BEEKEEPERS were overjoyed to see Hattah Lakes filling with water this year and wintering sites for their hives returning to health.
In the years since the lakes received a vital environmental flow in 2017, apiarist Ron Robinson has seen flowering trees at Hattah Lakes regenerate from near death.
“Either end of Chalka creek, we’ve got sites where the trees were dying,” he said. “We thought they wouldn’t come back but a lot of trees have.”
Mr Robinson, who runs 2000 hives with his two sons, is one of several beekeepers who rest their bees in Hattah national park over winter to support their health.
The water filling 13 of the 18 lakes is “making the trees healthy for future honey crops”, he said.
The park has long been a vital winter stopover for bees, but years of drought and over regulation of river flows have affected its health.
“Thirty-five years I’ve been keeping bees in the park. My wife’s father was a beekeeper before that,” Mr Robinson said.
“We’ve seen trees die and trees regenerate and some sites fade away, but now the watering is happening, all the sites are coming back to what they used to be.”
Over the winter his hives prepare for the pollination of almond plantations in spring.
Beekeepers “come from down country, they migrate to this area here where the almond operation is,” he said.
With a growing almond industry in the region, there is an increasing demand for bees, he said, which puts pressure on habitats like Hattah Lakes.
“Beekeepers are getting bigger in numbers because there’s a demand for almond pollination.
“There’s a lot of bee sites we lost through wildfires, so it’s putting pressure on other areas to put bees on site.”
“The main thing is to keep bees alive and keep the numbers up.”
The almond pollination can be taxing for the bees, so a healthy winter stopover is vital to their wellbeing, he said.
