63 of 1977), specifically Government Notice R918 of 1999
  • Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act, 1983 (Act 43 of 1983) (CARA)
  • National Environmental Management of Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No 10 of 2004), (NEMBA)
  • Some municipal by-laws (depending on where you live)

Legislation divides South Africa into a Cape beekeeping region and a Scutellata (African Honeybee) beekeeping region, along the “Siegfried Line”, an estimate of the traditional boundary between the races. Honeybees are not allowed to be moved across the line in either direction except under permit issued by DALRRD.

Find information and contact details of the different directorates of Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) at www.dalrrd.gov.za. The subdirectorate Agricultural Product Quality Assurance contact for honey is Niel Erasmus – 012 319 6027, niele [at] dalrrd.gov.za. You can also contact Rofhiwa Nethanani or Mavis Matsho at 012 309 8739 or 012 309 8763. Reach the Directorate: Food Import and Export Standards at 012 319 6118.

The page for beekeepers on the website, which includes the beekeepers registration form, is www.dalrrd.gov.za/dalrrdweb3/Branches/Agricultural-Production-Health-Food-Safety/Inspection-Services/Beekeepers.

Find the report “Sustaining the honeybee population and apiculture in the Western Cape” at www.elsenburg.com and news of the release of the honeybee strategy (4 June 2018).

The strategy recognises honey production as an agri-processing opportunity, to produce local honey, and honey-related products; and identifies threats and ways to ensure the continued sustainability of the bee population.

Associations involved

South African Bee-Industry Organisation (SABIO) Tel: 053 298 1101 www.sabio.org.za The South African Bee Industry Organisation (SABIO) represents all aspects of the honeybee industry in South Africa, its role also catering for the interests of bottlers and packers of honey and bee products as well as to the manufacturers of bee equipment. It is involved with training of future beekeepers and the implementation of guidelines for food safety and correct packaging of honey. SABIO also ensures that a quarterly bee journal is published, and organises the annual Bee Congress.

Regional/Provincial Associations:

  • Eastern Highveld Beekeepers’ Association (Eastern Gauteng) Tel: 083 469 4453
  • Free State Beekeepers’ Association Tel: 051 433 4663
  • KwaZulu-Natal Bee Farmers Association Tel: 084 774 8692 http://kznbeefarmersassociation.co.za
  • Mpumalanga Bee Group Tel: 082 608 2008
  • Northern Cape Bee Group Tel: 053 441 2341
  • Northerns Beekeepers’ Association (Pretoria) Tel: 083 259 4466
  • Southerns Beekeeping Association (Gauteng Province and country districts) Tel: 083 262 2047 www.beekeepers.co.za
  • Southern Cape Bee Industries Association Tel: 044 871 1935
  • Western Cape Bee Industry Association Tel: 021 884 4421 www.wkbv.co.za

Training and research

The Agricultural Colleges, working with Provincial Departments of Agriculture run courses in beekeeping. See the “Agricultural education and training” page.

Beekeeping courses are run by:

There are two email discussion groups on Googlegroups:

  • BeesSA, moderator Robert Post, crpost [at] telkomsa.net
  • Apiculture-SA, co-ordinator Dean Lennox, deanlennox [at] gmail.com

Contacts at the ARC:

  • allsoppm [at] arc.agric.za – South Africa’s foremost honeybee researcher
  • GoszczynskaT [at] arc.agric.za – bacteriologist doing laboratory analyses
  • eardleyc [at] arc.agric.za – bee identifications (taxonomist). Dr Eardley is also vice-chair of the International Commission on Plant Bee Relations (ICPBR).
  • LundallME [at] arc.agric.za – honeybee development projects

Bees are the most important group of pollinators (other pollinators include flies, beetles, butterflies, moths, lacewings, birds, rodents and bats, or by wind or water). Within the scope of present research the links between bee systematics and the ecological role of bees as pollinators, their importance in agriculture, and the presence of other pollinators, are recognised. Therefore participation in ecological, pollination, conservation and international policy development projects are important activities. The bee collection of the SA National Collection of Insects comprises over 15 000 database records.

 

Bees, in general, are very sensitive to disturbance of their habitat, and some land use changes lead directly to their local extinctions. Thus bee biodiversity conservation has become a global concern. Taxonomy is essential for proper bee conservation and management.

 

Contact: Dr Connal Eardley. E-mail: eardleyc [at] arc.agric.za

Oudthoorn Research Farm

Tel: 044 272 6077 (Minnie Abrahams)

Rhodes University

Department of Zoology & Entomology

Tel: 046 603 8525

www.ru.ac.za

South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)

Applied Biodiversity Research Division

Tel: 021 799 8870 / 8652

  • Dr Ruan Veldtman r.veldtman [at] sanbi.org.za
  • Carol Poole C.Poole [at] sanbi.org.za
  • Dr Jonathan Colville J.Colville [at] sanbi.org.za

SANBI research projects on the ecosystem services supporting beekeeping, and pollination as an ecosystem service in crop agriculture. Find details at www.sanbi.org.

 Stellenbosch University

Department of Food Science

Tel: 021 808 3578 (Prof Marena Manley)

www.sun.ac.za

University of Pretoria

Department of Zoology & Entomology

Social Insect Research Group

Tel: 012 420 3233

Find the research notes of people like Prof R Crewe, Dr Christian Pirk and Dr H Human at www.up.ac.za.

University of the Free State

Department of Zoology & Entomology

Tel: 051 401 2566

vdlindet [at] ufs.ac.za

University of the Witwatersrand

Pharmacy and Pharmacology

Tel: 011 717 2175/57

sandy.vanvuuren [at] wits.ac.za

Visit the International Bee Research Association pages at www.ibra.org.uk.

Companies involved

 

Beekeeping equipment

 

Honey and honey products

 

Other

Websites and publications

Visit websites listed elsewhere on this page e.g. www.sabio.org.za, www.beekeepers.co.za, http://wkbv.co.za etc.

The South African Bee Journal (SABJ) is a quarterly periodical published by SABIO. Find details on the SABIO website.

Johannsmeier, M.F. 2016. Beeplants of South Africa. Pretoria: South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). To order the book contact bookshop [at] sanbi.org or call 012 843 5000. Find other SANBI material at www.sanbi.org.

Johannsmeier, M.F. (Ed). 2001. Beekeeping in South Africa. 3rd edition. Pretoria: Agricultural Research Council. The “Blue Book” provides information and instruction, caters for hobbyists, beginners and professionals. Call 021 887 4690, email allsoppm [at] arc.agric.za or visit www.arc.agric.za.

Donald, D., Trull, S., Marchand, D., Jacobs, V., Marchand-Mayne, J. & Merrington, M. 2009. The Bee Book – A Guide to Top-Bar Beekeeping in Southern Africa. Cape Town: Juta. This accessibly written and beautifully illustrated practical guide has four main purposes, to provide:

  • a text book for adult learning and training in Agriculture in the FET college and ABET contexts
  • a practical field guide to top-bar beekeeping for teachers, who are setting up a beekeeping project involving their learners/students in schools and colleges
  • a training and development handbook for agricultural extension officers
  • a practical guide and reference for communities starting income-generating entrepreneurial ventures

Marchand, D. & Marchand-Mayne, J. 2003. Beekeeping – a practical guide for Southern Africa. Onrus River: Aardvark Press. See www.aardvarkpress.co.za.

Bee Ware supplies a DVD, Practical Beginner Beekeeping training and various beekeeping publications. Visit www.beeware.co.za for details.

Find the two DALRRD Info Paks on bees at www.dalrrd.gov.za – take the Resource Centre menu option. The first is “Basic Beekeeping”. The second is entitled “Bee: Capensis bee problem”.

Kejafa Knowledge Works has publications on beekeeping. Visit www.kejafa.com for the following:

  • Byeboerdery in Suid Afrika Anderson, Buys, Johannsmeier ISBN: 978-0-6204447-7
  • Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees Sanford, Bonney ISBN: 978-1-60342-550-6

Call 012 842 4017 or send an email to stoltze [at] arc.agric.za for the following publication, available from the ARC Agricultural Engineering: Agro-processing of honey products.

Find the publications, some available as a free download, at www.biobees.com.

Find the cartoon commissioned by the Public Understanding of Biotechnology (PUB) on iQhilika at www.pub.ac.za/cartoons/.

Wilson, B. 2005. The Hive: The Story of the Honeybee and Us. London: John Murray.

Marchese, C.M. 2009. Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal.

Eardley, C., Roth, D., Clarke, J., Buchanan, S. & Genmill, B. 2006. Pollinators and pollination: a resource book for policy and practice. Pretoria: Agricultural Research Council (ARC).

Watch the YouTube video “Beekeeping How To Start Beekeeping In 2021”.

Forage zone overlay for google maps:

 

Use this tool to plot your apiary locations and discovery your honeybees potential foraging zones.

 

Honey Bee Rescue & Removal

The URL is advertised in a number of magazines and allows end users to request a honey bee removal. The removal is automatically entered into the Apiculture SA honey bee rescue incident system, attended to by beekeepers within SA.

Some articles

 

Some international articles

 

Sources for the page: South African Bee-Industry Organisation (SABIO); Mike Allsopp (ARC-PPR); Dr Connal Eardley (ARC-PPR; Brett Falconer (Highveld Honey); South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

 

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