W&N watercolour on Amedeo 200gsm
Dedicated to all Eucalypt and Bee-lovers.A
recent study by the SA National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) in South
Africa has found that gum trees provide nectar and pollen for swarms of
commercial bees – and bees in turn pollinate about 50 food crops in the
country. This “service” bees provide is worth about R10.3 billion a
year.
Gum trees are not only important food for bees, but so are many
roadside wildflowers, crops, suburban flowering plants and those that
many regard as weeds. A major reason for the decline of honey bees
around the world is a lack of good forage plants to provide nectar,
which is the carbohydrate in the bees’ diet, and pollen the protein.
Bees collect nectar from Blue Gum tree blossoms from spring to late
summer.
A lack of good quality and variety of forage plants 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 crop flowers, leading to a decreased yield or quality of
the food crop, Insect pollinators are needed for 35 percent of all food
production globally – or one of every three bites you eat.
Although most Blue gums have been declared as an invasive species in
South Africa, Beekeepers are highly dependent on eucalyptus and if they
are all removed because they are aliens it would mean a serious shortage
of food for bees – with a knock-on effect on crop pollination.
Because of this, the Department of Environmental Affairs’ legislation
on alien and invasive species, updated in 2014, is “nuanced” for
eucalyptus trees, not requiring all of them to come under the axe or
chainsaw. Good news for all Eucalypt-lovers, I for one am ecstatic as I think they really are grand!
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