THEY keep the circle of life turning, but bees a little help to keep up the good work.
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Two members of the Central West Landcare Group are starting an amateur bee group, separate to the Landcare banner, to cater for the growing interest in the important pollinators.
Cameron Wild has been keeping bees since 2011 after hearing about bee losses in Europe due to disease and pesticides and since then, he has noticed an improvement in the nearby environment.
"I get full pollination - an apple which hasn't had complete pollination will be deformed," he said.
Sally Kirby said bees only needed to be checked once a month and collecting honey was a fun activity she did with her children.
"We've run a few native bee motel-building workshops, which gets the kids involved," she said.
The pair hope to set up a demonstration hive once the group is established.
The first meeting of the Amateur Beekeepers Association Orange branch will be held at the Environmental Learning Facility on Thursday, October 17 from 6pm.
Email wiamera@bigpond.com to register.
What's the buzz?
- The majority of bees in a hive are female - males are called drones whose sole purpose is to mate with the virgin queen on her mating flight before they die.
- A queen can lay up to 200 lavae a day.
- Drones who fail to mate with the queen are eventually kicked out of the hive in winter to die.
- Bees have set jobs including queen attendants, nurses, warmers, cleaners, disinfectors, food carriers, waxmakers, undertakers, dancers, workers, guards and drones - some of these jobs overlap as juvenile bees prepare to leave the hive and become foragers.
- When a bee discovers a fresh source of food, it returns to the hive and performs a waggle dance to tell other bees where it is.
- Pollinators are required for a number of crops including clover for livestock feed, almonds, watermelon, pumpkins, canola and lucerne.
- Bees have to collect nectar from two million flowers to make 0.5 kilograms of honey.
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