TOVERVIEW / JUST when we think we know most things about the Karoo, this magical, mysterious region throws us another curveball. This time, it’s come in the form of wild bees.
As advised by the eponymous King in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, let’s start at the beginning. (It’s the only way in this we’re going to get this story unravelled.)
In 2005, the plant ecologists and conservationists Dr W.R.J. (Richard) Dean and Dr Sue Milton-Dean established the Wolwekraal Nature Reserve outside Prince Albert in the Karoo. The reserve is managed by the Wolwekraal Conservation and Research Organisation (WCRO), a non-profit organisation based in Prince Albert.
Its goal is to ‘contribute to the conservation of habitat, fauna and flora on Wolwekraal Nature Reserve, raise awareness of conservation and environmental issues, and provide training and encourage research on ecological restoration and Karoo biodiversity in the Prince Albert Municipal area and beyond’. Sue currently serves as its secretary and treasurer.
Richard died in Prince Albert in 2022. Sue remains involved in the WCRO, and leads visitors on fascinating walking tours through the reserve. She also runs an indigenous nursery in Prince Albert.
Karin Sternberg (left) and Dr Sue Milton-Dean in the Wolwekraal Nature Reserve.
Recently, during a trip up to Hanglip Farm, Toverview founder Maeder Osler stopped over in Prince Albert, and visited the nursery. Sue was about to leave on a research trip to the Kalahari.
Osler then met a friend of Sue’s, Karin Sternberg, who had come up from Jeffreys Bay to look after Sue’s house and manage the nursery in her absence. Karin, it turned out, is also a researcher, specifically of wild bees. Recently, she has concentrated on studying wild honeybee colonies in the Wolwekraal Nature Reserve.
She writes about her research on a fascinating website, Wild Bees, subtitled ‘Field Notes on the Conservation of Wild Bees and their Natural Habitat in a Small Karoo Town in South Africa’.
By way of explanation, Sternberg writes: ‘Wild honeybees and solitary bees are a crucial thread in our ecology. They have adapted and evolved over millions of years and are continuing to do so where they are still wild. Leave them to be wild—and not in hives—and keep tracts of nature and pristine environments where nature thrives, so that they can continue to be wild. healthy. Free …’
Readers are urged to explore her website, which also features some remarkable images. A particular highlight is a recent article, jointly written by Sue and Karin, titled ‘The Karoo is a tough place to be a bee …’
FEATURED IMAGE: A wild bee colony. Image: Karin Sternberg.