The Western Cape Bee Industry Association (WCBA) said its main focus is on the long-term survival and sustainability of the unique honeybee subspecies, the Cape honeybee.
The WCBA’s plan comes after the province’s Department of Agriculture strategy indicated in 2018 that the sustainability of the bee population is not reaching the objective.
Chris Nicklin, WCBA spokesperson said the bees play a crucial role in the Western Cape’s ecology by ensuring biodiversity through their activities and performing up to 90% of all pollination of food crops, IOL reports.
According to Nicklin, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed their progress tremendously, however, the objective of the 2018 plan remains the same.
“If we’re unable to stem this problem, bee-keeping will become non-viable in the Western Cape, placing the pollination of our food crops in great jeopardy,” Nicklin was quoted as saying.
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Meanwhile, the Western Cape Bee Forage Working Group in a partnership between the Western Cape government, organised agriculture and WBCA, have put a team together to avoid the fruit industry from being at risk, however, the group still needed to be formally initiated.
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