Beekeeping News

A new day for beekeeper representation in New Zealand has dawned with Honey and Bees NZ (H&BNZ) having called for both new members and nominations for directors of the successor organisation to Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ), as efforts to amalgamate New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI) continue.

Beekeepers are renowned for their gusto for a winter conference, and this off-season Mānuka Orchard’s Open Day on July 24 will again be their best bet, with the Bay of Plenty honey processing and storage facility inviting the beekeeping industry to the free event.

While still short on details publicly, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is continuing to work behind the scenes to bring about an apicultural roundtable tentatively titled ‘New Zealand Honey and Bee Alliance’, “to assist the sector in building resilience, profitability and success”.

Tribal Therapeuticals Ltd of Northland is preparing to launch a “tea tree” essential oil and honey venture that it believes can generate NZD270m in export revenues over a 10-year period. The US state of California is identified as the primary export market and the directors believe the venture can b…

The Trust tasked with helping beekeepers eliminate American foulbrood (AFB) in New Zealand has a new independent chairperson. Simon Cook, a kiwifruit grower with a passion for biosecurity, enters the role at New Zealand Bee Health and Biosecurity (NZBB) having recently vacated the top chair at Kiwif…

Winter will soon turn to spring and the humble honey bee will once again be called on to pollinate a wide variety of flowers essential to New Zealand’s fruit, vegetable and seed industries. We explore the relationship between growers, bees and beekeepers from the perspective of some of the country’s…

Caravan Honey of the US has moved to enter “settlement discussions” with Mānuka Charitable Trust (MCT) in the conflict over THE MĀNUKA EFFECT trademark. AUNU Beauty of New York, a brand incubated by Caravan, uses this trademark for its range of skincare products said to contain Comvita mānuka honey.

The immigration minister says senior Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) staff misled her about a failed IT project costing $33million. Former top bureaucrat Ian Fletcher explains that such public-department projects, which can promise much, often suffer a sad ending, especially in…

Veteran Hawke’s Bay beekeeper John Berry goes down memory lane, exploring the sights and smells of the nectar-abundant rewarewa tree and the bounty it provides bees and beekeepers alike.

Despite the government’s major funding support for the yellow-legged hornet incursion in Auckland expiring on June 30, and further backing yet to be announced, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) say they have the resources to conduct present activities. Things could change in spring though, a…

It’s a term most beekeepers would have heard often ‘integrated pest management’ (IPM), but what does it actually mean and what does it look like in practice, in the hives? Vita Bee Health commercial director Sebastian Owen not only has the simple, clear and concise answers to those questions, but ex…

Just days away from the first of a series of six one-day workshops around New Zealand discussing breeding for varroa resistance in honey bees, the Bee Breeding NZ Group, led by Rae Butler and Linda Newstrom-Lloyd, answer their most frequently asked questions.

Honey processors now have a new option when it comes to seeking verification for their Risk Management Programme (RMP) or National Programme 1 (NP1) facilities, with well-known laboratory Hill Labs stepping into the space recently.

Apiculture New Zealand members voted, near-unanimously, to adopt a new constitution giving control to commercial beekeepers and sidelining hobby apiarists and the honey marketing sector...

On June 5 Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) members will be asked to make a crucial decision regarding the industry organisation’s future for the third time in less than 15 months. The choice? Dissolve the group with roots stretching back more than a century, or adopt an entirely new constitution which…

While seen as the likely outcome of Apiculture New Zealand’s (ApiNZ) June 5 AGM, transition to, the temporarily named, Honey and Bees NZ is seen by some of the longest serving members of the group as an outcome that will exclude too many otherwise interested parties.

Comvita raised NZD40.5m through the sale of 59.3m new shares in a rights issue and placement that concluded 7 May. The share sale, which increased shares in issue 84.0% to 129.8m, was Comvita’s largest ever. Banks will be paid all sale proceeds as a condition for agreeing new loans.

For over six months, the fight against yellow-legged hornets on Auckland’s North Shore has been one of the most significant biosecurity responses New Zealand beekeepers have ever faced. Now, with no hornets or nests found since early April, many are asking the same question – have we beaten them, or…

Nelson beekeeper Nigel Costley was in the thick of it when Varroa destructor was first identified in the South Island. He describes an exhilarating six months on the front line – a time of steep learning, excitement, disappointment and controversy. But most of all, a camaraderie sometimes scarce in …

For many New Zealanders, the Gene Technology Bill may sound like a distant scientific or political debate. But for beekeepers, pollinators, and those working closely with the land, the proposed changes raise important long-term questions about the future of our ecosystems, farming systems, and expor…

Dnature’s diagnostic and research’s new advertisements almost says it all – “Tired of the ‘yeah-nah-yeah’ AFB results in your honey? Get a real answer with our new AFB ULTRA test before you blend your honey”. We would like to know more about how it works though, so we ask some probing questions to d…

Most beekeepers are well aware of the ‘waggle’ dance, but did you know honey bees also perform ‘round’ dances. Mark Goodwin has studied the behaviour and determined each of the dances has its own occasion, and that understanding the resulting foraging behaviour can help prevent robbing.

Hard to find much to write about, here, I thought – especially in contrast to the recent steep tax-raising budget in Australia. Yet I think there are four interesting points we need to watch...

After first floating the idea publicly two months ago, Ashburton queen breeder Rae Butler now has dates set for seven workshops focusing on how to identify, measure and maintain varroa resistance in honey bees. She explains what will be covered and that there is still plenty of time for new particip…

The profession of beekeeping is very old, and the behaviour of bees together with the unique sweetness of their honey fascinated the ancient world. One admirer was the Roman poet Virgil (70-19BC) who wrote a collection of four short poems on farming called the Georgics. CHRIS NORTHCOTT surveys beeke…

As leading beekeeping groups move closer to reshaping into a commercial-beekeeper-centric organisation, the Ministry for Primary Industries is making their own plans, behind the scenes, for a “New Zealand Honey and Bee Alliance”. Here’s what we know, and what those at the coalface of reorganising Ap…

For many New Zealand beekeepers propolis has long sat in the background as an easy add-on, a modest earner, something that can be collected with relatively little extra effort. But in recent years, it has also become a source of frustration, as global supply chains and shifting demand reshape the ma…

Comvita Ltd has attracted two new cornerstone shareholders — Fraser and Neave Ltd, a Singaporean food and beverage enterprise, and PHC Investments Ltd, an Auckland-based company whose holdings focus on the aged care sector. If Comvita’s current effort to raise up to NZD30m in new equity succeeds, Fr…

Plans for a new industry group to represent commercial beekeepers are marching forward, with consultation having closed and plans to circulate a written constitution in May. Emerging as a key consideration is a delicate balancing act between pricing membership fees attainably, with achieving adequat…

As the calendar turns to May, and the hopes at a new and improved industry body for commercial beekeepers wind on, the time for a winter beekeeping ‘conference’ draws close. However, at this stage no national-level event is set on the beekeeping calendar.