The Department of Agriculture – working with bee associations in the Western Cape – has released a new strategy aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the bee population in the province.

The honeybee is as important to agriculture as water, land and air. According to the South African National Biodiversity Institute, more than 50 different crops in South Africa are reliant on insect pollination.

In the Western Cape, 50% of commercial bee keepers’ revenue currently comes from pollination services with the remaining 50% coming from the production of honey and other bee related products. The National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries currently lists 130 000 managed colonies of bees and 1800 beekeepers on their records. About 70 000 of the colonies are based in the Western Cape. However, the numbers are thought to be much larger, because of unregistered colonies and bee keepers.

The current pollination needs required by bee dependent deciduous fruit crops are 65 000 pollination units – a demand currently being met.

This is forecast to grow by at least another 30 000 units over the next decade due to new cultivars and growth in agriculture. The seed industry is also forecast to increase demand for pollination units by 30 000 over the next decade, and berry growers, by another 20 000 units. In effect, the demand for pollination services is expected to double in the next decade.

However, the bee industry has identified several problems affecting bees, among them insufficient forage, disease, environmental hazards such as pollution and exposure to external factors such as fires and drought.

The new strategy aims to ensure the continued sustainability of the bee population.

The single largest concern is that there will not be enough forage for bees in the Western Cape. South Africa’s honeybee species rely on both indigenous and exotic species, like eucalyptus, flowering crops and suburban plants to provide forage sources year round. One major problem is that eucalyptus has been targeted by DAFF’s Working for Water programme because they are an alien invasive species. This has seen six species of the tree being targeted for removal, even in contexts where they pose no water threat.

The strategy proposes that a Bee Forage Commission be established, which will be composed of players from various provincial and national government departments as well as universities, and representatives from the bee industry. Among the projects this commission will undertake will be the development of a plant book exploring bee friendly plants, a campaign with nurseries to mark plants as “bee friendly” in much the same way some species are being marketed and sold as “water friendly”, and exploring the possibilities of a mass be forage planting project.

Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde welcomed the strategy and said “we need to take this document with its implementation plans and ensure that each goal sits with somebody who is going to make sure that it becomes a reality.”

Minister Winde said that a properly regulated and managed industry, had the potential to create jobs and expand the economy.

“The report shows that in South Africa, we import a lot of honey. South Africa has imported 2 000 tonnes of honey annually since 2010, and honey production has dropped to 40% of what it was in the 1980s. This is an agri-processing opportunity, to produce local honey, and honey-related products right here in the Western Cape,” he said.

Chairman of the Western Cape Bee Industry Association, Dr Tlou Masehela said “this is a good opportunity for us. This is a detailed plan and we now have a line of communication with the various government departments. This will require resources, and we must explore ways of getting those. The industry at large should really pull together and make this work.”

This week I saw irrefutable proof that the future we’ve been waiting for is already here. It has been sneaking up on us for the past ten years. But few things are as telling of a futuristic presence, that talking robots and cars that drive themselves. In fact, I grew up day-dreaming about one day owning a car that could do all the wonderful things that Michael Knight’s black Trans-Am could do. Besides being able to speak intelligently, the most amazing thing about KITT was that he could drive himself. A lot of the show’s humour rested in this piece of futuristic high tech fantasy. And here we are! More than 30 years later when a basic model Tesla would put KITT to shame.

Michael Knight’s car was an imagination of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) would one day work. But if you look at some of those old shows today, you may just be able to spot a hidden hand on the steering wheel, or a body hiding away in the driver’s seat. It was the only way they were able to make KITT autonomous. These days, just about every car manufacturer is working on a self-driving car, but of course Tesla is THE most popular of the lot. While you can’t get them here in SA yet, several models are able to at least park themselves, with a little bit of help. I am excited about autonomous cars because of what they will mean for those of us commuting on a daily basis.

You’ll be able to put all that time in traffic to productive use. You could either get some work done, take a nap, or enjoy a movie. Your car would be able to do all the running around for you, like collecting the kids from school, relatives from the airport or groceries from the shop, freeing up even more time. But THE most exciting thing is when ALL cars on our roads are eventually driven by smart AI computers that are able to communicate with each other. That will mean no more accidents or traffic jams … in theory anyway. And that’s all because AI can compute millions of bits of information all at once and a whole lot quicker than we can, which means your car will be able to avoid potential problems before, or while they happen.

While growing up, I also spent a lot of my time fantasising about one day living in a world, where Buck Rogers is a reality. He was that ill-fated astronaut, who – according to the 80’s TV show intro – was lost in space in 1985 and was found and re-animated in the 25th century. You must remember the funny little robot named Twiki that was his side-kick. Well, Twiki is only fractionally more advanced than the robot I met recently – light years ahead of the 25th century schedule set by Buck Rogers. Made in Japan, Pepper is SA’s first humanoid robot and is already able to have a more intelligent conversation that Twiki could.

Robots and AI are topics that are dividing many people, largely because of what we have seen the technology do in movies. So there’s a real fear that together, they will be able to destroy the human race, once they achieve consciousness. This is being given even more impetus, now that developers are working on algorithms that will essentially give robots artificial emotional intelligence. But proponents of the technology believe that robots will eventually serve a valuable role in society – helping us live even better lives with a lot more free time, to pay attention to vocational betterment. There most obvious application right now, is companionship, especially for elderly people, of which there are many in Japan.

Pepper’s importer/owner Scott Giles tells me that this is exactly the role that Pepper is playing in Japan at the moment. Pepper isn’t able to walk like a human (the way Twiki did), but once she is able to clearly identify your voice, she is able to hold an engaging conversation. Pepper can be programmed over WiFi, but Scott says they are planning to also hook her up to iOT devices. This means that soon Pepper will be able to communicate with other smart devices, like your fridge so she can let you know what you’re running short of. She’ll also be able to go online and find information to share with you when you have a question. Add more advanced AI into the mix and a future Pepper will be able to give you smart, intelligent and even analytical responses to deep questions.

This truly is the beginning what I have previously called the “Robot Revolution” – a time when every household will have its own robot, taking care of everything from security, to babysitting, cooking and entertainment. Robots will tuck your kids in with multi-media bedtime stories, keep your home clean, remind you of important appointments and even monitor your wellbeing. This is so much more than Twiki’s creators could ever have imagined.

Enjoy the interview above with Pepper’s owner Scott Giles and the video interview with Pepper herself. Pepper takes a little while to respond to my questions, because it takes a while for her AI to identify and store my voice. So be a little patient with her. She is very cute though.