ISSUE 51 — FEB 2020
Where are all the bees? After around 2,000 hives were destroyed in the recent SA Fires, over half of the bee population has been lost in that area. With the source of flora significantly low, it’s going to be a while before we see anything buzzing around again. So far, 1,100 hives on Kangaroo Island were lost in the fires, which is home to the last pure strain of Ligurian bees in the world. Over half of the bee population has disappeared and it's going to take a while to breed up the population again, due to the lack of resources available. A significant impact on the pollination crops was seen in the aftermath, with 210,550 hectares of Flora burnt down on Kangaroo Island, a major hit to the survival of the bees. Though we are seeing more rain as we go further into the year, low rainfall means all sources
of flora will struggle to grow. Not only the flora but native vegetation and trees that were lost can take years to regrow back to what it once was. A foreseen shortage of honey may fall over Australia due to this devastation. On one of the farms on Kangaroo Island, along with 450 hives, more than 40 tonnes of honey were lost in the fires. All hope is not lost with some farms obtaining special feeders to put in the hives to keep the bees strong until the area starts flowering again.
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