I can go for days without picking up the newspaper or switching on the television news.
Really!! Who wants to see that kind of doom and gloom?
I leave that reading and watching up to Rob and if there is anything of concern that needs to shatter my perfect little world of raising my boys, collecting eggs, clinking up a woolen project or watching the timer for my bakes in the oven he will be sure to let me know.
My little world has been all perfect and filled with the rays of summery sunshine until dearest Betty had asked if I had flipped to page 3 on Tuesday mornings paper.
We have been planning on 'raising' bees for, lets just say, "quite some time now". It's a little on-the-side-line-passion I have had for years. We need bees for food (in a nutshell) thus without the love of the bee we would die!! Although very vague and dramatic as I am it is still true. Bees are needed for pollination thus the farmers of fruits and vegetables rely on these beautiful buzzers in order to grow luscious crops to feed us.
Not only that but they are also the makers of my most sort after beeswax and honey that I covet!
So now, can you imagine my gasps brought forth as I read page 3 with headlines
"Disease Threat For Bee Farmers"
Let me elaborate a little more ~ The story line goes like this.
The disease (AFB aka The America Foulbrood Disease) that has taken out the buzzers in parts of the Western Cape is threatening to descend upon us here in little Kwa Zulu Natal. Now for those of you who are unaware of this disease... Its ugly! It is a bacteria that infects the bee larvae which results in their death. The bacteria then releases billions of these nasty spores into the the environment. There is no treatment for this and it is so highly contagious. So contagious in fact that the bacteria is carried in the honey products, your bee farming equipment and on other bees too.
"This disease has the potential to wipe out all the bees in South Africa." ~~~ I sob!!
So... now... what can I do?
I know that our little natural hive of buzzers that we have in the thicket of our bamboo forest will have to be moved into a man-made hive. Thanks to Betty's husband who will be aiding us in this. We will then have to register our new hive!! And our new hive will have to be monitored on a regular basis.
By who? At this point in time I am not a hundred percent sure.
This will be a project we will have to grow and nurture not for ourselves as our thoughts were in the past but rather as our place on Mother Earth to help save Bees.
Angie xxx
