Last Weeks Speaker - John McCaskill - Bees and other Pollinators

It was with great pleasure that the Rotary Club of Canterbury welcomed back John McCaskill to speak about his passion, a project initiated by our Rotary Club and firmly supported.

Rotarians for Bees began five years ago, after John viewed a documentary, in which Sir David Attenborough explained the decline in the number of bees in the bee population. Four factors were highlighted in the demise of bees - urban building, pesticides, the decline in the number of insects and the varroa mite. 

 

There are thirty thousand registered beekeepers in Australia with six hundred and sixty-eight thousand beehives. John emphasised the two aspects of this particular initiative - education and habitat. In fact, John's education about bees continues to expand. He and Elizabeth are often advised about television programs related to this topic. He is chuffed that this initiative has expanded in both New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Whilst not everyone will keep hives but the best way to attract pollinators like bees is to have colourful plants - yellows and purples apparently being the most attractive.

 

In order to quicken the pace of the spread of Rotarians for Bees, it has become a fellowship, thus making it international. Interestingly it is in Slovenia, where bee keeping is seen to be very prominent. In fact the World Bee Day was conceived there.  

 

Questions asked dealt with the issue of pesticides and herbicides, the threat that wasps are for bees and finally, a question about bee swarms.

Bees are important. They provide us with food and we should never forget it. Did you know that 1 in 3 mouthfuls we take are dependant on pollinators?

Anne Josefsberg