By Casey Neill
There’s a real buzz about the Springvale Community Garden.
It comes from the thousands of bees that live there beneath the shade of a fig tree, tended to by William Kwan.
He’s five years into beekeeping and “still very much a rookie in the grand scheme of things”.
But it’s not as daunting as people think, he said, and bees are for the most part very low-maintenance.
“Hobby beekeeping can be done synergistically with routine gardening,” he said.
“From a personal level, a couple of bee hives can vastly improve fruit and vegetable yields in your back yard.
“Also in a good season you can harvest 30-plus kilograms of honey.
“From a more altruistic point of view, as bee populations are at threat due to pollution, loss of natural habitats, back yard beekeeping can assist with local pollination.”
William said the weather was the biggest challenge for novice beekeepers.
“Heatwaves or the other extreme excessive rainfall isn’t great for bees as it depletes their food stores and in these situations, sometimes a colony needs more hands-on attention and that can be a bit stressful,” he said.
The other main challenge is spring and early summer diligence.
William said bees had a tendency to swarm during this period, which involves a large group of bees leaving the hive to form a new colony.
Beekeepers need to check on their hive every two weeks during this time, or get a friend to cover them.
“That means no interstate or overseas trips during late August to the end of December which can be easily worked around but it is a minor inconvenience,” he said.
Beestings are another obvious drawback.
“I have been stung countless times!” he said.
“The worst was a rookie mistake of only using one strap and not two when transporting a hive and the bottom fell out. I think I got stung 13 times in the face that day.”
But for all that, William highly recommends the rewarding hobby.
“Watching a small swarm of say 3000 bees which I may have collected during the spring grow into a productive healthy colony of 50,000-plus … It’s rewarding to see that you are having a positive impact on honeybees in general and by extension the environment,” he said.
At Springvale Community Garden, he said seeing bees buzzing around put everyone in a good mood.
“I can’t put my finger on exactly why but I think like the smell of freshly cut grass, buzzing bees signifies the end of winter and warm times ahead,” he said.
“I also like that the bee hive has been a bit of an education tool for some members of the Springvale community who may have flirted with the idea of hobby beekeeping but initially found it too intimidating.
“I hope that seeing someone like me succeed at beekeeping with relatively little experience could be that push that motivates people to take up beekeeping as a hobby.”
Springvale Community Garden president Gloria Gapper noticed extra fruit this year.
“When you go over to your plants you can see them on there,” she said.
“First thing in the morning they’re always there working.
“They’re pollinating.
“When you look at their little legs they’ve got pollen on them. They’re doing a good job.”
