Beekeeping News

By: Maggie Gill This article was originally was previously published in BBKA News In February 2026, I will return to Thailand to continue my research into Tropilaelaps. This trip will take place almost exactly three years after my first visit to the country, and my first direct encounter with Tropil…

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…

The financial outlay you need to make when starting beekeeping is less than the commitment the catalogues imply you should make. Buy wisely with compatibility and longevity in mind, but also invest in a couple of luxuries that will make your beekeeping easier.

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Colonies can starve in early spring. It takes just a few days of adverse weather for colonies to run out of stores. This week I discuss preventing starvation in managed colonies, together with some observations on the survival of, and finding, overwintered free-living bees.

Before talking about the factors affecting bee health, I would like to make a more general point. Stay with me, […] The post What affects bee health? Varroa, climate and beekeeping appeared first on BeeSafe .

PhD Position in Pollinator Health and Microbiome Research Huber Molecular Biology Lab, Auburn University The Huber Molecular Biology Lab at Auburn University is seeking a highly motivated PhD student for a USDA-NIFA funded position starting Summer or Fall 2026 to study the impact of antimicrobial po…

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We are pleased to announce the opening of applications for the new Panuwan Award, offered by COLOSS to support Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) for students who are COLOSS members. The Panuwan Award is intended to facilitate STSMs that promote exchange and collaboration within COLOSS. Funded m…

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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.

Beekeepers are wary and Biosecurity New Zealand (BNZ) has been out in force in certain Auckland suburbs over the past four months as the response to spring’s yellow-legged hornet incursion has wound on. So far hornets have only been found in Auckland and on February 4 BNZ presented a webinar to appr…

With the US market leaping into the lead as New Zealand’s largest consumer of mānuka honey, we ask some of the country’s largest honey exporters, along with the UMF Honey Association (UMFHA) who promotes Kiwi beekeepers’ most valuable product, what is driving the growth and if it is likely to contin…

A month after proposing to release a potential new beekeeping industry body constitution “in February and hopefully early February”, Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) and New Zealand Beekeeping Inc have yet to do so and continue to fine tune.

Beekeepers? Technical experts? A mix of both? Just who should make up advisory groups to New Zealand Bee Health and Biosecurity (NZBB) is the topic of consultation between the American foulbrood (AFB) agency and the beekeepers who fund it – and if sufficient beekeepers don’t speak up the decision wi…

It was intentionally left uncredited. Last month’s Apiarist’s Advocate eMagazine cover photo of a fully-laden-with-beehives 10-tonne truck precariously balanced on its side above a pond. Reader questions rolled in… Who had the bad day? What damage was inflicted to man and machine? And, most commonly…

It's the old acronym of KISS to the fore as veteran beekeeper John Berry explains how sometimes the basics are all you need for successful beekeeping.

We might sometimes overlook it due to its abundance in the environment, but the role of water is essential to a healthy honeybee colony, both for nutritional and temperature-control purposes. Dr Mark Goodwin shares what he has learned about honeybees’ association with water, and how beekeepers can h…

Queen bees and drones exclusively mate in “drone congregation areas”, right? Although crucial to the survival of our livestock, as beekeepers we actually know very little about the mating locations of honey bees and, believe it or not, what we do know has been aided by research using radar technolog…

Like a “sleuthhound”, Aimz is on the case, searching for American foulbrood (AFB) as the last of the honey comes off…

In 2026 Apiarist’s Advocate has yet another way to consume our content – in your ears. Apiarist’s Advocate Pod launched in December, a podcast featuring AI readings of the monthly content.

ARS researchers are looking to help U.S. beekeepers better detect and treat their honey bee populations. Honey bees are important pollinators in agriculture. With an estimated 50-80% of crops pollinated by honey bees, they generate approximately $20 billion annually in market value in the United Sta…

Don't believe everything you read in the catalogues. It's expensive to start beekeeping, so buy little, and buy wisely. The equipment should last — and be usable — for decades, so aim to make your beekeeping easier now, and in the future.

Click Here if you listened. We’d love to know what you think. There is even a spot for feedback! Read along below! By: Stephen Bishop A long time ago, the Spartan king Menelaus married the most beautiful woman in all the land, Helen. She was the envy of everyone’s eye (especially those one-eye…