We’re Buzzing With Bees: How To Adopt A Beehive At Hazendal

Bees, we simply love adore them! The teeny, tiny little workers of the insect kingdom that the world quite literally, could not do without. But did you know that these much-loved, yellow-and-black-striped creatures are facing a decline in population due to intensive farming, loss of habitat, improper use of pesticides and climate change?

Sadly, this is the current state for these hard-working helpers in the teeny, tiny animal kingdom. BUT it isn’t all doom and gloom, something can be done to help all of the Maya The Bees of the world – Buzzzzzzztastic news, we know!

Sadly, this is the current state for these hard-working helpers in the teeny, tiny animal kingdom. BUT it isn’t all doom and gloom, something can be done to help all of the Maya The Bees of the world – Buzzzzzzztastic news, we know!

Seeing as Wonderdal is an Edutainment Centre situated on the Hazendal estate, we couldn’t think of a better place to get involved to learn all about the way of the beeeeeeezzzz! 🐝

How To Save The Bees 

Doing your bit to save the bees is a whole lot easier than you think – really, it is, we promise!

The CCFA or Community Conservation Fund Africa is a registered non-profit company (NPC).

The CCFA also acts as a fundraising and grant-giving organisation with the primary focus on playing an active role in educating and empowering local communities to help themselves by implementing sustainable wildlife management systems.

One of the biggest ways the CCFA aims to save the bees is through an Adopt-a-hive campaign, in partnership with Honeybee Heroes, a honeybee sanctuary and education centre located in the heart of the Overberg.

Image source: CCFA

The Adopt-a-hive initiative offers individuals an opportunity to conserve South Africa’s unique Capensis, commonly known as the Cape Honey Bee species, to make a significant difference to the environment, whilst supporting local communities.

A total of 70 beehives are set to be installed by Honeybee Heroes at two separate locations, Hazendal, based in Stellenbosch, being one of them. Just one more good great thing about Hazendal to add to the already growing list of activities and educational family experiences!

The goal of Honeybee Heroes is to:

• Set up 1 000 micro-apiaries across South Africa

• This includes donating 15 hives, beekeeping suits and basic tools rural South Africans need to empower them to start up their own businesses

• Once installed, the hives and bees will belong to the community
• Together with Honeybee Heroes and Mantis, the CCFA will buy back the honey from the apiarists, creating an enterprise

How To Adopt A Bee Hive At Hazendal

Adopting a hive couldn’t be easier!

For just R2 000, the hive adoption also includes a personalised adoption certificate, personalised name plaque on one of the CCFA hives AND (most importantly in our books) regular hive updates! *We think it’s absolutely appropriate to start naming all of your bees.* 

To adopt a hive via the CCFA website, simply click *sting* here 🐝

What To Expect Next At Hazendal With The Bees

Spreading loads and loads and looooooads of useful information about bees, how to protect them, how to save their eco-system and learning exactly why they are so important to our planet is a must for us!

That’s why we thought to add a little extra information on how you can make small changes to make sure the bees stay happy, healthy and most importantly, buzzy!

These 10 Easy Ways To Save The Bees are things that we can all help out with, whether we have a big or small garden, or no garden at all.

The Wonder Garden is just one of the SEVEN super fantastic Interactive Learning Zones at Wonderdal and is another great way to gain some useful knowledge to help protect the bees.

In the virtual Wonder Garden junior gardeners enjoy a fantastical and immersive gardening experience and learn how plants grow from seeds. Some of the educational themes include:

• Plant growth and process
• Different types of vegetables and fruits

To learn more about the wonderful Wonder Garden, simply click, here.

Small changes mean the bees are safe and happy and get on with doing all of the bee things, like making sweet, sweet honey!

Speaking of honey…

We see freshly baked scones, cream and honey in your future! If you don’t feel like baking, simply pick up some baked goods from Babushka Deli the next time you stop at Wonderdal for a visit- thank you Hazendal!

Now that you’ve started deciding on buzzy names for those adopted hives, we suggest you choose who next in the family deserves a beehive and start learning about all things honey, bee-worthy and striped!

Happy Honey Timezzzzz X 

Wonderdal has no shortage of fun-filled activities to keep your little ones entertained and having fun this holiday. Don’t delay, click 👉 here to book your tickets now.