Vetnews | Mei 2025 4 « BACK TO CONTENTS Why would you say is there a bee on the front cover of this month’s Vetnews and What do donkeys and bees have in common? Well, they both are in one month of Vetnews. World Donkey Day falls on the 8th of May. A little bit of an ugly duckling when it comes to Veterinary Care. Maybe because donkeys are pretty resilient when it comes to diseases but also because they do not have a lot of value, that is for people who do not own a donkey and are maybe not dependent on it for transport or ploughing fields. In the magazine find an article on the Blood count and biochemistry base values of donkeys. It may come in handy for a reference one day. During my research, I also found an article on Brucellosis in Donkeys. I am not sure if it is seen in South Africa and how much donkey milk is used but in other countries it is a rising concern. Reference Code for the Brucellosis article World Bee Day falls on the 20th of May (also a birthday for me). Bees are worldwide under threat from diseases and parasites. It may fall in the category of” If I do not see it, it does not bother me” but bees are more than just a nasty sting. They are integral in plant food production. While not officially classified as threatened, bee populations in South Africa are facing numerous threats, and several species are listed as vulnerable. These threats include diminishing forage resources, pesticide use, habitat loss, and the impact of certain beekeeping practices, particularly the introduction of non-native honeybee species. South Africa has been recognised globally as a bee diversity hotspot, with close to 1,000 out of the 20,000 worldwide bee species, many of which are endemic to the Fynbos and Succulent Karoo biomes. According to an article on the Woodland Trust.org website, wild bees pollinate on a much bigger and more efficient scale. Bees pollinate the crops used for animal feed and while there are other methods of pollination, it would cost UK farmers a whopping £1.8 Billion to manually pollinate crops. Fun facts about honeybees: Bees have five eyes (two compound eyes and three single-lens eyes) and a worker bee’s main eyes have nearly 7000 lenses. An electrostatic charge on the bee’s hairs attracts pollen and the leg brushes, then scrapes, the pollen from front to back, where it collects in the pollen basket – a wide, flat area on the rear pair of legs. The proboscis (long tongue) is an airtight, straw-like tube that sucks up nectar and also works in reverse to feed offspring from the honey stomach. Being less mobile than running up mountains and on crutches for a while now, I have learned to observe the ground very carefully. Something that I have noticed is the amount of 10-cent coins discarded. It is in a way saddening as the 10 cent has economically so little value that it is not guarded and valued any more. The very interesting thing that I noticed is that the new 10 cent carries the honeybee as the emblem. While I still walk with crutches or walking sticks, I will be collecting honeybee 10 cents and remembering how important they are to our lives v Andriette From the Editor Editor’s notes / Redakteurs notas see what bees and donkeys have in common.. https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/389088665_Veterinary_World_The_ burden_of_brucellosis_in_donkeys_and_its_ implications_for_public_health_and_animal_ welfare_A_systematic_review_and_metaanalysis_A_B_S_T_R_A_C_T Look inside
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