As the swarming season begins for bees in South Africa, Rentokil Initial has partnered with Bee Kulture to provide specialised and sustainable “bee sanctuaries” adding to their suite of quick, safe, environmentally friendly and responsive pest control solutions.
“We are always on the lookout to deliver even more effective and reliable services while ensuring public health and protecting the environment with innovative pest management programmes,” says Gugu Masina, Marketing Manager for Rentokil Initial Sub-Saharan Africa. “Being impressed with Bee Kulture’s conservationist approach, which fits in well with our ethos of integrated pest management and environmental protection, the partnership between ourselves was obvious.”
Honeybees are often in the news and their importance to the environment and world food security cannot be understated – it has been the topic of much ongoing debate and research. Bees are deemed critical for the future existence of humans and are essential for the growth of many plants, including food crops. It is therefore imperative that every bee is protected and whenever a swarm is deemed to be a nuisance they need to be safely and sustainably relocated.
One such solution, implemented by Rentokil Initial and Bee Kulture, is the creation of a bee sanctuary on the commercial business premises of one of their clients. Instead of the complete removal and rehousing of a large swarm of bees, apiaries have been placed in a small, carefully sectioned off and signposted piece of the property to provide a safe space for the bees.
As part of the service, honey from these beehives is collected and can be sold, donated to charity or even given to staff. Instead of having swarms removed, Rentokil Initial and Bee Kulture hope to convince more of their clients to opt for the installation of bee sanctuaries on their sites, although bee removal can also be arranged on sites where a bee sanctuary is not possible.
This is the time to start being more aware of bees, as the swarming season in South Africa lasts from September through to February, generally, as spring brings the blooming of new flowers. This is also the time that honeybees are the most aggressive with overdoses of pollen.
“In a true South African and more notably, Pedi culture, a swarm of bees in the yard is always taken as a symbol of the ancestors bringing luck to the family,” concludes Masina. “But, if it is impossible to live with them then it’s best for well equipped, certified and experienced teams to safely remove and relocate hives to apiaries and areas where they can live and prosper.
We’re pleased to now be able to offer these additional sustainable and bee-friendly solutions to our clients.”
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