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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, JULY 2017
NSW CONFERENCE REPORTS OUT AND ABOUT Frank Lindsay, Life Member We have recently returned from Ballina, New South Wales, where we attended the Crop Pollination Association Inc conference and the New South Wales Apiarists’ Association (NSWAA) conference for professional beekeepers. It was 25°C in Brisbane and down the coast, so we’re all warmed up and enthusiastic again. Oh, to be 30 years younger.
Pollination conference The pollination conference was attended by about 40 people. Blueberries are being planted along the NSW coast. They now have enough varieties that flower for six months. Blueberry pollen can’t support sustained brood rearing as it’s missing some essential amino acids, so the beekeepers feed pollen supplement while the hives are in the orchards. They rely on the bees going flower- to-flower, passing on any loose pollen that falls on their heads. These flowers are best buzz-pollinated by bumble bees, but they don’t have them in mainland Australia. Incidentally, our Tasmanian friends really hate bumble bees. They believe they take a lot of nectar because they fly earlier than our bees. The rest of Australia doesn’t want them at all as they may compete with their native bees. The Australian macadamia industry is way behind other pollination industries. Growers had numerous problems so are conducting research to find the best pollinator. They hadn’t controlled tree growth so they are close to creating a dark understory; which means bees don’t visit these flowers. Trees drop half their set and only carry through what the tree can support. What about fertilising the trees before flowering, so that trees are healthy just like avocados? They are only getting one nut per raceme, where we see six to a dozen or more with good pollination here. To me this indicated a nutrition (fertiliser) or pollination problem. Growers have a choice of native bees or honey bees. Native bees are more suitable as macadamia is an Australian native, although today’s varieties have been produced in Hawaii and brought back to Australia. Native bees visit the flower as they are just opening before the style stretches out. Beekeepers put hives into macadamia just to build beehives. Growers don’t pay for the pollination, so the bees are of different quality (beehive strength). They also spray twice
Stump with a stingless bees’ nest.
during the flowering period, which could affect the bees.
New Zealand, all the ‘save the bees’ interest has been in honey bees, but in Australia it’s more about protecting the native bees, as there are plenty of feral Apis mellifera bees around. Because of this interest, the NSW Department of Primary Industries has produced the AgGuide Australian Native Bees. They have 1600 species, where we have only 28 species here.
Stingless native bees: something we don’t have in NZ Australians have a real interest in stingless native bees. These bees are easy to keep in the warm regions in a small garden box out of the sun. They start flying when it’s 18°C. In
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