Buzzing Challenge

From satellites to swarms. No magic. Just data. And a little honey.

An Exceptional Season

Our Conservation from Data post introduced NDVI satellite imagery: a way to track vegetation over time, from red (bare soil) to green (fresh growth).

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  Sentinel-2 NDVI imagery shows Löwen River’s vegetation shift between February and May 2026.

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  NDVI map, July 11, 2026

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  NDVI map, August 5, 2026

Gentle rains between early April and late June brought around 150 mm across Löwen River. That is 150 liters per square meter - and we have 127 million of them so roughly 19 billion liters across the property. And that’s before counting the fact that Naute Dam opened its sluices 3 or 4 times over that period, to the tune of 200m³ per second (200’000 liters per second). So yes, the scenery looks totally different.

The story is bigger than the numbers (although we do like them). Land classified as bare soil - an NDVI reading below 0.15 - fell from 98% of the farm to 22%. Around 7,000 hectares of rock and gravel became blankets of flowers and grass. Pastel colours were not on the original forecast.

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  View over the Plains in July 2026

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  short_grass_80M_July2026

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  Road towards Perennial Fountain

Beyond the scenery, we estimate a net gain of 500-700 tonnes of dry matter - enough annual forage, in theory, for roughly 1,000 additional springbok. SPOILER: we will not be ordering 1,000. Just yet.

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  High grass

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  Colour contrast

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  Steven standing by the euphorbia

Borrowing a chart more often seen in HR, the Sankey flow below tracks Löwen River's vegetation shift. Nature, it turns out, has its own internal mobility programme.

Each rainfall triggered another wave of green shoots within one to two weeks. June to August is winter in Namibia: nights can fall below freezing, while afternoons reach a pleasant 25°C. A lovely breeze compared with the Northern Hemisphere's heatwaves. Anyone in France have a spare air-conditioning unit?

But enough weather talk. Let's get down to the weeds.

The new vegetation matters for three reasons:

• It confirms that the seed bank is healthy. The seeds were not gone; they were waiting for the right conditions

• The roots of these annuals - plants completing their life cycle in one season - garden for us. They loosen and aerate the soil, limit erosion, provide shade and create biomass

• That supports a virtuous cycle linking soil, vegetation, insects, birds and larger fauna. Green is not merely a colour. It is infrastructure

  
  

A Beesy Day

As always, we observed, learnt and adapted. Earlier this year, one bee colony settled in an old tyre near the Plains borehole. Another moved into the White House - the rubble of an old Decca station. Prime Namibian real estate, apparently.

Then things became more animated. Several honeybee swarms arrived, each carrying 10,000 to 30,000 bees in a cluster the size of a football. In flight, a swarm becomes a buzzing black cloud moving as one. Impressive from a distance. Less poetic beside a bedroom.

The challenge begins when the bees stop moving and choose the house - or its ceiling. That is how we began learning about, and 'investing' in, bee boxes. We found two (Namibia is not exactly an apiculture warehouse), while Kerstin sourced essential oil to attract them. A few bees accepted the relocation package.

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  Swarm in the tree

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  Bee box by the greenhouse

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  Bee box at delivery. Up for rent

Others stayed around Steven's and Bernardo's rooms, entering the roof from the south and exiting to the north. Bernardo is allergic, so we maxed out the honeypot and bought a third box. Some moved in. Others stayed put. Ever tried telling one colony from another?

It turned out we had at least four. Newcomers entering an occupied hive risked a fight with the tenants. Enter our newest - and most improvised - beekeeper. In a bee suit and gloves, Francois opened Bernardo's ceiling and searched for the queen. She keeps beesy, laying up to 2,000 eggs a day and using pheromones to maintain order. Any Queen B fans?

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  Francois in his bee suit

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  Bee colony in the ceiling

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  Honey comb

We are now monitoring the hives, considering sensors such as BroodMinder and hoping the colonies thrive. Bees are not merely honey producers: they are indicators - and active contributors - to biodiversity. National Geographic has documented their remarkable intelligence. Their taste in accommodation remains open to debate.

The Birds Are Next

The return of bees and other insects opens another research chapter for 2026. Noah, a Master's student in Ecology and Environment from France, will spend three months listing, mapping and recording Löwen River's resident and migratory birds - by sight and sound.

We still know surprisingly little about our avian fauna, despite birds being important indicators of ecosystem health. The property already hosts flagship or endangered species, including the Cape Eagle-Owl and Ludwig's Bustard. Now we need the fuller picture. Birders - and anyone willing to support Noah's research - we look forward to hearing from you.

More green. More buzzing. More questions. The data is getting richer. So is our ecosystem.