7/6/2023 0 Comments Bee hives cost![]() They leave their hives dotted throughout the plantation just as bloom is starting, and return to collect them at the end of flowering.īecause beekeepers collect their hives at night, it’s unlikely that many bees are left behind. At night, when all the bees are at home, hive entrances can be shut off to stop them escaping during the journey.īeekeepers load their hives onto a truck and drive thousands of kilometres to the plantations. This makes it easier for beekeepers to transport hives when needed. Honeybees naturally return to their colony at night, as they rely on daylight and warmth to forage. For example, a beekeeper can specify that the grower should not spray pesticides that can damage the colony’s health while the hives are in place. The beekeeper and grower usually sign a pollination agreement, in case there are any problems. Delivering bees too early or too late can impact the health of the honeybee colonies, or result in lower crop yields. But many corporate growers will hire a pollination broker as a go-between to organise the complex logistics of trucking thousands of beehives from interstate to be there at just the right time. Some growers rent hives by contacting individual beekeepers directly. For almond pollination, one hive can cost around $70-100 to rent. Costs per hive vary depending on the crop, covering costs to the beekeeper such as how far they have to travel, the time of year (early season pollination can be more stressful for honey bees and require more feeding costs for beekeepers to maintain hive health), and the risks (e.g. The many plantations across northwestern Victoria rent more than 150,000 hives each year, costing millions of dollars in rental fees. Almonds bloom for a few weeks at the end of August and rely almost completely on insect pollination to produce harvestable almond fruits. In Australia, the almond industry is one of the biggest renters of honeybee hives for pollination. Although most beekeepers do still keep bee hives to produce honey or wax products, paid pollination services are becoming increasingly important to the industry. Managed crop pollination services have become big business in many parts of the world, including Australia. Not just bees: the buzz on our other vital insect helpers But it’s not just about honey and beeswax products. Today, the beekeeping industry includes around 600,000 managed hives and is worth around A$100 million to Australia’s economy. Honeybees were first introduced to Australia from Europe in the early 1800s. To optimise yields, most growers rent European honeybee hives during crop flowering season. During that time, insects need to be flying around visiting flowers to feed on pollen and nectar to ensure that pollination happens. ![]() The window for pollination usually lasts two to four weeks, depending on the crop. So how do farmers make sure their crops will produce enough fruit to make a profit? Crops in most parts of Australia have one main blooming period, usually in spring or early summer. For example, self-pollinated flowers may produce a fruit, but it might be very small or misshapen. Insect pollination isn’t just about the number of fruits produced – it can also improve the quality of the yield. Some crops rely more on pollinators than others. ![]() ![]() Almonds, blueberries, apples, melons – all of these fruits, and many more, rely on insect pollination. ![]()
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