Busy bees waiting in the wings

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday July 15, 2009

Ruth Williams

A BILLION bees are likely to loom as an issue in a case starting in the Victorian Supreme Court today that will determine the fate of olive and almond managed investment schemes run by the collapsed Timbercorp.Timbercorp's 12,000 hectares of almond orchards, which formed the basis for several managed investment schemes run by the company, must be pollinated with bees by the end of August if they are to produce a crop this year.Timbercorp's liquidator, KordaMentha, has applied to the Supreme Court to wind up the olive and almond schemes, saying the subsidiary running them as "responsible entity" has no money. Winding up would leave growers with little claim on their assets.A growers' committee representing thousands of investors is expected to oppose the move and ask the court to appoint a temporary responsible entity.Talks were continuing on a possible deal covering some schemes, where investors would trade their assets for units in a listed trust run by Align Funds Management. The deal needs the approval of ANZ. The almond issue is urgent because the plantations have to be fertilised by the end of next month.Trevor Monson, an independent bee co-ordinator who worked with Timbercorp's almond manager Select Harvest, said the 52,000 hives needed each containing 30,000 bees were "on hold". They would have to be trucked in to fertilise the orchards in northern Victoria at a cost of $3.6 million.Mr Monson said a failure to pollinate would result in "virtually no crop at all" being set this year. "If they keep watering and fertilising we could set a crop next year."