South Africa’s two indigenous honey bee subspecies, Apis mellifera scutellata and the Cape honey bee, Apis mellifera capensis, are being included in the National Biodiversity Assessment (NBA) for the first time. This is a significant step towards evaluating their overall health and recognizing the vital role they play in South Africa’s ecosystems and agricultural economy.
Alongside the mopani worm (Gonimbrasia belina) – another economically important insect species revered locally as a vital protein source for generations – the honey bee is now officially part of the NBA’s comprehensive efforts to assess and safeguard the country’s biodiversity.
The NBA, overseen by South African National Biodiversity Institute, SANBI, is the cornerstone of the country’s environmental management framework. Conducted every 7 to 8 years, the NBA serves as a critical tool for monitoring biodiversity trends and guiding policy decisions.
Dr. Ruan Veldtman, a senior scientist with SANBI, heralds the inclusion of South Africa’s honey bees in the NBA as a “landmark achievement.” He states that since the NBA’s inception in 2004, “knowledge on invertebrates, and particularly pollinators, was identified as a major knowledge gap.”
As apex pollinators, honey bees are essential for the pollination of roughly 50 food crops in South Africa. Their contribution to food security cannot be overstated, and any disruption to their populations could have serious consequences.
While global honey bee populations have been decimated by disease, pests, habitat loss, and the reckless use of pesticides, South Africa’s honey bees have remained relatively resilient. Nonetheless, Veldtman warns that he “expects the report will raise concerns about the state of honey bees in South Africa and the sustainability of beekeeping.” Chronic loss of forage, driven by the removal of essential bee-friendly plants like eucalyptus trees, poses a major threat.
One of the most pressing issues is the need to protect wild honey bee colonies. While managed colonies are crucial for commercial pollination, wild colonies play an equally vital role in maintaining genetic diversity and ecological balance in the wider environment. Dr. Veldtman strongly supports granting special conservation status to wild colonies. Such protection, he argues, will be essential for maintaining the health of both wild and managed colonies in the face of growing environmental pressures.
Professor Robin Crewe, one of South Africa’s foremost entomologists and a scientific adviser to the Western Cape Bee Industry Association, points out the historical and ecological significance of South Africa’s honey bees. For Crewe, the inclusion of Apis mellifera scutellata and A. m. capensis in the NBA is not just a scientific achievement but also recognition of their deep-rooted place in South African biodiversity. He states these bees are “part of the region’s original fauna, as evidenced by ancient rock paintings depicting early human societies’ interactions with honey bees.”
However, Crewe highlights the confusion that has long surrounded the status of honey bees in South Africa. They were often viewed as domestic animals, akin to livestock, and thus overlooked in biodiversity assessments. According to Crewe, “the NBA’s inclusion of honey bees is a critical step in rectifying this oversight, placing them where they rightfully belong: within the broader framework of indigenous fauna that must be protected and monitored.”
Crewe stresses the importance of conducting thorough surveys of both managed and wild colonies to accurately assess population sizes and seasonal fluctuations. This data will be essential for determining the sustainability of current beekeeping practices and for developing strategies to protect wild colonies from exploitation. Veldtman says the NBA will put mechanisms in place to collect data from a wide range of stakeholders, including local beekeepers, conservation groups, and academic institutions. But Crewe is concerned about the well-known “secretiveness” of beekeepers, which he says “will not lead to honey bee populations being monitored and managed effectively both for pollination services and for the health of the natural population”.
While the NBA’s recognition of honey bees as part of South Africa’s natural heritage is an important milestone, other challenges lie in translating the findings of the NBA into actionable conservation and management policies. Funding will be a critical factor in ensuring that the recommendations put forth in the NBA are implemented effectively, especially when it comes to protecting wild colonies and regulating beekeeping practices. However, by recognizing the importance of honey bees and placing them under the protective umbrella of the NBA, South Africa is taking an essential step toward safeguarding the future of these remarkable insects – and by extension, the future of its ecosystems and food security.
Q&A with Dr Ruan Veldtman & Professor Robin Crewe
What is the significance of including South Africa’s two indigenous honey bee subspecies in the NBA for the first time?
Ruan Veldtman: “A landmark achievement! The honey bee and the mopani worm (Gonimbrasia belina) will be the first ever insect species explicitly covered in the NBA.”Robin Crewe: “The most important aspect of this recognition is that our honey bees are now considered to be an integral part of southern African biodiversity. They are part of the original fauna of the region as documented from the oldest rock paintings to the present day.”
Why weren’t our indigenous honey bees previously included in the NBA?
Ruan Veldtman: “The NBA has evolved from its first release in 2004. In the past each update (done every 7-8 years) new issues and facts are included as more biodiversity data becomes available. From 2025, the NBA will be more dynamic by continually updating indicators with data as soon as these become available. At the same time recognising the importance of terrestrial invertebrates like insects has gained momentum”.
Robin Crewe: There has been a great deal of confusion over the status of honey populations in South Africa. There is a common perception that honey bees are domestic animals that required no special consideration in relation to the NBA. They were considered in the same light as other domestic animals. It was for this reason that it took some strenuous efforts for this perception to be laid to rest.
What are the potential benefits for the inclusion of honey bees in the NBA?
Ruan Veldtman: Traditionally honey bees have been viewed as part of agricultural sector. This is however an error, especially in South Africa. The NBA will showcase the current state of knowledge around the honey bee subspecies in South Africa and set the bar on how to measure and protect this national resource going forward.
Robin Crewe: The important benefit is that the honey bee populations are regarded as part of the indigenous fauna and their populations should be protected and monitored. Whether any of this happens, will depend on the funding that is made available to implement the recommendations of the NBA.
What sort of information will the authors of the NBA be seeking during their assessment of our honey bee populations?
Ruan Veldtman: All information relevant to beekeeping, including the use of wild swarms, movement of hives, pollination of crops and size of beekeeping operations and use of forage resources. It is also of vital importance to properly measure the use of managed honey bee colonies for crop pollination, as this is a major factor on how honey bee populations are utilised.
Robin Crewe: An assessment of our honey bee populations should be based on a census of the number of managed colonies and their geographical locations. The second element should be a survey each of the South African biomes to estimate the density of wild colonies in each biome with an indication of the seasonal fluctuations in these densities. This survey will be useful in determining the size of the wild population and its potential for producing swarms that could be managed by beekeepers.
Who will the researchers speak to/consult with?
Ruan Veldtman: Basically all interested parties and stakeholders, these include in no particular order – CapeNature, SANParks, SANBI, WWF, SABIO, WCBA & SCBA plus all other associations,UP, SU, CPUT, WC Agriculture, DFFE, NGOs, HortGro, ARC, and beekeepers.
How will local beekeepers be approached and in what way can they make a useful contribution?
Ruan Veldtman: Local beekeepers will be approached through SABIO, all provincial associations, and even a communication channel for unaffiliated beekeepers to have their say (there is a large portion of beekeepers that do not have any formal association that must also be consulted). It is hoped that the first report will indicate to unaffiliated beekeepers the importance of being involved in the bigger picture of using honey bees.
Robin Crewe: Local beekeepers …….should be transparent about details such as average number of managed colonies per year, average number of swarms caught per year, whether rearing queens or not (this together with the swarm capturing data gives an indication of the off take from the wild population annually). The degree of secretiveness demonstrated by beekeepers is unfortunate and will not lead to honey bee populations being monitored and managed effectively both for pollination services and for the health of the natural population.
What do you think the NBA may tell us about the status of our honey bees?
Ruan Veldtman: This will be a first for South Africa and hopefully we will get better answers than “we don’t know” or over extrapolated data, or recommend what should be measured in future. We should have a better idea of how the African honey bee subspecies are doing in South Africa when the NBA and technical reports are released by SANBI in 2025. I expect that the report will raise concerns on the state of the African honeybee in South Africa and the sustainability of beekeeping.
Robin Crewe: Other than the recognition of our honey bees as part of the indigenous fauna, at this stage very little. The hard graft is yet to come in the form of surveys of managed colonies and the surveys of the wild populations.
Do you think our honey bees should be accorded any special conservation status, particularly some kind of protection for wild colonies?
Ruan Veltdman: Yes, absolutely. Not to pre-empt the report but there is a whole nuanced reality around issues related to the conservation and use of honey bees in agriculture, including the importance of eucalyptus as bee forage and current and future threats to beekeeping. The report will also place honey bees in the global context of conserving all insect pollinators and the services they provide. Up to know South African honey bee populations have been robust and have coped with disease and forage challenges. This should however not be taken for granted, and proper monitoring and decision making based on scientific data is urgently required. This is the only way to ensure this national resource is sustainably used and effectively protected.
Robin Crewe: The problem is that special conservation status is linked to population size. In the absence of any good data on the size of the wild population (in this case population sizes are based on colonies not individuals. This is a major conceptual difference from species that are not eusocial (insect special showing an advanced level of social organisation). Clarity of analysis is vital here. Wild colonies should be protected and left to their own devices wherever they choose to nest. Where they might pose a risk to humans, they should be removed by a professional bee remover who should ideally hive them and use them. This protection could probably be achieved by way of provincial legislation. The Western Cape Bee Industry Association (for example) could look into preparing such legislation and submitting it to the appropriate MEC for consideration. By being proactive, WCBA might get some legislation in place that would protect wild bee colonies and regulate the individuals who do bee removals.