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Beekeepers are working hard to make the almond pollination season in Northwest Victoria a booming success this year.
Key points:
- Bees are needed to carry pollen from flower to flower on almond trees because almonds are not wind pollinated like some other crops.
- Tumut beekeeper rescued 1,200 beehives from swampy ground in Trundle using a helicopter
- Pollination Coordinators Also Tackle COVID-19 Border Restrictions
Over 277,000 beehives are transported to the region from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
It is the largest movement of cattle in Australia.
But Tumut beekeeper John Casey needed help from above to save 1,200 beehives stranded north of Condobolin because the road was too wet to access them.
In a rare move, the beehives were moved by helicopter at a cost of $ 1,600 an hour, before being loaded onto trucks and transported to Boundary Bend.
ABC Rural: Hugh Hogan
)“I’ve never seen him do it,” he said.
“It would be cheaper than making a differential or a gearbox on a truck. I think so.
ABC Rural: Hugh Hogan
)“We’re going to continue to have rain. It’s supposed to rain more next month, but we have to get them out for almond pollination,” he said.
The bees get to work
Merbein’s almond grower Neale Bennett said the beehives would be based on his property for six weeks before being loaded onto trucks for the return trip.
“We need bees. Almonds are not wind pollinated like some other crops. We need bees to carry this pollen from flower to flower,” he said.
ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Jennifer Douglas
)“It looks really good. It’s a good time of year as it is the start of our season. We are hoping for reasonable sunny weather and with that uniform flowering.”
Finding enough hives is a challenge, but navigating COVID-19 restrictions adds another level of complexity for people like Trevor Monson.
He coordinates almond pollination for a number of farms between Tooleybuc and Hattah.
COVID-19 challenges
“The beekeepers have been very good with the [border] papers, ”he said.
ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Jennifer Douglas
)Mr Monson said this year’s COVID-19 restrictions were even more difficult to navigate than last year.
“We ask beekeepers to get tested before loading their bees.
“We’re only three miles from the border. They come in, unload and go,” Monson said.
The almond orchards of northwest Victoria should be in full bloom within days.
ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Jennifer Douglas
)
