Almonds: Billions of bees pollinate orchards, robots tackle spraying

In an Australian first, almond pollination will involve an intriguing mix of nature and automated technology.

Australia’s largest annual movement of livestock is in progress in northwest Victoria, with beekeepers trucking in billions of bees to pollinate the state’s vast almond groves near Robinvale.

August is peak flowering season for the nut, and bees’ services have become crucial to help growers maximise the crop’s potential.

At Wemen, where Olam International’s almond trees are about to burst into bloom, beekeeper Peter McDonald has delivered 1800 hives.

Pollination services have become an increasingly important part of Mr McDonald’s business over the years, and he has perfected the careful night-time operation of shifting hives.

“Forty years ago, there wasn’t much demand for pollination services and only a small number of beekeepers were involved, but with changes in diets and increased production of some crops, including almonds, the demand is now so great it requires beekeepers from all over Australia to travel to meet the needs of the food production system,” he said.

Australian Honey Bee Industry Council estimates 277,000 hives in total will be needed across all of Australia’s almond plantings.

Mr McDonald’s bees at Wemen have a unique task because they will be working with some of the latest automated ag-tech.

Robotic spraying vehicles – called Global Unmanned Spray Systems – have recently been introduced in Olam’s orchard to help improve efficiency of fungicide applications.

Mr McDonald has placed his hives into carefully marked “bee breaks”, which are pre-programmed on the robots’ routes.

Fungicide spraying will take place only at night, leaving the bees free to do their work during the day.

Orchard general manager Pierre van Rensburg said the bee-robot partnership was “a fusion of new technology and nature working together”.

Mr van Rensburg said the GUSS sprayers had been used successfully in almond and citrus operations in California and Florida, but the Wemen site was the first in Australia where they had been rolled into action.

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