Tamworth beekeepers share their wisdom ahead of World Bee Day

Beekeeping supplier Tony Bradbury has advice for local landholders looking to help the humble bumble(bee) as the buzzing holiday approaches.

"Basically it's about following some common sense rules," Mr Bradbury said.

"The biggest thing is to plant some bee-friendly trees and plants on their property, things that flower at different times of the year to help keep them healthy through the winter," Mr Bradbury said.

READ ALSO:

Some of these plants can include lavender, sunflowers, coneflowers, borage, poppies, clover, and cornflowers, all of which provide bees with a diverse range of nectar and pollen.

These will help the bees play their role as pollinators, helping not only wildflowers grow but also food crops like fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

Mr Bradbury also said he advises locals to avoid spraying flowers with weed-killers, as they can cause bees to lose their sense of direction and ability to find their hives.

He also says households should go light on insecticides and pesticides generally, especially ones with neonicotinoids like Roundup and Zero.

"I use it, but I recommend knocking the flowers off a couple days before first, so you don't hit any bees with it," Mr Bradbury said.

Lastly, Mr Bradbury says he encourages more people to get into beekeeping, so long as they have enough information first.

"The biggest thing for people showing an interest in bee keeping is to go along and do a beginner bee course, preferably before they get bees ... a lot of people get the fuzzy feeling that their grandpa or other relative had bees and they used to love it, but it's not quite as easy now as it was then," he said.

Mr Bradbury said he's seen a lot of misconceptions over his last eight years as the owner of Tamworth Beekeeping Supplies.

"A lot of people see it as add bees, subtract honey, but there's a lot more to it if you don't take care of the bees," he said.

But taking care of bees isn't just for landholders.

Mr Bradbury said the government is also responsible for protecting bees from biosecurity threats, such as stamping out the recent varroa mite scare which devastated many beekeeping businesses.

"It's not something we want in Australia, and if it does get away from [the government] it's going to make beekeeping wildly more difficult. It would wipe out every single wild hive in Australia, that's how bad it could be," he said.

And no wild bees means much less pollination, which could threaten up to 30 percent of food crops and 90 percent of wild plants.

Good reasons to take some time to appreciate your local bees this World Bee Day.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: