Land owners can help - AmazingBees | for everyone interested in bees and beekeeping

Land owners can help by offering their land to beekeepers for temporary accommodation of some beehives when gum trees are flowering on their land or within a radius of three kilometres. Usually the land owner receives some honey in return.

Honeybees feed on pollen and nectar from flowering plants. For their survival and well being bees need to feed on a variety of different flowering plants. During the warmer time of the year bees forage to collect nectar and pollen and what is not eaten during this time gets stored in their nest in honeycomb. During times when there is not enough nectar and pollen to collect, i.e. on cold or wet days or during a drought, bees use their storage. This method has been working for the bees for millions of years.

However, we have been experiencing some very unusual conditions over the years that even during spring and summer in some areas of Victoria there was not enough nectar and pollen for bees to survive. Beekeepers in Victoria had to feed their bees with sugar syrup and pollen substitute to prevent them from starving.

The main source of nectar and pollen for our bees in Australia are Eucalyptus trees (gum trees); they usually flower for four to eight weeks and the different varieties, flowering at different times of the year, could be providing an almost constant food source for our bees. Unfortunately the different species of gum trees are not evenly distributed; in most areas you find two or three types of trees and when they don't produce flowers for the year there is a food shortage for our bees in that area and the bees need to be relocated or fed.

To provide bees with a variety of food sources it is common practice to relocate bees to those areas where nectar and pollen can be found; i.e. migratory beekeeping.

In pursuit of gum trees in flower, beekeepers travel around and when a patch of flowering gum trees is found, attempts are made to locate the owner of the property and ask for permission to temporarily accommodate a few beehives on the property.

When the land owner can be located, permission is usually granted and the bees have found "greener pastures" to forage and collect nectar and pollen. There are situations though when the land owner cannot be located and asked for permission and although there are many flowering trees, they remain unreachable for the bees.

Land Owners offering their land to beekeepers can have their details listed on:

Beekeepers seeking access to land for bees can have their details listed on: