Garden for Bees Many of you will have read that if bees become extinct, mankind will follow within a few years. Whether or not that is actually true, there is no doubt that bees play a crucial role in the pollination of our food, and they are facing a tough, tough time out there. Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, monocultural farming, viruses, mites, a loss of habitat – these are just a few of the threats that bees are facing at the moment, and they are losing the battle in many parts of the world.
But we, the humble gardeners, can play an important part in saving bees from extinction, just by planning what we plant in our food gardens, and what chemicals we use on them.
Bees need flowers that produce both pollen and nectar, nectar from which to make honey for carbohydrates, and pollen for proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins. A hive requires a mass of bee-friendly plants flowering at any one time of the year, and preferably a variety of species that can supply a range of nutrients.
The trick is therefore to plant bunches of bee-friendly plants that flower at the same time, or bunches of one particular bee-friendly plant, at various spots in the garden. A few bunches like this that flower at different times of the year will go a long way in keeping your local bees healthy. An added bonus is that attracting bees to your garden will increase the yield of your fruits and veggies. And if you’re really keen, you could keep a hive and harvest your own honey!
TIP: Don’t forget the water! Bees need a constant, clean water source just like the rest of us. The perfect bee-bath is shallow, with sloping edges, so that they don’t drown. Alternatively, place branches and stones in a birdbath, so that bees have somewhere to land. They will also suck water out of mud.
Below is bee-friendly fruit and veggies, as well as an example diagram of how you could plant your edible garden to benefit our little pollinators.
Fruit and Veggies:
• All Year: Beetroots, carrots and onions (These only flower if you don’t harvest them, so you choose between a harvest or flowers.)
• Spring to Summer: Beans, cucumbers, ornamental gourds (calabashes) and pumpkins, squashes, watermelons and other sweet melons (spanspek), and wild garlic.
• Summer to Autumn: Peppers and tomatoes.
• Winter to Spring: Artichokes, peas and strawberries.
Herbs:
• All Year: Parsley, perennial basil (unless in a frosty area), thyme (best in cooler months), borage (unless in a frosty area).
• Spring to Summer: Catmint and other mints, dill, fennel and sage.
• Summer: Basil, borage (in frosty areas), coriander and origanum.
• Summer to Autumn: Bee balm (bergamot), echinacea, lemon verbena, rosemary and sunflowers.
• Winter to Spring: Calendula and lavender.
Diagram
Get some bee-friendly plants and seeds at the Tanya Visser online shop or help mother nature even further by getting a bee house for your garden. Shop here.
The Bee’s Perspective Flowers provide food for bees. To plants they are sex organs. The origins of flowering plants and insect pollinators began simultaneously about 100 million years ago. Cross-pollinated plants use vector, such as wind, water or an animal, mostly an insect, to deliver their pollen to a receptive stigma of another flower. Animal pollination requires that flowers attract pollinators, mostly for food (pollen, nectar and oils), but also through scent and/or visual cues. This co-evolution resulted in plants producing rewards for the service they receive, namely pollination, although the bees are blissfully unaware they’re performing a service.
Bees as Pollinators Bees are among the most important pollinators. Commonly, beetles, moths, bats and birds pollinate, and a host of other organisms may pollinate as well. Pollination precedes fertilisation in plants, but does not guarantee it. Therefore it also precedes plant reproduction, seed set and fruit production. Consequently, it is an essential ecosystem service, meaning that in the wild it directly contributes to the production of food for seed- and fruit-eating animals, and ensures that there will be future generations of plants. The same applies to agriculture. Flowers depend either on a specific pollinator, on a suite of closely related pollinators, or on many different pollinators. Similarly, some bees are adapted to forage on specific plants while others visit many different types of flowers. Specialisation reduces competition between plant species for a pollinator, and/or between bee species for the food they obtain from a specific plant species. However, specialisation is risky because if one goes extinct the other will follow. Most pollinator/plant relations are webs of activities, and these webs are poorly understood. Not all flower visitors pollinate – some steal their nectar and pollen, and contribute no benefit to the plant. They are known as robbers.
A Leaf Cutter Bee
The Flower’s Perspective To a flower, a bee is a pollen vector, and the balance between reward and pollination service must be finely tuned. The reward must be sufficient to make the pollinator’s visit worthwhile, but insufficient to completely meet the food requirements so that the pollinator is forced to visit another flower. Flowers also develop their structure in such a way that the receptive stigma touches the bee’s body in precisely the place where the pollen was lodged, either the pollen basket or another part of the bee’s body. These differences explain why we have such a beautiful array of flowers, and with them fruit and nuts – and bees. Plants have excelled beyond all other groups of organisms in producing beautiful, intricate structures to ensure sexual reproduction. Their beauty in our gardens and the wonderful variety of foods that come from these flowers is testimony to the most miraculous process in nature – biodiversity. This is nature’s way of coping in a complex, changing world.
The Bee’s Perspective Bees don’t see flowers as we see them. They see them as food. Pollination mechanisms are survival strategies for plants competing with one another for pollinators, and bees competing with one another for food. Daisies attract many different pollinators, but the anthers and stigmas are close together. Cross-pollination requires stigmas not being receptive to their own pollen. Aloes have tubular corollas suited to small and long-tongued insects. Orchids have their pollen in pollinia that they usually place on a part of the bee’s body that is inaccessible to the bee, but not to the stigma of another orchid that the bee visits. Orchids that don’t provide a reward are decoy pollinated, i.e. bees are lured to flowers by their structure and scent, but don’t receive a reward. Buzz pollination occurs in the tomato family (Solanaceae) – these plants require that a bee places it forelegs onto the anthers and then buzzes. The vibrations of its wings resonate through the forelegs and burst the anthers releasing the pollen. This is why one hears a distinct buzz every time a bee visits a tomato flower – listen next time you’re in your veggie garden!
A Yellow-Banded Carder Bee
Dr C. Eardley is from the Agricultural Research Council, Plant Protection Research Institute, and has worked on the taxonomy of African bees and the conservation of their biodiversity for 40 years. His email address is eardleyc@arc.agric.za.
Members of the protea family are essentially social plants, although there are some exceptions. Fynbos are generally adaptable and, with an understanding and appreciation of the basic growing requirements of these plants, one is assured of a reasonable chance of success – and a great deal of pleasure. It is important to plant your fynbos in full sun. Those from the winter rainfall area require excellent air circulation and cool nights, and cannot abide high humidity in summer – whereas the summer rainfall species are more tolerant of high humidity. In their natural habitats, proteas are found growing in areas that show considerable variation in temperature. A soil with more than 30% clay in the top is not recommended for the planting. If your soil is not ideal, it is best to dig as big a hole as possible and mix some of your garden soil with composted pine bark or the Arnelia potting mix. This creates a transitional layer for the roots to move out of the pot through the bark and soil. Most species need a pH of 5-7, although there are lots of instances of proteas growing in areas with alkaline soils with pH values as high as 8.4.
One of the most important requirements for growing proteas is well-drained soil that is also well-aerated. Once fully established in garden beds with loam soils, most proteas are drought tolerant, but during their first 52 summers they will need a thorough soaking twice a week.
Light pruning is essential to maintain the desired shape and extend the life of protea plants.
Spring has arrived, which means that your lawn will be awakening to another season of growing green and lush. A healthy lawn, though, depends on how you treat it and how you mow it.
Mowing looks deceptively simple, but every time you cut your lawn you’re determining its chances of success or failure. Mow it the right way, and your lawn will respond by growing healthy and thick. Mow it badly and you could end up killing it. Here are our top 10 mowing tips for a healthy lawn:
1. Don’t Scalp Cutting your lawn too short (scalping) makes it vulnerable to diseases and weed infestation. A lawn that is cut too short is weak and sparse, which allows weeds to get growing. A scalped lawn also has a weak root system that makes the lawn susceptible to drought or being scorched by heat waves.
2. Keep the Blades Sharp Sharp lawn mower blades cut grass cleanly, while blunt blades tear it unevenly. Torn grass is susceptible to infection by diseases, and can also die back after a cut. Sharpen blades at least a couple of times every spring/summer.
3. Adjust the Mower Height Don’t leave your mower at one height all season. In the height of summer, adjust the mower to let the grass grow longer – this gives the soil more shade, slowing down evaporation. Taller grass also develops longer roots, which makes it better able to withstand hot spells and water shortages. As summer ends, lower the cutting height again.
4. Mowing in the Shade Here’s our top tip for growing a healthy lawn in the shade: Lawns in the shade need longer leaves to aid photosynthesis. (There are also a number of shade-specific varieties, should your lawn battle.)
5. Don’t Mow Wet Grass Resist the temptation to mow the lawn early on a cool, damp morning. Wet grass can quickly clog and damage your mower, even if it isn’t bad for the actual lawn. Wet soil, though, can lead to ruts in the lawn.
6. Alternate the Mowing Direction Alternate the direction in which you mow. This prevents the soil from being compacted and ruts forming. Compacted soil can lead to disease outbreaks and weed growth.
7. Don’t Mow in the Heat of the Day Cutting a lawn stresses out each of those thousands of little plants. Reduce the stress by mowing when it is cool, so that the plants lose less water and can recover quickly.
8. Don’t Remove the Clippings Grass clippings don’t have to be removed. Not only is it a waste of energy, but it’s also a waste of resources – grass clippings add nutrients back into the lawn, so you don’t need as much fertiliser. If you want your lawn to be neater, remove the clippings but throw it on your compost heap to be used later.
9. Be Careful on Slopes Mowing on slopes is where most mowing accidents occur. Reduce these by using an automated mower. Alternatively, replace your lawn on slopes with a low-maintenance groundcover.
10. Mow a Little, Often Cutting your lawn a little bit often is our top tip for a healthy lawn. Cut off a maximum of a third of the length of the grass, but try to keep it less than that. This will give it the best chance to recover quickly.
Suitable Husqvarna products for healthy lawn care can be found here.
South Africans from all walks of life are joined by their love of gardens, no matter what size, shape or form. That’s why we’re celebrating Garden Day, on Sunday 15 October, with one simple ambition in mind: to encourage people to put down their tools and spend some quality time enjoying and celebrating their gardens.
Planting Garden Day Ideas In the lead up to Garden Day, visit your nearest nursery or garden centre to get inspired. (Visit the Life is a Garden website to locate your nearest Garden Centre or nursery.) What you do in your garden on Garden Day is completely up to you, but we think it’s a great opportunity to get together with family and friends so that as many people as possible can celebrate together – it’s all about growing goodwill.
Here Are Some Ideas on How to Celebrate:
Use fresh flowers and greenery from your garden to make flower crowns for everyone. (See how below.)
Invite friends for a bring-n-braai, and use herbs from the garden to flavour the meat.
Invite neighbours and friends around for rooibos tea “en beskuit.”
Have a garden scavenger hunt.
Instead of book club, have a plant club. Ask guests to bring a rare or interesting plant to swop with one of the other guests.
Enjoy dinner outside in the garden, with each dish featuring a home-grown ingredient.
If you don’t have your own garden, visit someone who does and enjoy it with them.
How to Make a Flower Crown
Flower crowns have been taking the world by storm recently and seem to be the go-to accessory. Here’s how to make your own:
Supplies:
Floral wire
Floral tape
Floral wire cutters
Greenery
Flowers
Choose flowers that you like and that will suit the colour scheme you’re going for and how big you want the crown to be. (If you want to make a flower crown that will last for more than a few days, you can even use silk flowers.)
1.Take a piece of floral wire and form it into a circular shape. Rest it on your head to see how long the wire needs to be to form a loose crown. Cut off excessive wire and bend the rest into a circular shape. Tape the circle shut with floral tape, wrapping the tape around the wire several times.
2.Choose your greens and flowers. You should start your crown with a layer of pretty greenery that covers the wire, and which will act as the base of your crown. Tape the greenery in place with floral tape.
3.It’s time to add your flowers. Make sure the flower stems are at least 8cm long (trim stems to length with scissors or wire cutters), and tape the stem to the crown using floral tape. Just like with the greenery, you’ll want to wrap the tape around the stem about 4 – 5 times to make sure it stays. Add as many flowers to the crown as you want to.
Seeding Social Share your Garden Day celebrations on Instagram and other social media using the hashtag #GardenDay.
For more ideas and Garden Day inspiration, visit our website and follow us on social media.
When we think of herbs several worthy plants spring to mind, but few of them are indigenous. Could it be possible that our indigenous plants also offer culinary delights and potential medicinal benefits? The latter topic is controversial. Most herbal remedies have not been thoroughly studied, and so-called ‘complementary medicines’ should not be considered as a replacement for well-researched, proven cures when one is seriously ill. Nevertheless, our unbelievably rich biodiversity has led to a great deal of interest in our indigenous herbs within the research community. After all, most medicines we use today have at least some relation to the plant-based medicines of yesteryear. Let’s begin by looking at some of the indigenous plants you can add to your culinary repertoire before taking a brief look at common home remedies using indigenous plants for minor ailments.
Cook It Up! Mentioning all the indigenous plants that can be used to add zing to your cooking would be a tall order. To get started with indigenous cookery, grab these five commonly available indigenous plants and enjoy those aromas!
Wild Garlic
There are few people who can resist the flavour-enhancing properties of garlic, but growing regular garlic isn’t something everyone succeeds at. However, our common wild garlic (Tulbaghia violacea), with its pretty sprays of lilac blooms, is a great culinary herb that’s ridiculously easy to grow. Simply chop the leaves finely and add them to your cooking as a garlic substitute. Just remember that our garlic is a lot stronger than the conventional sort, so adding too much is all too easy. You can also use the flowers in salads or to top off elegant cocktail snacks. The flavour is sweetish with garlic overtones. If you have wild garlic plant in flower, pick one and taste it for yourself!
Wild Sage
Once again, we’re looking at an easy-going genus that just about anybody can grow, and you have so many options! Salvia africana, Salvia caerulea, and Salvia chamelaeagnea are all gorgeous garden plants that grow into vigorous shrubs. Pick a few leaves and use them in any dish that usually requires sage. Chicken dishes are an obvious choice, but you can also try baking finely chopped leaves into savoury biscuits to serve with cream cheese, topped with a wild garlic flower.
Num-num
If you’ve ever tasted the tart fruits of the num-num (Carissa spp.), you’ll know that they’re pretty moreish. But have you considered making delicious jams and jellies with them? They’re great as a topping for desserts like ice-cream and cheesecake. So, once those jasmine-like flowers have turned into yummy fruits, consider saving some to make jelly! Just spoon or squish out the pips through a sieve, add an equal volume of sugar to the fruit, and cook it up!
Scented Pelargoniums
The scented pelargoniums, also known as geraniums, are known for their delightful aromas, and there’s such a repertoire of flavours hiding in just this one genus! Rose-scented geraniums are fabulous in muffins, cakes, bakes and desserts, and other flavours include nutmeg, mint and even lemon. If you have time, consider candying a few flowers to use as stunning toppings for cakes baked with a few finely chopped leaves to flavour.
Buchus
Most of us are familiar with the mountain buchu (Agathosma betulina), but of all the buchus it is the most difficult to grow. Luckily for us there are many other buchu species that provide a feast of appetising aromas to inspire your inner chef. Look for garlic, lemon and aniseed aromas, to name but a few. You need only touch the foliage for those aromas to emerge, so use these herbs quite sparingly.
Folk Remedies Just as a reminder: if it’s serious, see a doctor! Pregnant women should also check whether herbal medicines are safe for their baby. For minor ills, try planting these easy-to-grow indigenous pretties in your garden.
African Wormwood or Wildeals: This pretty plant, with its feathery silver foliage, helps with common colds, coughs and fevers. Just use a couple of leaves or a single sprig and add hot water. It tastes bitter, but it works. Many people report that it is also good for upset tummies and even for clearing intestinal parasites.
Aloes: We all know that Aloe ferox has given birth to a thriving aloe gel industry. But just about any species of aloe can help with skin healing. If you have a mild burn, for instance, kill the pain and promote healing by bandaging a peeled leaf to the spot. The cool feeling of relief is instant. Try it on any inflamed area and sigh with relief!
Bulbine Frutescens: Nature offers us a tube of soothing ointment in the form of bulbine leaves. Simply pick a leaf and squeeze it – a clear gel emerges, and it’s the perfect treatment for itchy bites. There are also reports saying that large amounts squeezed onto a cut will help to stop bleeding. As with aloes, it’s very soothing on minor burns.
And Those Culinary Herbs Too: Wild garlic and wild sage are said to have antiseptic properties, and both are believed to help to build the immune system. Num-num is rich in vitamin C, pelargoniums are great as a calming, sleep-promoting tea, and although the other buchu species may not be as powerful as the mountain buchu, they’re still good for coughs and colds.
Look Around, Read Up, and Enjoy! There’s a lot of information on useful indigenous herbs out there, so you will find food for thought if you look more deeply into this topic. Meanwhile, be sure to have the plants mentioned here in your garden – they’re both beautiful and useful!
All you chop-chowing carnivores out there shouldn’t miss out on having some lush greenery growing close to the braai area. It is not only for the plants’ attractive appearance, which will beautify these traditionally very masculine and functional areas, but also the ability of their sprigs, leaves, and flowers to add flavour to a braai, turning it into a gourmet affair.
You need aromatic rosemary plants, so that the twigs can be used as spears for making sosaties (kebabs), and rosemary for prunings to be thrown on the flames to create a cloud of fragrant smoke that adds atmosphere to the braai area. You need the meat-tenderising acidity of lemon juice to dribble over a ribbetjie to make it tender and tasty. For a potjie, you need the aromatic leaves of small trees like bay leaf, curry tree or cooking lime. You need parsley, garlic, and chives to mix with butter for garlic bread, and you also need herbal plants with strong insect-repelling properties to keep the mozzies away. And at the end of a good braai, you need one or two fresh mint leaves to chew, to ease the heartburn of overindulgence.
Smart Choices You can either create a landscaped ‘braai garden’ by planting all the following suggestions together in a well-composted bed; or choose to grow some larger specimens in individual containers, and the smaller cooking herbs in mixed containers or window boxes that can be artfully displayed on a paved patio with a built-in braai.
Bay Leaf (Laurus Nobilis) This is an aromatic little tree or large shrub with glossy green leaves that are used to flavour stews, potjies and virtually any meaty dish. The pale, yellow-green flowers are followed by small, black berries. It is the leaves that are useful, and the good news is that this is a very tough, evergreen plant for full sun.
Lemon Tree (Citrus x Limon) Citrus trees love subtropical climates but will grow well in colder climes if protected against frost. The most important factors in growing a healthy lemon tree are full sun, fertile soil that drains very well, and frequent watering and feeding. There are a number of good varieties to choose from. ‘Eureka’ is a thornless lemon tree with smooth-skinned fruit that is produced almost all year long once the tree is well established. ‘Meyeri’ is a smaller tree that is more hardy and suitable for container growing. It produces very juicy, sweeter, smooth-skinned fruit that is useful for making cocktails. Rough skin lemon produces fleshy and very aromatic fruit with a thick, rough skin, and is a favourite amongst chefs.
Cooking Lime (Citrus Hystrix) This is a beautiful but slow-growing small tree for full sun, and is very suitable for growing in a pot. The fresh-tasting leaves with an unusual double-lobed shape are used in Asian and Thai curries, and for flavouring marinades for chicken and pork. The many, highly fragrant, white blossoms and little citrus fruits are an added bonus. The leaves can also be bruised and added to a citrus-scented potpourri for a pleasant aroma on a warm summer’s night outdoors.
Lavender Life is simply beautiful when accompanied by the rounded form of Lavandula x intermedia var ‘Margaret Roberts’, with its grey-green branching stems bearing masses of fragrant, light blue to violet-coloured flowers on tall spikes that appear all year long. Lavender flowers are normally used in baking or in salads, but can also be included in a rub mixture to flavour steak. As lavender is also known as a de-stress herb, it makes sense to plant it in numbers around a braai, where folks tend to linger. Brushing against it emits a lovely aroma that calms down even the most anxious person. Lavenders prefer well- draining soil and a sunny position.
Rosemary (Rosmarinus Officinalis) ‘Tuscan Blue’ is an upright-growing variety that produces straight stems that can be stripped and used as skewers for kebabs with meat and vegetables. The flavour of rosemary from the sticks infuses subtly into the meat and veggies. Rosemary sprigs can also be laid over meat like lamb and chicken while it is braaied, or added to the fire where the heat will release the lovely aroma. Also plant the variety called ‘Ginger’, which has a distinctive ginger taste and smell. The sprigs can be used to brew a refreshing cup of tea after a long night of braaiing.
Clever Herb Combos Plant following herbs to create delicious dips, marinades and spreads. You can either plant groups of them in the foreground of your braai garden, or combine them in lovely mixed containers.
Sweet Basil This is an annual that needs a sunny position and well-draining, compost-enriched soil. The very aromatic leaves are torn up or chopped for use in pestos, salad dressings, marinades and in tomato-based salads. You can also plant a mix of other very pretty sweet basil varieties like lemon basil, purple basil or ‘Purple Ruffles’.
Thyme This is a tough and very pretty garden plant of which there are many hybrids available for hot, full-sun positions. When cooking with thyme, remember that it has a strong flavour that will still be potent after hours of slow cooking in a potjie.
Sage Sage leaves have a strong, slightly bitter taste and should be used sparingly. Sage adds a lovely flavour to pork cuts, especially in the form of a herbal butter containing finely chopped sage leaves. All sages demand well-drained, sandy soil, a hot and sunny spot, and do not want to be overwatered.
Parsley Parsley is probably the most popular annual herb, and it can be used in basically any edible dish, or as a garnish on top of it. If you plant only one type of herb, it has to be parsley! Chopped up with fresh garlic and mixed into butter, it is the perfect filling for a crispy French loaf covered tightly in tinfoil and slowly heated over the hot coals. Parsley, just like sweet basil, is a healthy and aromatic annual herb that should be planted regularly in your garden or containers so that you always have a healthy supply.
Chives These are easy to grow and soon form thick clumps with lots of flavoursome leaf blades to harvest. Chopped up chives can be added to garlic butter for garlic bread, thrown into mixed salads, or snipped into cottage cheese-based dips. The more leaves you harvest, the more will be produced. The plants prefer full sun, but will also be willing to grow in light shade.
Insect-Repelling Mix Insects like mosquitos seem to home in as soon as you decide to have a braai. To help protect yourself and your guests, plant up a few pots with the following mix of insect-repelling plants. They are pretty and colourful and their leaves can safely be crushed and rubbed over your skin.
Mozzie Buster (Pelargonium Citrosum ‘Van Leenii’) This is a bushy, scented geranium that is good for repelling mosquitoes in confined areas. It is an excellent plant for patios, and also makes an attractive border plant in the garden. Plant it in a sunny position.
Citronella (Pelargonium Scabrum) This is an erect shrub with rough, hairy, three-lobed, lemon-scented leaves. Clusters of white to pink flowers are produced from late winter to summer. Plant it in a sunny position.
Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis) This is a woody, perennial member of the mint family. The leaves have a mild lemon aroma and can be crushed to rub over skin to ward off insects. This is a fast-growing plant for full sun or light shade.
Catnip (Nepeta Cataria) This is a spreading perennial herb with grey-green, heart-shaped leaves and dainty flower spikes with either blue or white owers. Cats are crazy about this plant and will be attracted to it, but it will also repel insects. Plant it in full sun.
Marigold (Tagetes spp.) These bright annuals are well known as plant protectors in a veggie garden, as their strong aroma repels insects. Add a punnet or two when you plant up a mixed container on the patio, or use them as a colourful border in your braai garden. There is also a belief that their rich orange or golden-yellow flower colours are therapeutic, which might well make your braai guests feel more welcome. Their cheerful colours could also stimulate their appetites – and hungry guests are what we all want at our braais! Plant it in full sun.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What Is a Bee? This short series on gardening with bees in South Africa will explore the reasons for adding this extra dimension to gardening, and the pleasure that can be found in it. Our country’s bee diversity is astounding, and they come in many different shapes, sizes and colours, while their behaviours and floral choices also differ. Most importantly, they provide a vital service as pollinators. To enjoy bees is to get to know them and to understand what they are doing in the garden. The best known, most common and most widespread bee is the honeybee. Well known for producing honey and as a pollinator, they can sting and should only be kept where they’ll cause no harm. A hive can quickly, and without warning, turn from docile to very aggressive. Children and pets should, therefore, be kept away from hives and wild nests, and only adults skilled in handling honeybees should disturb hives. However, there are many other types of bees that are safe to have in gardens.
Not All Bees Sting The sting is a modified ovipositor, so only female bees sting. There is also a small group of bees in South Africa, the stingless bees (also known as mocca or mopani bees), in which females do not have a sting. But even if bees can sting, the sting of most bees is not particularly painful. Nevertheless, avoid getting stung, especially if you are allergic. This is not difficult because they are not aggressive and only sting when handled. Watch them, but don’t touch them. The honeybee sting is barbed, and if a stinging bee is brushed away the sting and its poison gland remain embedded in the victim’s skin, torn from the bee, resulting in the death of the honeybee and prolonging the victim’s painful experience. Other bees, when disturbed, flee rather than attack, and their stings are not barbed. Bee gardening is therefore not dangerous, as long as honeybees’ hives are discouraged in areas where they could put people and other animals at risk.
Bees’ Special Features Bees are vegetarian wasps, and together with the wasps and ants, they form the insect order Hymenoptera (meaning membranous wings). They also all have a narrow waist between the middle and posterior body parts. Bees differ from wasps principally in having a vegetarian diet (pollen for protein, nectar for sugar, and a few bees gather plant oils as well). Wasps, in contrast, mostly feed on other invertebrates, although some, the pollen wasps, feed on pollen and nectar. The main feeding stage of bees, as in most insects, is the immature stage, which is the growing stage. Adults do not grow larger after they emerge from the pupa. Therefore, most of the pollen and nectar that bees gather visiting flowers is for their larvae. Adults ingest only small quantities as food. All bee larvae are raised in nests – they are never free-living. Honeybees, stingless bees and some small carpenter bees are social – they have a queen that lays eggs and female workers that visit plants and feed the larvae. The other species are solitary and their larvae are mostly fed by their mothers. Therefore, female bees move back and forth, gathering pollen and nectar from flowers while provisioning their nests. Bees, therefore, purposefully visit flowers repeatedly, and focus on the same type of flower at any one time. Having confined larvae and foraging mothers are major contributors to their importance as pollinators. Females are therefore the most important pollinators. Male parents take no part in raising progeny. They are often expelled from their parental nests and then they overnight on plants, biting onto vegetation with their mandibles, sometimes in large groups.
Pollination Most bees are very hairy, unlike most wasps. Therefore, they not only collect pollen in their unique pollen baskets but all over their hairy bodies. Consequently, some plant species are pollinated by the pollen in the bees’ pollen baskets, others by pollen that clings to other parts of the bees’ bodies. All pollination happens by chance, as bees do not intentionally pollinate flowers. There are many different types of bees. In South Africa alone there are about 1 000 different species (and about 20 000 species worldwide), in 70 genera. The honeybee is only one of these species, although there are two distinct subspecies, the Cape honeybee and the common honeybee. Other bees range in size from 2mm, such as mopani bees, to 30mm long, such as large carpenter bees.
Dr C. Eardley is from the Agricultural Research Council, Plant Protection Research Institute, and has worked on the taxonomy of African bees and the conservation of their biodiversity for 40 years. His email address is eardleyc@arc.agric.za
Planning a braai and want something different? Here’s how to use herbs to ‘spice’ it up!
We don’t need an excuse to braai; after all, it’s part of our heritage. December’s balmy evenings and the end of the year holiday mood just add to the enjoyment. But, like all other good things, a braai can become boring if there is no variety. There is no better way to ‘spice’ up a braai than by adding herbs. Herbs can be used in rubs, marinades or butter for the meat, in vegetable or salad side dishes, in salad dressings, and even added to the coals for a delicious aroma.
Ideal braai-mates Meat is always the star of a braai, and a simple rule when using herbs is to match them with the meat as you would in conventional cooking. Here are some combinations:
Chicken: Rosemary, basil, parsley, savoury, French tarragon
Herb butter One of the nicest ways to enjoy herbs with meat is to simply make herb butter that is served with a sizzling chop or steak.
Recipe:
1/2 cup unsalted, softened butter
1/4 cup mixed herbs, finely chopped (basil, chives, dill, parsley, thyme or tarragon)
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients until the herbs are well combined with the butter. Pack into a ramekin and cover with cling wrap. (Or place on waxed paper and shape the butter into a cylinder. Wrap and seal the ends.) Chill in the refrigerator until firm, for at least an hour. Herb butter can be stored in the fridge for about two weeks or in the freezer for a few months.
The perfect braai sauce Chimichurri is a tangy, brightly coloured sauce from Argentina that is served with all their grilled meat. It consists of herbs, garlic and vinegar. Make it the day before your braai to allow the flavours to mature.
Recipe: 2 packed cups fresh Italian parsley leaves
4 medium garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/4 packed cup fresh oregano leaves (or 4 teaspoons dried oregano)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Finely chop the parsley, garlic and oregano in a food processor, and add the vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Once all the ingredients are finely chopped, add the oil in a steady stream while blending. Pulse a few times to combine everything. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least two hours and up to one day before serving. Before serving, stir and season as needed. The chimichurri will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Spicy herb rubs Purists like their meat unadorned, but there is merit in using a rub to tenderise or flavour the meat. Here are two simple recipes:
In a small spice or coffee grinder, coarsely grind black peppercorns, white peppercorns, fennel seeds, dried thyme and lavender flowers. Rub this mixture all over the meat. Wrap the meat tightly in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours, but preferably overnight.
For a tasty chicken rub, combine garlic, salt, coarse black pepper and dried or fresh marjoram. Rub this into the chicken, and then leave it for a few hours or overnight before grilling. Also try different herbs and spices such as rosemary, cumin and chilli. Other flavourings such as honey, olive oil and mustard can also be used. When making dried mixtures add 1/2 teaspoon of herb salt and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to the herbs and spices.
Fire up those herbs! One can literally braai herbs, by using them directly on the braai.
If you are using wood or charcoal, soak branches of woody herbs in water for a few minutes and then lay them on the coals, just before you start to braai. The effect should be that the herbs smoulder and smoke, adding that fragrance to the meat, and also adding a pleasant aroma.
Put moistened herbs on the grill and put the meat on top of the herbs. Have more herbs ready to place on the grill when you turn over the meat. Woody herbs are suitable for this, as is fennel.
Using herbs in a Weber or similar braai that can be closed is even more effective because the aroma from the herbs is absorbed into the food.
When grilling fish or vegetables in foil parcels, wrap herbs around the food before closing the foil.
Make skewers from long, strong sprigs of stripped rosemary (‘Tuscan Blue’ is an idea), and soak them in water before threading the meat onto the skewers. One can also use rosemary branches as a basting brush.
Fire from within
Chilli sauce in one form or another is also a part of the South Africa braai. In December, easily available chilli varieties include ‘Habanero’ (very hot), ‘Jalapeno’ (very hot), ‘Long Red Cayenne’ (very hot), ‘Serrano’ (hot), ‘Inchanga’ (hot) and ‘Thai Dragon’ (very hot). Chillies grow best in well-drained soil, in a position that receives morning sun and afternoon shade. This applies equally to chillies grown in pots. Water pots daily and feed twice a month with a liquid feed. Watering is critical – chillies don’t respond well to overwatering or drying out. Chillies in the garden do best with deep watering twice a week in very hot conditions. Pick fruit regularly to encourage new flowers. As a braai accompaniment, serve a fresh chilli salsa consisting of chopped ripe, red tomatoes, chillies, onions and garlic, dressed with olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Fresh coriander leaves and chopped parsley can also be added.
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