It is hoped that the introduction of cannabee colonies will also assist local experts in tackling Jersey’s Asian hornet problem.
Californian apiarist, farmer and horticulturalist Dr Buddy Ballantine, who will be advising industry and States representatives on establishing and maintaining the cannabee hives, said that the insects would have a calming effect on Asian hornets.
‘Asian hornets are way too uptight – they’re all about capitalist aggression and hostile takeovers,’ he said. ‘But the interesting thing is that, when they eat cannabees, particularly ones that are fresh from a pollination run, it calms them right down.
‘I once witnessed a hornet consume an entire cannabee and then spend the rest of the afternoon just relaxing in the petals of a big flower and enjoying the sunshine.’
However, not everyone in the Island’s farming and beekeeping communities is convinced that cannabees are right for Jersey.
One prominent local farmer, who wished to remain anonymous, said that there was a dark side to the cannabee life cycle that was being ‘wilfully ignored’ by ministers who, he says, are ‘hell-bent on turning Jersey’s rural economy into an offshore dope
factory’.
‘It is just so typical of the States,’ he said. ‘They are presenting this whole cannabee business as a win-win for farmers and beekeepers, but either they haven’t done their research on these creatures or else the issue of PHS [paranoid hive syndrome] is being wilfully ignored.’
PHS is a widely documented potential side-effect of the overexploitation of cannabee colonies but, according to a States spokesman, it would present no risk to Jersey.
‘The possibility of a PHS dynamic evolving in-hive during the pollination sequence that we envisage for the initial cannabee cohort is remote,’ he said.
‘Typically, a PHS reaction, colloquially known as “fear swarming”, only tends to occur with cannabees that pollinate more potent strains of the genus, such as Bubblegum Kush or Green Gelato.’
But local beekeeper Louis St Laurent strongly disagreed, saying that PHS could occur with even the mildest
crops.
‘My cousin lives in Amsterdam and he keeps a little roof garden of generic home-use plants,’ he said.
‘A few cannabees from a nearby hive started hanging about up there, and before he knew it they had turned on him. It got very ugly, very quickly.’
