December 2019/January 2020
Watching the news about the wildfires in Australia hit me hard. The video footage of the total destruction of tropical rainforests and their inhabitants left me completely speechless. The scale of it all was enormous and almost incomprehensible.
When the fires were raging through New South Wales, I contacted my friend, Adrian Iodice from Beekeeping Naturally, to hear from him what the extent of it all was. To my horror I found out that he personally was affected by it. I said to him that if there was anything I could do to help I would be there for him. Weeks passed and small bits of information came across from Adrian that the fires were still ongoing in his area. We spoke about the severe losses of bee colonies and the implications it would have for the future. What to do?
“We were visiting my family in Melbourne for Christmas when I heard that our property had been burnt by the fires. In the middle of the night at 3am on the 31st of December 2019 a huge fire front tore through the Bega Valley and took hundreds of thousands of hectares of beautiful national park forest with it. We live in a small valley surrounded by the Brogo wilderness on a 130 hectare property with 3 other families 16 out of 40 homes on our Rd were destroyed but we were lucky, over an 8 hour grueling fight miraculously Charles and his partner Dani managed to keep our two homes from burning, they couldn’t save the sheds and my workshop which lay burnt between the two houses. They were completely cut off from any help, our long 13km dirt Rd had burning trees all over it. It took another 3 days before an ambulance could get in to take Charles to hospital with some damage to his eyes from the hot ash that blew all over.
My thoughts immediately went to my bees and all the wild colonies that Ive observed over the past 10 years in the forest around us but it was another 3 weeks before I was allowed through the police roadblocks. On my return I saw the devastation, what were thick temperate rainforest gullies were completely scorched with only stands of black sticks remaining. The ground was dust and every wombat hole and rock could be seen, white ash lay in the shape of trees contrasting against the black dust leaving shadows behind of their former glory.
On the track into our property I stopped at a big old tree which was still standing, I knew of a colony of bees living in it at head height, they had moved into a huge crevice in the tree. It resembled a cave about the size of a soccer ball. The tree had been badly burnt and as I approached, I could see that there had been no hope for the colony, I could see where a bit of wax had melted down the front of the opening and charred brood comb lay at the base. Tears began to run down my face as I thought about the terror they faced and then the thought of the hundreds and thousands of wild colonies that would have burnt in the Millions of Hectares that burnt along most of the east coast of Australia.
I took some video of the tree and posted it on Instagram and Facebook that’s when I received an email from Heidi Herrmann asking if the Natural Beekeeping Trust could help in any way? I had an idea to start a campaign and raise some money to build hundreds of Log Hives and sow seeds and plant flowering plants for fodder for all the pollinating insects that now have nothing to eat and nowhere to live to get the local community involved and then like a swarming colony of bees take the idea and plant it in other communities across the east coast! I asked Heidi to send Michiel Verspuij from Boomtreebees over to teach us how to make Log Hives, Ive admired his work for a couple of years from when we met at the Learning From The Bees conference in Holland.” Adrian Iodice, Beekeeping Naturally.
February 2020
At the beginning of February, I received a call from Heidi Hermann looking to see if I was willing to assist Adrian with a rehabilitation project for the honeybees. Without hesitation I agreed and, after a short period of arranging the necessary logistics, we set a date for going over to Australia in March 2020.
Speaking to Adrian in the weeks leading up to our trip he mentioned that he had lost all his tools in the fire. We set out making a list of essential tools which were required for some of the workshops we were going to hold when over there. Part of that list was the gouges and chisels which would be needed for hollowing out the logs. Initially these were going to be made by friends of Adrian but after a few days we found out that they were also affected by the fire and their equipment was damaged. We quickly decided to make the gouges and chisels in Ireland and post them ahead.
With a few days’ work I managed to produce 5 socketed chisels and 5 gouges, which were posted straight away to ensure that they would arrive in time.
“Prior to his arrival I had been busy organizing talks in bee clubs and workshops for Michiel to share his knowledge and before he arrived, we conducted a healing ceremony with local indigenous folk where we smoked the land and planted bee fodder in the form of trees and shrubs, fire affected locals were invited and around 150 came to help. We had plans to replicate this ceremony in fire affected communities along the coast, it was very well received here in our community of Cobargo and Quaama and Michiels job would be to teach us about habitat hives for the bees.” Adrian Iodice, Beekeeping Naturally
March 2020
After 2 days traveling, I arrived in Canberra where I received a warm welcome from Adrian, who had driven up from Bermagui in New South Wales. After a very welcome sleep in a motel we started out on our car journey to Bermagui. It was during this drive that it really struck me what had happened here, the sheer scale of the fire affected area, just blackened trees and ash littered soil as far as the eye could see. It rendered me completely speechless.
We drove on until we got to Bermagui just after lunchtime. After quickly dropping of my luggage at Adrians friends place and getting a bite to eat, the sleeves had to be rolled up. First on the agenda was a talk Adrian had organized at a bee club, where I would be speaking about the natural habitat of honeybees and how we could assist with making temporary housing for honeybees. There was a great turnout at the local bee club. Over 35 people who either kept bees or were looking to keep bees. I was one of two speakers. The other person was a bio security officer who spoke about the rules and regulations in Australian beekeeping. A summary of that talk was that if they didn’t follow the rules heavy fines would be the outcome. It made me feel uncomfortable to say the least. I gave my talk and Adrian spoke of the project and the bee club members were very interested in it.The following day we sat down over a cup of coffee discussing the itinerary for the coming weeks. More talks and several workshops were planned.
Over the next few days, we visited several sites which had been badly affected by the fires. One in particular I will never forget. As we drove through a gully up to the ridge I silently sat in the back of the jeep. Tiny shoots of green were visible on the trees and the ground a sign there was some life in the forest, but this was to change. The higher we went the less I saw of any life. Reaching the top of the ridge we got out of the jeep and had a look around. There was an eerie silence. Not a single noise could be heard. Walking through the charred remains of what once was a beautiful forest the sight of charcoal tree trunk, white ash on the ground of where majestic trees had fallen and completely incinerated. I picked up a strange looking stone. Looking at it it showed an outline of beetle. The fire must have been that intense that the shadow of the beetle was burned on to the rock My heart broke, I couldn’t speak. I kneeled down and put my hands in the burned ash layer on the ground. I was hoping to see if there were any signs left of possible life, but the humus layer was completely gone. Only thing remaining was rocks and ash. As a young boy I was always fascinated with trees and forests. I admire and look up to them. To see this destruction with my own eyes, no words can describe how I felt and when Adrian asks me to do a little video to show I had to say I couldn’t. I felt I had to stay strong and focused for him. We quietly drove down the hill back on to the roads and noticed that a lot of trees had been cut down along road sides and trails. Quite a lot of these trees were very suitable for making conservation loghives. We spoke to the landowners about using these to make log hives and they were happy to see the wood being used for a rehabilitation project in their area. Thanks to them we soon had enough logs to do us for the workshops. Because of the sheer number of trees that were cut down we were able to be a bit more selective, so we only took logs that had cavities in them already made by termites.
There was a fantastic turnout for the first conservation loghive workshop where we demonstrated how to go about making a conservation loghive and explained how to position them to best benefit the bees. It was a great day.
During the second week of my stay that it became increasingly apparent that the imminent restrictions might start to affect our itinerary. After speaking to the airline, I was flying with, they stated that my flights weren’t affected so we decided to go ahead as planned.
We continued with a talk that week for another bee club and here again there was another biosecurity officer speaking. After listening to the talk about rules, fines, treatments etc. I decided to slightly change my approach and included the biosecurity officer in my talk. Using data from research carried out in Australia I was able to get the biosecurity officer interested in our natural approach and explained that the so-called disease threat from wild colonies is unfounded.
The next day we received a phone call from the state head of biosecurity voicing his concern about our approach. But after explaining what we are trying to achieve and bring across to the public he agreed that we weren’t doing anything wrong and was supportive of our initiative as the conservation loghives that are being put up are solely for habitat purposes and not for honey production purposes. He said that we could continue our work. A good result.
The local news got wind of our rehabilitation work as well and we gave an interview on the radio which had a great reception from the public. The radio station told us afterwards that many people commented on it in a very positive way.
It was at this time that more stringent measures were being put in place regarding travel and sadly our plans had to change. Because of these our talk and workshop for the Canberra bee club got cancelled. This was very disappointing as this is a large club with over 500 members and would be influential in getting our message out in the region.
The healing ceremony which was planned with the local Aboriginal community, and which we had been very much looking forward to, was postponed as well. The other workshops were being cancelled too and things were to get worse.
I got notification from my airline that my flights were cancelled and that there was a possibility I was going to be indefinitely extending my stay in Australia. After discussing with Adrian about our options and the project, as I really didn’t want to let him down, we decided to hold one more conservation loghive making workshop and we would halt the project afterwards as restrictions made it impossible to continue.
Thankfully I was able to arrange alternative flights and after concluding the last workshop, I said my goodbyes and set out on my journey home, which due to the chaos took more than 3 days.
Looking back on the project.
Overall, we made a good start with the project and were able to inspire lots of people in Australia and give them an insight in how we can help with the conservation of honeybee habitat. It is clear though that things need to change as well. Australian landscape management needs to be addressed if the government wants to avoid disaster like this from happening. It was so apparent that where there were areas with water the effects of the fires weren’t as bad as in other areas. Also, the forests management need some serious review. I was shocked to see that after the fires logging companies were able to go in and cut beautiful big trees which could have regenerated and be suitable for future bee homes or other insects and wildlife. There are clear signs that the Australian people aren’t happy with what is going on and want change. Personally, it was a painful experience but im glad I am taking part in it. It made me look at myself and more determined to continue the work that I’m doing
While writing this it is nearly spring in Australia and I got word from Adrian that the conservation loghives that were made during my stay there are being put up and primed ready to welcome a passing honeybee swarm.
Hopefully when the current situation abates and restrictions are lifted, we can return to Australia and finish the work we set out to do in March. I would like to thank The Natural Beekeeping Trust from the bottom of my heart, for their financial support. Without them the project wouldn’t have happened.