Save our bees – National Bee Week in New Zealand – Aug 20 to Aug 24
Bees play a vital role of pollination in New Zealand agriculture and horticulture industries and in our home gardens. Roughly one third of what we eat is pollinated by bees. Without bees we would not be able to grow a wide range of food including apples, pears, stone fruit, cucumbers, kiwifruit, berry fruit and even clover.
In New Zealand wild bee colonies can not exist, long term, because of varroa mite. Bees need our managed care for their survival but chemical resistant varroa strains are emerging around the globe, including New Zealand.
Colony Collapse Disorder is mysteriously killing bees world wide. In 2008 nearly half of Italy’s 50 million bees died. In USA up to 50% of honey bees have died due to Colony Collapse Disorder.
What You Can Do to Protect Bees
1. Create a ‘spray free’ garden.
2. Plant a bee friendly garden with nectar rich plants. Visit Save www.SaveOurBees.org.nz for more details.
3. Mow your lawn less. Bees love buttercups, dandelion and clover flowers.
4. Provide a site for a beehive. Offer a corner of your garden to a local beekeeper. Visit www.greenurbanliving.co.nz/forum to register your interest.
5. Learn about bees. Read a book about the intricate relationships
within a bee colony. Bees are fascinating creatures.
6. Become a beekeeper. Visit Save Our Bees.org.nz to learn how.
What is Save Our Bees?
SaveOurBees.org.nz is a new charity created to raise awareness of bees
and to educate people about bees and how they can become a backyard
beekeeper using a Top Bar Hive, a simple, inexpensive and easy to manage
hive.
What Does Save Our bees do?
- · We run free workshops and seminars on Top bar Beekeeping.
- · We publish free educational material.
- · We provide a free community forum to share knowledge and provide advice on backyard beekeeping.
- · We provide links to bee hive plans and people who can make a hive for you.
- · We raise awareness of the plight of the honey bee to the general public.
What can I do to help?
- · Read, copy and distribute any of the free material on our website.
- · Make a donation to help us do more.
