Beekeeping News

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.

While the leadership at the Ministry for Primary Industry’s (MPI) Biosecurity New Zealand are encouraged by a recent lack of yellow-legged hornet sightings, there is agreement that the incursion response must continue apace for at least another month before taking a new tact over winter.

Beekeeping is getting more and more challenging and a ‘sudden autumn decline’ of hives has veteran Hawke’s Bay beekeeper John Berry worried about the sustainability of beekeeping.

Gaining best value for pollination hives; thermal auditing of beehives; effective industry advocacy; and even that damn hornet – the Bay of Plenty Commercial Beekeepers group met on April 17 at the Mount Manganui offices of Zespri where, stimulated by attendance from various interested parties, a wi…

With the Iran-US war still resulting in closure of the Strait of Hormuz, former GCSB head Ian Fletcher surveys the playing field from New Zealand's vantage point.

Mānuka Orchard owner Logan Bowyer might have grown up on an orchard of a different kind – kiwifruit – but his dedication to the cause of bettering New Zealand’s honey industry is now well proven through his Paengaroa business. Eight years in, Mānuka Orchard is calling on any beekeepers wanting to im…

As the days shorten and nights cool, the bees flight time shortens, diets reduce and cluster tightens, and it’s got Bay of Plenty beekeeper Aimz thinking while she works the last round of the season.

Previously PhD student Jane Pierce’s research has identified the most likely areas of musculoskeletal disorders among beekeepers, now she reports on a recently-developed, free resource which provides an assessment of common beekeeping tasks with the goal of lowering injury risk.

The journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step; How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time; How do you build varroa resistance into your honey bees? You have to start looking. That is the philosophy and practice of bee breeder Rae Butler who says the results of several seasons in her breedi…

Why should beekeepers support the proposed new industry group? New Zealand’s looming diesel and petrol shortage, alongside a continuing major biosecurity incursion, is making it clear that beekeepers need effective leadership now, and will surely need it in the future too if their livelihoods are to…

New Zealand’s export honey value per-kilogram dwarfs any other country in the world, thanks to mānuka’s proven antimicrobial abilities. So, why then have so many honey companies – both beekeepers, honey packers, and those who do a bit of both – gone out of business in the past two years? We pose tha…

It’s a no thrills framework, but industry groups Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) and New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI) want beekeepers to heartily weigh-in with their thoughts on their combined proposal for a new industry body to represent commercial beekeepers.

Three and half years on from first finding varroa in Australia, authorities have detected a gene mutation in the parasite which is resulting in lower susceptibility to several common treatments. Has this ‘resistance’ developed in such a short period? Is it the result of a separate, parallel, mite in…

With the future of national-level industry groups up in the air, a void remains for an event venue and date to host a major beekeeping conference this winter. However, there appears to be a desire from beekeepers to gather and preliminary planning is underway, while the cloud of skyrocketing travel …

Auckland’s fight with yellow-legged hornets continues, with nests still being discovered as winter approaches. Despite ongoing eradication efforts and a strong public reporting effort, experts warn that even a single surviving queen could see the problem re-emerge next spring, making vigilance, now,…

NZ Colony Loss Survey results are here and they confirm what many beekeepers suffered through in winter and spring 2025. We sit down with Survey lead and Bioeconomy Science Institute principal scientist Pike Stahlmann-Brown to dive into what beekeepers have said about winter losses.

With April 19 looming as the deadline for beekeepers to let their opinions be known on how advisory groups to New Zealand Bee Health and Biosecurity (NZBB) should be structured, hundreds more will need to respond if the default option is to be avoided.

Breeding for varroa-resistant bees using the varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH), or other traits, in New Zealand’s honey bee stocks is essential if Kiwi beekeepers are to conquer varroa, believe the Bee Breeding NZ Group (formerly NZ Bee Breeders Association). The team formed in 2022 and is headed by As…

New Zealand beekeepers are being urged to have their say on one of the industry’s most persistent and costly challenges – varroa. A new nationwide survey, led by Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme participant and Comvita operations manager Robbie O’Brien, aims to capture real-world insights into how…

Honey testing labs don’t always get it right, in Mark Goodwin’s experience, but there are tricks to confirming results accurately represent your honey.

The war between the US, Iran and Israel continues to disrupt globally. Ian Fletcher assesses how New Zealand is being impacted, how we might be impacted by similar events in the future, and what we are doing about it.

The hum of the honey processing room. Clack-hiss, whoosh goes the pricker. The extractor puts a spin on the ambience, a see-saw of whirring noises. Trolleys, boxes, buckets moved around amid the roar of the centrifuge. Radio. Banter. Fans and fly-swats. The heat. The heavy, pungent smell of honey.

We refer to a ‘bird’s-eye-view’, but the latest technology is increasingly making a “bee’s-eye-view” better understood to researchers, thus improving knowledge of the movements of our honey bees. Dave Black views the videos – and you can too! – to assess this technology’s value to beekeepers, scient…

The country’s largest beekeeping business, Tweeddale’s Honey, with 19,000 hives to its name and having operated for 81 years through three generations, has become the latest in a long line of honey businesses to fold as the ramifications of years-long honey prices below cost of production continue t…

New Zealand retail pack monofloral mānuka honey exports to the United States climbed 54.1% to 2,862 tonnes in calendar year 2025, an increase of 1,004t over the year-before volume. The surge into the US lifted global exports in this category to an annual record 6,999t and contributed most to matchin…

With banks closing in Comvita needed to show profitability, and did, in their financial half year to December 31. A February 23 presentation to shareholders of New Zealand’s largest mānuka honey company also came with the tease of a potential international investor to help reduce debt levels.

As missiles fly back and forward, between Iran and the West, Ian Fletcher analyses both the likely immediate repercussions, and the potential flow-on-effects, including in Ukraine and New Zealand.