LAND AND VINE

BEES IN THE VINEYARD from eVineyard

eVineyard

Plants that grow around grapevines are crucial for a healthy vines environment, and they do need bees to pollinate them. Bees are the primary pollinators of several plants and cover crops planted in the vineyard. Cover crops in vineyards help to regulate the level of nitrogen in the vineyard, increase the organic content of the soil, help improve the water-holding capacity of the soil, eliminate the need for chemicals use, and regulate vines growth. Thus having cover crops in the vineyard and consequently, bees, create a healthier ecosystem for vines that then produce better quality grapes. Having a sustainable ecosystem is the key for any organic and biodynamic winegrower; that’s why several of them have their own beehives near vineyards.

A study from South Australia revealed that honey bees are actively removing the calyptra from grapevine flowers during the flowering phase, and with that increases the pollen yield by 70 % compared to collecting pollen from flowers after capfall. There are several benefits of cap removal by honeybees for the development of berries and grape bunches. For example, bees can help reduce the occurrence of millerandage and formation of live green ovaries (mostly known for the Pinot Noir variety) due to the persistence of the calyptra. They can also be used as entomovector* to place Trichoderma koningii – fungi used as biological control agents for control of Botrytis bunch rot in grapevines.

YOU HAVE THE LAND

The concept of owning land and who it belongs to especially for multigenerational farmers and growers is a tremendous source of pride. Working the land and tending the land to make it productive, and support a family or families is one of the greatest endeavors for anyone. If you own the land, consider sharing it.

Commitment to Environmental Sustainability

This is not an attempt to greenwash a vineyard or farming business. Having pollinators and making homes and hives for them is a very simple and relatively inexpensive easy way demonstrate an interest, commitment and focus on environmental sustainability.

LEAVE THE HONEY

Not interested in tending bees or extracting honey? Perfect. Leave the honey for the bees, its how they stay alive and feed their brood. Engaging a beekeeper to tend hives and check their health once per month is possible through hiring a local beekeeper/contacting a local beekeeping association. We urge you to learn beekeeping on your own as it is a very short learning curve that is largely about spotting the queen, understanding how to smoke a hive to check it, testing and medicating for varroa mites. Bees have been living without us for a long, long time.